Name That Tune

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An Easy To Do Activity That Appeals to a Wide Variety of People

A great activity that can be adapted and modified easily is a form of Name That Tune.

Everyone loves music and trivia. This activity incorporates both.

First get a list of song titles from the era most potential participants are familiar with.

If you are not familiar with the songs yourself, you may want to purchase a CD or get some from the library to familiarize yourself with the songs. You may want to use these CDs during the activity if necessary.

Set up the room if you need to. Have the CDs ready to play if you need them.

Invite folks to come to the activity.

When I invite residents to an activity, I do not ask them if they want to come. I say, Come on, lets do something fun, together.  If they are hesitant, I tell them that I need their help.

I have a number of other ways to get resistive folks to an activity. I find as long as you are running a quality activity, once people gets there, they will enjoy the activity.

After the group is assembled, make sure to greet everyone. Tell your audience how happy you are that they are there. Greet each person by name. Remember you need to be enthusiastic about what you are doing

Now you are ready to start the activity

Instead of playing one or two notes or playing the game like hangman, (You could play these ways as well), you say the first word of the song title. See if anyone can finish the title. If not, say the second word of the title and so on until someone gets the title. If they are having a hard time, give other hints. To allow the meek resident a chance, ask the other members in the group to give the meek person a chance to name the song. Even if someone else shouts out the title, still ask the shy individual to say the title of the song. Be extremely complimentary to this person, as well, to boost his/her confidence.

After the song title is guessed, ask, who can sing it. Sometimes we only sing the first line. Sometimes we butcher the song, but then we have a good laugh.

Continue playing the game in this manner, singing the familiar songs, or singing them with a CD, for the allotted time period. I usually do it for about an hour

Throw in a little trivia if there is a lull in the action. For example, if the song is about summer, I ask the participants to tell me their favorite season and why they like that season. I always tell the story of how I hate winter.

I just go with the flow. Thus, the group is different every time.

Easy modifications:

During a particular holiday include some holiday song titles

For example, around Valentines Day, include some love songs; around Christmas include some Christmas carols etc.

Then after a song title is named, ask if is a holiday song and why.

Sometimes you get some pretty interesting answers. This is another opportunity for laughter.

For lower functioning individuals:

Name two song titles and ask which one starts with the word you just mentioned

Sing the first line of a song. Then see if they can sing the next part.

If they are nonverbal, you can say the answer for them. However before saying the title, say, I can tell by (name of participant)’s smile that she thinks the title is (whatever the song title is).

Then you might want to gently squeeze this person’s hand or give him/her a hug

When you are finishing the activity, make sure you thank all for coming. Tell them what a good job they did. You might ask what the audiences’ favorite part of the activity was

Click here for song titles and words

Sarah’s Favorite Songs

http://barbarasmithoccupationaltherapist.com/sarahsongs.html

You can also do an internet search for song titles, purchase a song book, or get song suggestions from your potential audience on another occasion.