You have to FREEZE!

Welcome back to More with Music!
The weather is getting warmer and warmer and there's only one more week of school (plus a couple of work days for me).  I'm ready for summer!

I've shared today's song post before, but today I'm adding additional ideas for using this song with small to larger groups.
The song is called "Play and then FREEZE!".  Many students have a hard time controlling their impulses.  When the song directs students to "FREEZE",  students have to use self control in order to stop playing their instruments.  They have to resist the impulse to continue playing their instrument and stop playing instead.  This is easier said then done for many students, but the songs allows them to practice this skill in a fun way.

Once students practice freezing and have pretty good impulse control, you can incorporate a few additional ideas with this song.  If you have a smaller group of students, you can introduce new instruments and/or instruments that require following specific instructions with this song.  Each student can have a turn playing the one instrument and when the song says "Freeze", the student stops and you pass the instrument to the next student.  Another idea would be for small or larger groups.  You would need pictures or extra instruments to hold up as examples.  Students all pick a rhythm instrument and you hold up a picture or sample of the instrument you want to play during the first verse of the song.  At each "FREEZE" you hold up a different card, signaling those students to play their instruments (i.e. drums play one verse, then bells, then rhythm sticks,etc.)  This way, students have to control their impulses and attend to others while they take turns.  The students also have to pay attention to figure out which instrument is playing next and then follow directions.

How do you implement the "freeze" in your music therapy sessions?