Music Groups at the Bubble Tree

New Times and Days:

We are excited to announce that we will be offering a later time on Wednesdays at the Bubble Tree!

Beginning in May we will offer two music therapy groups.

Parent-Child Music Therapy Groups

Wednesdays at 3:00 PM and 4:30 PM

At The Bubble Tree

Current Promotion: Refer a friend who signs up and get a FREE class

Autism and Family Connection: Increasing the Parent-Child Bond with Music Therapy

Parents are continually discovering new ways to interact effectively with their children. They go through the ups and downs of realizing that not all of the things they heard from friends or read in books works for their child. They continually have to adapt how to communicate with their kids based on age and circumstances.  The task of adapting oneself to life’s changes can be difficult, let alone helping another human being sort it all out. Parents often feel like they fall short every now and again.

Then we have parents who have an even greater task on a different level; the parents of children diagnosed with a disability (particularly on the Autism spectrum).  Each child is a gift, each one different and unique. But many parents, although they feel they are doing the best they can raising their child given their personal circumstances, are still afraid they just can’t learn or do enough. That is where therapists come in.

Parents are bombarded with all kinds of possible therapeutic possibilities for early intervention and behavior modification. Some children see many therapists, some see few. But at the end of the day, the child was in specialized programs or with therapists until evening. When everyone gets home they are all tired, and have some sort of nightly routine hashed out. The problem is, the parent-child dynamic is still lacking, and there is still often a gap between day and night. While they are learning and growing in school and therapy, they may still be unable to express and communicate these new behaviors and techniques with their family at home.

The Bubble Tree is a place where a child diagnosed with autism can come with their parent or caregiver and can learn and grow together, experiencing communication of a new and different kind. In music therapy groups, you and your child will have the chance to work effectively with each other and see others working together with their children. We will be using clinical music therapy interventions to address social, emotional, physical, and intellectual needs of your children. We will give you tools to take home to enhance your daily lives with your children, all with fun music and movement and hands-on activities.

Come join us once a week and experience it for yourself! Monthly enrollment with discounts available! See you there…oh and tell your friends!

Click here to learn more about our groups at The Bubble Tree. 

- Joy Hinson, Professional Music Therapist currently running groups at The Bubble Tree

Theater Experience for Young Kids

I took my 3 year old nephew to our local theater to see Elmo Makes Music Live! What a great opportunity to introduce the theater and live musicals to kids!

I didn't tell him where we were going because we were buying tickets at the door and wasn't guaranteed that we would get tickets. I just told him that we were going to do something fun and it was a surprise. We got to the box office and he asked what we were doing. I told him we were buying 'tickets' to go to the 'theater'. These were new words for him. We got our tickets and went inside to the lobby. After buying some popcorn and running off some steam (a good idea since he was going to have to sit for about an hour) I found some big, black and white photos of the theater. I showed him the photos and explained, "This is a theater where you see a show. We are going to sit in the seats and watch the show."

About 15 minutes before showtime we made a stop at the bathroom (another good idea before a long show). Then as we were about to go in I explained that there was something important to tell him. I explained that when we go in that we were going to have to sit nicely in our seats and use a quiet voice, and that we would watch a special show.

The great thing about this type of event is that since its all kids attending you don't have to worry if your kid is talking too loud or jumping around in his seat!

When the show began his face lot up! It was priceless! He seemed mesmerized and excited to see Sesame Street characters singing and dancing right in front of him! We were encouraged to sing along, clap along, and even shout out the letter and number of the day!

This show was particularly interesting for me because it was about a music teacher who moves to Sesame Street but here moving truck hasn't arrived with all of her instruments. So, her new friends have to find things to use as instruments to make music. The kids learn about a scale which corresponds to the number of the day - can you guess it? They learn about how music is all around you and everybody can make music. Another special element was that the Sesame Street friends kept their plan a secret in order to surprise the music teacher. I was able to point out to my nephew that this was going to be a surprise, just like us going to the show was a surprise!

I was a little surprised that the show had an intermission. I expected it to be a forty minute to an hour show, but it was 40 minutes with a 15 minute intermission, followed by another 30 minutes. Still, the kids did well sitting through it.

This was truly a wonderful experience and I would highly encourage parents to take their kids to introduce them to the world of theater. It's important to teach our kids about different things, to expose them to different types of art and culture, and to teach them how to act in various situations. If they experience it at a young age they may be more inclined to understand it and appreciate it later on. And they'll know how to behave too!