Social Engagement & Warm-Up

​Social warm-ups set a positive tone and help students feel connected and ready to learn.
  • Name songs (e.g., “Hello, [student name]!”) foster community, support peer-to-peer recognition, and give students repeated opportunities to learn and use classmates’ names. These songs also build listening skills, anticipation, and social confidence.
  • Pre-session “wiggle breaks” using music help students release extra energy and reset their bodies before transitioning into focused instruction. Short movement activities are especially effective for improving attention, regulation, and readiness for learning.
These simple routines promote belonging, support sensory regulation, and help students start each session with engagement and confidence.

​Object Song Selection

​Object cues can make music participation more meaningful and accessible, especially for students who rely on tactile information or who need support engaging in group activities.
  • Prepare an object box filled with tactile items that represent each song (e.g., a toy bus for “The Wheels on the Bus,” a small star for “Twinkle, Twinkle,” or a plastic animal for an animal-themed song).
  • Students take turns selecting an object by touch, using the item as a cue to recall the associated song. This approach supports anticipation, choice-making, and participation—even for students who may not feel ready to sing along at first.
  • Consider providing audio recordings of the songs for home practice. Familiarity with the melodies and lyrics helps build confidence and supports smoother participation during class or group music sessions.
This strategy encourages active involvement, supports sensory learning, and makes music time more inclusive for students with visual impairments.

Teaching Concepts Through Action

Music is a powerful tool for introducing foundational spatial and body-awareness skills, especially for students who cannot rely on visual modeling.
  • Choose songs that include clear directional cues—such as in/out, up/down, left/right, forward/backward, or near/far. These songs reinforce verbal concepts while giving students meaningful opportunities to pair language with movement.
  • For students with severe visual impairments, provide hand-under-hand support to help them feel the movement patterns. Since these students cannot learn through observation alone, physically guiding their motions helps them understand how their bodies should move.
  • Incorporate finger plays, clapping routines, tapping patterns, or body-percussion activities to build fine motor control, rhythm awareness, and coordinated movement. These routines also support timing, bilateral coordination, and auditory attention.
Using music in this way promotes sensory learning, strengthens motor planning, and builds confidence in body movement and spatial understanding.

​Multi-Sensory Instrument Play

​Providing a range of instruments gives students meaningful ways to explore sound, build auditory discrimination skills, and engage in active music-making.
  • Offer a variety of instruments, such as maracas, drums, shakers, rhythm sticks, tambourines, bells, or percussion tubes. Different sizes, shapes, and textures help students discover how sound is produced.
  • Encourage students to identify and replicate sound attributes, including:
    • Pitch: high vs. low tones
    • Rhythm: fast vs. slow patterns
    • Volume: loud vs. soft dynamics
    • Timbre: the unique quality of a sound (bright, mellow, sharp, smooth, etc.)
  • Engage students in listening activities, such as locating sounds in space, matching instrument timbres, or identifying which instrument produced a particular sound. These activities strengthen auditory attention, localization, and memory.
  • Use weighted or textured instruments to improve grip, proprioceptive awareness, and stability for students who need additional sensory feedback.
These explorations support auditory learning, fine motor development, and creative expression while making music accessible and enjoyable for all learners.

​Rhythm, Freeze & Motor Control

​Movement activities paired with music or rhythm can build essential motor, spatial, and self-regulation skills.
  • “Freeze” games are excellent for reinforcing listening, timing, and inhibition control. Students practice stopping their bodies the moment the music pauses—an important skill for safety, self-regulation, and following instructions.
  • Incorporate locomotor activities such as tiptoe walking, skipping, galloping, marching, or jumping to develop body awareness, motor planning, balance, and spatial understanding. These movements can be paired with rhythmic cues or descriptive language to reinforce concepts like high/low, slow/fast, or big/small.
  • Support safe navigation and spatial awareness by tracking walking paths—in the gym, hallway, or outdoor areas—using rhythmic clapping, tapping sticks, or verbal guidance. These auditory cues help students orient, follow a route, and maintain direction without relying on visual landmarks.
These activities are playful yet purposeful, helping students build coordination, confidence, and strong auditory-motor connections.

​Curriculum Integration & Resources

​Using nationally recognized standards helps ensure that physical and music education activities are meaningful, developmentally appropriate, and accessible to all learners.
  • Incorporate national standards for physical education and music education, emphasizing multisensory access, participation, and engagement for students with visual impairments. Aligning lessons with these standards supports consistency across settings and promotes equitable learning experiences.
  • Utilize specialized resources such as Songs for Teaching, which offers accessible lesson plans, music tracks, and instructional strategies designed to support diverse learners. These materials can be easily adapted to meet individual sensory and learning needs.
  • Pair instruction with sensory learning tools such as Feely Folk audio-described songs, tactile storylines, and movement guides. These resources support concept development, reinforce spatial and directional skills, and provide rich auditory cues that make lessons more engaging and meaningful.
Integrating these standards and tools ensures that instruction remains structured, inclusive, and highly accessible, allowing all students to fully participate and succeed in music and movement activities.

​Reinforcement & At-Home Engagement

​Reinforcing music and movement concepts at home helps students build confidence, strengthen memory, and generalize skills beyond the instructional setting.
  • Send home recordings of session songs so students can practice independently or with family support. Familiar melodies and repeated exposure promote active engagement, vocabulary development, and smoother participation during future sessions.
  • Encourage students to create their own object/song kits, using tactile items that represent each song. This gives students autonomy, reinforces object-symbol associations, and supports consistent routines across school and home.
  • Invite peer or sibling participation at home to boost motivation, social interaction, and cooperative learning. Shared music experiences build connection, increase enjoyment, and provide natural opportunities to practice communication and turn-taking.
These home extensions strengthen skill retention, support family involvement, and empower students to engage more confidently in music-based learning.

Resource Access

Instructional articles on this site are open access and do not require an account. Free Members may access select free resources and goal banks.
Downloadable printable resources, lesson plans, recorded presentations, and ECC instructional units are available to Premium Subscribers.

Full Article List

Guide: Start Here
Tools (VI Basics)
Plan: Referrals & Eligibility
Referral & Eligibility​ ​Medical Vision Information 
FVLMALow Vision Evaluations
Other Evaluations
Plan: IEP Planning
Plan: Collaboration & Accessibility
​Collaboration Accessible Materials ​Classroom Access Instructional Access Technology Access ​Additional Supports Service Delivery Models  ​
Teach: Compensatory Skills
Compensatory Skills
Concept Development ​Alternative Communication ​Emergent Literacy ​Braille Code
​Beginning Braille ​ Braille Fluency & Comprehension  Writing Braille ​​​Nemeth Code Instruction 
​​​Tactile Graphics ​Print Concepts ​​Abacus  ​​Organization Skills​ ​​Study Skills ​​Time Management
Teach: Sensory Efficiency Skills
​Auditory & Listening Skills ​​Visual Efficiency Skills ​​Optical Device Use ​Tactile Readiness
Teach: Assistive Technology 
AT Overview ​AT Use & Maintenance Braille AT ​iOS Instruction Audio Access​ ​Video Magnifiers ​​​Basic Computer Use Computer Access ​Productivity
Teach: Social Skills
Social Skill Basics​
Non-Verbal Skills​​​​ Verbal Communication Skills Cooperative Skills Identity & Self-Awareness ​Interactions & Relationships Managing Challenges & Safety
Teach: Self Determination
Teach: Independent Living Skills
Personal Care ​Hygiene & Grooming ​Personal Health Mealtime Skills ​​​ Food Preparation
Household Skills Clothing Management ​Money & Budget Shopping & Consumerism Phone Use ​Safety & Emergency Preparedness ​​Services & Community Resources
Teach: Orientation & Mobility
Teach: Recreation & Leisure
Teach: Career & Vocational
Printables
Free Resources​ Premium Resource Library 
Teaching Strategy Printables 
​Premium Program Printables
​Premium FVLMA Printables
​ECC PrintablesCompensatory Skills Printables
Sensory Efficiency Printables
Assistive Technology Printables
Social Skills Printables
Self Determination Printables
Independent Living Printables
Recreation & Leisure Printables
Career & Vocational Printables
Evelyn Jane Stories 
Learn: Teaching Strategies & Planning
Learn: ​ECC Units
Beginning of the Year Units ​​Fall UnitsWinter Units ​​Winter Units ​​Spring UnitsAnytime Units
Learn: ​Interactive Activities
Learn: Recorded Presentations
Learn: Complete Set Bonus ​
Songs for Teaching is an online source  for educational music for all ages. It offers thousands of children's songs, lyrics, sound clips and teaching suggestions.

​Body-Part Songs & Movement Prompts

Use songs that involve naming and moving body parts, suitable for language building and motor planning:
Song Title
Key Concepts Taught
Movement Focus
Clap, Walk, Shake (Hap Palmer)
Clap, walk, shake, high/low, in-between, side, other side, back
Gross motor, direction, spatial awareness
Rubber Band Man (Hap Palmer)
Thumbs, shoulders, wrists, ankles, arms, stomach, toes, elbows, fingers, nose; stretch, bend, twist
Flexibility, body part identification
Dancing with a Stick (Hap Palmer)
Inside/outside, hands, foot, elbow, shoulder, head, whole self
Spatial/body awareness, proprioception
What a Miracle (Hap Palmer)
Hands, feet, arms, legs, spine, clap, stamp, swing, bend, stretch, twist, balance
Movement coordination, balance, sequencing
Flick a Fly (Hap Palmer)
Same as Rubber Band Man (repeats body parts and stretch/twist concepts)
Listening, following, motor planning
Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes
Head, shoulders, knees, toes, eyes, ears, mouth, nose
Body vocabulary, sequencing
The Wiggle Song (Feierabend)
Thumbs, fingers, hands, arms, head, legs, whole body
Full-body movement, following auditory cues
Mother Goonie Bird (Feierabend)
Right wing, left wing, right foot, left foot, head, sit down
Bilateral coordination, gross motor
The Jack-in-the-Box (Feierabend)
Up, jump, flop, around, plop
Spatial orientation, jumping and falling safely
Simon Says (Greg & Steve)
Head, eyes, nose, mouth, eyebrows, ears, teeth, hair, cheeks, neck, chin, shoulders, arms, elbows, fingers, hands
Body identification, listening, impulse control
The Body Rock (Greg & Steve)
Feet, arms, head, hands, hips, knees
Rhythm, movement coordination
The Freeze (Greg & Steve)
Stop/go, whole-body control
Listening, body control, regulation
Tummy Tango (Greg & Steve)
Left, right, tummy direction
Laterality, direction following
Hokey Pokey (Parts 1 & 2)
Right/left hand, foot, head, whole body; turn yourself around
Body part ID, rotation, group participation
Structure it by:
  1. Demonstrating under-hand when teaching movement.
  2. Modeling, then providing verbal prompts as students follow along.