Sensory & Music Story Activity - A Day at the Beach

This 'Sensory and Music Story Activity' is devised by our Music Therapist, Ruth Ellam who works for Suffolk Music Therapy Services and Little Haven Children's Hospice. It has been designed to be used either by a parent/carer and child at home, or as part of an Online Music Therapy session, led by a Music Therapist.

Hints and Tips

Gather all the props before you start. If you do not have everything exactly, don't worry - any improvisations are fine!
Familiarise yourself with the story and what happens where. Think how you will use the props and songs to make the most impact and sense to the child.
It is natural to feel self-conscious about singing, but there are no X-Factor style judgements being made about your voice! Sing with confidence and don't worry about whether you are in tune or not!
If you have other small instruments at home, you may wish to use these also.
Read the story slowly, repeating sections as you go. If your child enjoys a particular section, you may want to stay longer in that part.

Props

Big bag
Hairdryer or fan
Beach ball - or any ball!
Beach towel / towel
Sun cream - or any kind of cream / lotion
Sand / pebbles / shells
Water (one container of cold and one container of warm)
Ocean drum / rainstick / any kind of shaker
Scarf / wafty material
Chimes / bells
Any other musical instruments

Useful Youtube links

Seaside Sounds

The Fish in the Sea Scarf Song

Baby Shark

Twinkle Twinkle - Makaton (Mr Tumble)

The Story - A Day at the Beach

It was a lovely sunny day, so we decided to go to the beach!

What will we need to take?

Feel: Put beach ball, beach towel, suncream in the bag

We all got in the van together and set off!

Sing: 'We're all going to the beach today'

As soon as we got to the beach, we could feel the warm breeze.

Feel: Hairdryer or fan to feel the breeze (or hot wind if hairdryer!)

The most important thing was to get some suncream on!

Feel: If appropriate, rub some lotion into your child's hands

It was great to finally be on the beach!

Sing: 'Oh we do like to be beside the seaside'

There were lots of other people around, some sun bathing, some playing catch and some swimming in the sea!

What should we do first?

Choose: Offer choice of what to do first - sunbathing (beach towel) or playing catch (ball). You can then change the order of the next two sections accordingly.

Playing catch looked loads of fun! We took our beach ball out of the bag and went and joined - trying to be careful not to throw the ball onto anyone who was sunbathing!

Feel: Take the beach ball out of the bag and throw it!

Sunbathing on the beach looked so relaxing! We got the beach towel out of the bag and laid it out. While we were laying on it, we could reach out to the side and feel the sandy beach.

Feel: Take the towel out of the bag and lay it down / feel resting your child's head on it. If you have any sand / shells / pebbles, then run this gently through fingers.

Shall we go in the sea? I wonder if it will be really cold, or nice and warm?

Feel: Contrast the feel of the two different temperature containers of water.

We can hear the waves!

Play: If you have an Ocean drum or Rainstick then play them and listen to the watery sounds! You can achieve a similar affect with a shaker and moving it slowly from one side to the other. You can add in sounds from the sea by searching 'seaside sounds' on youtube (or use the links below)

There are some fish swimming in the sea

Sing: The fish in the sea go swish, swish, swish (Fish in the sea scarf song)

I hope they're friendly fish!

Sing: 'Baby shark'

Soon it was time to get back in the van. When we got home, it was already dark and the stars were out, twinkling above use. Thank you for a fun day out!

Sing: Twinkle twinkle - play chimes or bells.