One of my readers, Jeremy, left a comment awhile back asking me to share a song/intervention he’d heard me describe before: the “Right-Left” song. Well, Jeremy…here it is!
I can’t take credit for writing the “Right-Left” song–a wonderful music therapist named Michelle Hardy wrote it. I heard her describe it in a workshop several years ago, loved it, and have used it every since.
This particular experience can be adapted to address the following objectives: crossing the midline, hand-eye coordination, integrating auditory/visual/proprioceptive/vestibular sensory information, and upper extremity coordination.
I’ve also very successfully used this as a sort of “assessment” when working with children. This works when I initially meet and assess the child–how easy or difficult this is for a new client gives me a general idea of that child’s cognitive and/or developmental level. It also helps me determine how regulated a child is on a given day. For example, this will be harder for a child to do if he/she has had a rough day, is emotionally upset, or if his/her sensory self is “unbalanced.”
Feel free to leave a comment below or contact me if you have any questions or suggestions.
Enjoy!
A Song for Crossing the Midline [Video]
P.S. In case you were wondering, I do have permission from Michelle to share this with you.
orcid.org/0000-0001-8665-1493
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Very inspiring, Kimberly! Quick question… when do you sing ‘left’ and ‘right’? When the person uses their L/R arm or when they sound the L/R drum?
Thanks! 🙂
I had to think about this one! 🙂 It’s when they use their left and right hands. ~Kimberly
I had my students make a figure 8 in the air to cross their midline. It was very interesting. The children who were unable to do it are my struggling students either in math or Language Arts. I like this intervention you are using.
Hi, a great song – I am using it to work with a child to help him learn his left and right and it works so well! I was actually wondering what the drums are that you’re using in this video are? I live in the UK and haven’t seen these anywhere here!! Many thanks.
Thanks for the feedback, Rosie! The drums I am using in the video are called Sound Shapes and are made by Remo. They are basically drum heads that come in different shapes and sizes. I purchased mine years ago from West Music in the US. Hope this helps! ~Kimberly
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