Halloween Interventions and Therapeutic Benefits - Motive Music Therapy in Tampa, FL

You have the motive, we have the music.

By Mallory Hogan, MT-BC | Tampa, FL | Tampa Music Therapy

Spooky season is just around the corner, and what better way to celebrate than by

incorporating engaging and exciting Halloween-themed interventions? From playing “The Monster Mash” on Boomwhackers to exploring emotions with Jack O' Lanterns, the Halloween season offers plenty of opportunities to combine seasonal fun with meaningful therapeutic experiences.

Today, we’re sharing three engaging Halloween-themed interventions, complete with

adaptations and therapeutic goals, to help you make the most of this festive season!

1. Let’s Build a Monster

In this creative songwriting intervention, the music therapist guides the client in creating a monster by offering choices about its appearance and personality. “Does the monster have a circular body or square body?”, “Is it tall or short?”, “Is it scary or silly?” Once the client has made selections, the music therapist will incorporate the lyrics to a the familiar tune of “Oh! Susannah."

For Example:

Our monster has a circle shaped body

He’s very very tall

Our monster has wings to fly

And wears a party hat!

After singing about their creation, the music therapist and client can work together to draw the monster based on the lyrics, or the music therapist can provide Velcro-backed body parts that the client can use to assemble the monster. The clients can make their selections by pointing, using eye gaze, responding verbally, or utilizing an AAC device.

Therapeutic Goals Addressed in this intervention include:

● Expressive and receptive communication

● Answering binary questions and making choices

● Creative expression and independent thinking

● Auditory processing and listening skills

2. Jack O’ Lantern Feelings

If you are looking for a fun and festive way to explore emotions this Halloween, Jack O' Lantern Feelings is an engaging music therapy intervention that uses the familiar jack o’ lantern symbol along with therapeutic functions of music to support emotional recognition, expression, and social skills.

In this intervention, the music therapist introduces jack o’lantern visuals displaying a variety of emotions, such as happiness, sadness, anger, and silliness. For clients ready to explore more complex emotions, the therapist can include feelings such as embarrassment, fear, anxiety, or excitement.

The therapist sings a repetitive song about the characteristics and facial expressions of each jack o’ lantern, while adjusting musical elements to reinforce the emotion being expressed. The therapist can do this through adjusting key, tempo, and dynamics. For example, a sad pumpkin may be accompanied by a slower tempo, softer dynamics, and a minor key, while a happy pumpkin might feature an upbeat tempo, a lively strumming pattern, and a major key. The musical contrasts provide opportunities for clients to explore how music can communicate and reflect different emotions.

Lyrics:

Happy Pumpkin

I’m a jack o’ lantern, look at me!

I’m showing off my big white teeth!

I’m smiling really big

And laughing!

This jack o’ lantern is HAPPY!

Sad Pumpkin

I’m a jack o’ lantern, watch me cry!

I have little tears in my eyes.

I’m looking pretty blue

And feeling pretty bad.

This jack o’ lantern is SAD!

To adapt this intervention, the music therapist can use auditory or visual prompts to help clients fill in the blank by identifying how the pumpkin is feeling. The activity can even be made into a matching game, where the clients can match emotion words or emojis to the pumpkins that correspond. To encourage further participation, the music therapist can invite the client to play a preferred instrument to explore how different emotions might sound. Encourage clients to experiment with tempo, dynamics and rhythm to express each feeling. The music therapist can

also ask questions that support perspective-taking, such as coping strategies for big feelings, supporting people around us when they experience strong emotions, or discussing what may trigger those feelings as well.

Therapeutic Goals Addressed in this Intervention Include:

● Emotional recognition and expression

● Social skills and perspective taking

● Auditory and visual processing

● Emotional processing and coping skills

3. The Monster Mash Instrument Play-Along

Incorporating instruments into your Halloween music therapy sessions gives clients an exciting opportunity to explore music-making while working toward individualized therapeutic goals. “The Monster Mash” is a classic Halloween favorite, with a repetitive chord progression, which can make it accessible for a variety of musical skill levels.

The song primarily uses four chords G, Em, C, and D, providing a predictable musical structure that clients can learn and practice with support from the music therapist. Using a familiar song with a repetitive pattern can reduce the complexity of the musical task, allowing clients to focus on following musical cues, participating in shared music-making, and playing the instrument.

Adaptive music is also an important component to this intervention. Providing notation or visual cues that the clients can easily read and understand can support music learning, and build confidence in their musical abilities. This intervention can be adapted to support a variety of motor, cognitive, and sensory needs.

Boomwhackers: Boomwhackers offer a fun, movement-based way for clients to participate in the music-making while working on motor coordination. Depending on the client’s individual needs and goals, playing the Boomwhackers can provide opportunities to practice palmar grasp, bilateral coordination, and cross-lateral movements.

Piano: The piano provides opportunities to develop fine motor control and coordination. Depending on the client’s individualized goals, piano playing can support finger isolation, dexterity, hand-eye coordination, postural control, and bilateral coordination.

Xylophone: The xylophone is another versatile instrument that can be incorporated into this intervention. Playing the xylophone can provide opportunities to practice palmar grasp, hand-eye coordination, bilateral and cross-lateral coordination, and the coordinated use of both hands.

The music and sheet music should be made adaptable based on the client's needs and therapeutic goals. Rather than relying solely on traditional staff notation, the music therapist can use colors, numbers, letters, pictures, or a combination of these visual supports to cue the client and promote participation.

To make the activity more accessible, the music therapist can incorporate turn taking, visual cues, or modeling. The music therapist can gradually fade prompts as the clients become more familiar with the progression and pattern of the song. The song can also be simplified by utilizing slower tempo, or reducing the chords. The goal is to create an accessible musical experience that builds confidence and encourages participation.

Therapeutic Goals Addressed in this Intervention:

● Gross and fine motor coordination

● Sequential processing

● Symbol recognition and matching

● Memory and joint attention

● Sensory regulation

This Halloween season, there are so many ways to address individualized therapeutic goals while celebrating the festivities of fall and making sessions fun and engaging! Whether you’re creating a monster or playing “The Monster Mash,” each intervention offers an opportunity to get creative, connect with clients, and make a meaningful difference through music.

We’d love to hear from you! How would you adapt these interventions to meet your client’s individualized needs? Share your ideas with us!

Happy Halloween!

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Motive Music Therapy specializes in creative, evidence-based sessions that support emotional growth, communication, and sensory integration. These sensory tools are just a few of the ways we adapt each session to meet your child where they are.