Is a piano mat. I bought it last year because I thought, well how cool is an 8 foot piano. And then it sat and sat in my closet for months. So on an impulse I pulled it out with one of my kiddos last week and I discovered SO many therapeutic ways to use it. Here are a few examples:
Rolling across the piano is a very engaging way to provide proprioceptive input and encourage joint attention.
Pulling a child down the piano by the ankles encourages eye contact and can be used to increase language by having the child make a request for you to pull them down the piano.
i.e.
For a verbal approximation the therapist could say ready, set , and child could say "g" or "go".
Child can make a request by saying "again" or "pull me"
For kids working on full sentences " I want more pulling please" or "do it again Jorden"!
For kids working on social imitation you can play follow the leader across the piano (I like to sing the chosen actions to the tune of hi ho the derry oh. Jordens turn to jump, Jordens turn to Jump, hi ho the derry oh, Jorden's turn to Jump! The repetition also allows you to cue the client to fill the the last blank:Jordens turn to --------. Therapist waits for child to say "jump!" before jumping. Other actions you can do across the piano are:
Crawl, march, skip, crab walk, somersault slide on your belly (with or without a running start) and walk skipping every second or third key.
Hope that helps get the creative juices rolling as we had into a new school year. Happy music making!