By Simone Reeder RMT
This year has been a crazy roller coaster ride where we often feel like yelling and waving our hands around, but not always from joy. I have noticed from running online sessions, the fatigue that the kiddos, the families, and myself are all feeling. Being in regional Vic I was able to have some face to face sessions earlier on, but the fatigue was still there.
Anxiety was also on the rise and I noticed some kiddos just couldn’t focus like they used too. They were jittery and scattered and then I started using my Dad’s now very famous, Bubble Song and some magic happened! The feedback I've had, is that this song is used daily or weekly in families, households and also has been sung to day care and kinder teachers.
I blew a bubble,
I blew a bubble,
I blew a bubble so blue.
And as I blew it grew and grew
And as I blew it grew and grew
And as I blew it grew and grew and grew
POP!
While I am singing these words, I am taking deep belly breaths and saying those words to remind the children to do the same. I am also demonstrating how a bubble can get really big, but only if you slow your breathing down.
I use my hands as the bubble and start with them clasped together. Then at the end of each sentence I take a big belly breath and open my hands as the “bubble” grows. By the end of the song, my arms are opened as wide as they can and clap together for the POP!
This can be used in the car, the supermarket, at bath time, wherever you might all need a little time to breath. Adding real bubbles in is fun too, but I also like this way as it means you just need your body, some slow belly breaths, and a little time together.
Enjoy!
Simone is a Registered Music Therapist and Early Childhood Teacher in North East Victoria. She runs a private practice called Music Garden and knows SBMT's Director Megan as her first supervisor when Simone was studying to be a music therapist at Melbourne University!
