Many of us have memories of magicians pulling things out of their black hat. If you are a boomer you likely have this sound track from “Bullwinkle” in your memories. 

Upon hearing the Assisted Living Week theme “The Magic of Music”,  I knew I had to include the line “watch me pull some music out of my hat.”

There are moments in eldercare when you feel you are figuratively pulling songs out of a hat. Suddenly, a person remembers a song. Often it is snippets of lyrics. At other times it is the melody. Yet, others times a song comes pouring forth.

The music you can literally pull from a hat can include:

1. Color Inspired Drumming
2. A tune to use for a lyric writing activity. A few ideas for this are:
   • She’ll be Coming Round the Mountain
   • If I Knew You Were Comin’ I’d Have Baked a Cake
   • You are My Sunshine
   • The Way You Do the Things You Do
3. Songs to sing as a group. Write favorite songs on index cards. Place the cards in the hat. Take turns drawing out the cards, singing the songs as they are selected.
4. Questions and statements for the participants to complete.

Now it is your turn. Share others ways you can pull music out of a hat during a session.