Recommended Apps for Kids

Several of my clients' parents have been asking for a list of apps for the iPad. Here is a list of a few that I recommend, most of which are free:

My Current Favorite: Young Music Genius - learn about instruments and composers, play instrument game where you hear an instrument and guess from 4 choices which you hear; play memory game of instruments by picture and sound - make matches like the traditional memory game; composer quiz - listen to a piece of music and guess from 4 choices who the composer is

1. Dr. Seuss Band - improvise music, play songs by matching the colors
2. Piano Dust Buster - play songs by following the "germs"; the better you do the more songs are unlocked
3. Kids Place ABC first words - learn to spell musical instruments - spell names of instruments
4. Musical Flash Cards - hear instrument name and its sound
5. Music Instruments - a book of music instruments, listen to sound and name of different instruments
6. Discover Musical Instruments Free - hear sounds of instruments
7. Mini Adventures Music - instruments a to z; most of them unique instruments from around the world
8. Music Notes - learn about whole, half, quarter, eighth, sixteenth, and thirty-second notes
9. Rhythms Cat Lite HD - learn to read basic rhythmic patterns; a little bit of a challenge!
10. Guitar Free - improvise on the virtual guitar or learn songs
11. Xylophone! HD - improvise on the virtual xylophone
12. iGlockenspiel - improvise on the virtual xylophone; record your song and play it back or email it
13. Virtuoso - improvise on the piano; split the screen and get two keyboards so you can play with a friend!
14. Abby - Simon Says: Musical Instruments - play a take on the original simon game by listening to the instruments and playing back what you hear; "tap on what you've heard in the correct order"
15. Music School for Toddlers - try out different instruments; piano is free, then pay $0.99 for others
16. What Is It? - shows a picture and asks, "What Is It?" click on the image to hear and see the name of the object and its sound; demo in free version, pay per category $1.99; music instrument category available
17. Vocal Zoo - see pictures of animals and hear their name and sound
18. ABC - Magnetic Alphabet - just like fridge magnets; good for spelling words; free for alphabet, unlock more magnets of objects
19. DoodleBuddy - draw with your finger, change color, medium, use stamps, use blank screen or use a picture from your photo library
20. Feel Electric! - from the Electric Company, learning about emotions through games
21. Tap to Talk Starter Album - great for nonverbal kids or kids with beginning speech; touch the picture to "verbalize" what you want to say
22. Music Tutor Free - for students studying piano or other instrument; practice identifying notes on the staff, treble, bass, or treble and bass
23. Master in a Minute (free) - for students studying piano; note recognition, harmonic intervals, melodic intervals
24. Jigsaw Puzzle Maker for iPad - make a jigsaw puzzle out of your own photos
25. Best Sand Timer - visual timer; change color of the sand
26. VisTimerFree - 5 minute visual timer; change color; unlock to change number of minutes
27. Singing Fingers - amazing! use your finger to draw and make a sound as you draw; trace the lines and hear your sound back
28. Fun Rhyming - rhyming words
29. MicPro - record yourself singing or playing music

For a Fee:
Morton Subotnick's Pitch Painter - create music by finger painting; variety of musical instrumental sounds and authentic scale tunings from around the world

Barefoot Books - Sing-a-long Books with CD

Some of my favorite books to are these Books with CDs from Barefoot Books! The music is great, the illustrations are beautiful, and the kids love them!


   Creepy Crawly Calypso introduces different instruments, different insects, and also counting numbers.

  Animal Boogie introduces various animals of the jungle, fun movements and sounds, and is sensitive to different types of people with different abilities.

  The Journey Home from Grandpa's has a catchy tune which works on colors, different types of transportation, and is repetitive.

Many more titles are available! Some available in Spanish. Check out barefootbooks.com for more information! These are a must have for parents, teachers, and music-therapists!

Purchase Barefoot books here:

http://astore.amazon.com/rhythmsforliv-20?_encoding=UTF8&node=2

Musical pacifier helps premature babies get healthy

One of my favorite populations to work with is the NICU babies! NICU stands for Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Babies who are born too early or with any issues right after birth will usually spend some time in the NICU. The NICU is a very sensitive environment because, well, the babies themselves are very sensitive.

Music Therapy has been used in the NICU for years and offers many wonderful benefits. I had the opportunity while doing my music therapy work at FSU to receive my NICU Music Therapy Certification which enables me to work with this special population. I am excited to share more with you about how we use music therapy in the NICU but for today I just wanted to share a little about the PAL.

The Pacifier Activated Lullaby system was designed by Jayne Standley, PH.D. at FSU and is now widely used in NICUs across the country. It is used to encourage babies to suck and feed which is a necessary skill in order to survive, and a pre-requisite for getting discharged (or going home). The PAL has a pacifier which is hooked up to a system that plays music (specifically chosen lullabies) when the infant sucks. As soon as the infant stops sucking, the music stops. Research shows that in as little as 3 minutes, infants will learn that in order to get the lovely music they must suck! Therefore music is the motivator to get them sucking, sucking is a skill they need to learn in order to feed, and feeding is a must for survival and discharge!

Here is an interesting article that is not too long which talks about how the PAL is now being used world-wide.

Here is a short video that shows the PAL in action.

Here is the website of Power Device Technologies who is creating the PAL.

For more information on the use of Music Therapy in the NICU please visit my website pages: NICU and For Parents in the NICU