Prop Spotlight: Ring Toss Game

by | Mar 11, 2024 | Intervention Share, Music Therapy Interventions, Music Therapy Tips & Tricks, Uncategorized | 0 comments

White background has overlapping colorful dots on the top, left, and bottom sides of the image. In the center of the photo in blue text reads "Music Therapy Prop Spotlight" and below in green, all caps text reads "Ring Toss Game." To the right of the text is an image of three cones (red, yellow, blue) some with rings on top to demonstrate the game.

If you know me, you know I love using props in my music therapy sessions. Different props can add elements of variety and novelty into sessions which support engagement and participation, so a good prop is a win-win for everyone. One of my personal favorite props to bring into my school groups is a ring toss game with cones. This game is relatively inexpensive, it’s durable, and easy to clean being it’s plastic. I have a set from the Target dollar spot, but have linked a similar one on Amazon here. My biggest tip for implementing this game into sessions is to add a velcro dot to each cone so you can customize the activity however you’d like: to target specific goal areas, or just for some seasonal fun. Paired with some person-preferred music, it’s a hit! Below I have included some ideas I’ve used in the past that you can implement into your sessions right away. Happy ring-tossing 🙂

Goal Focused Activities

  • Color ID/matching: try to land a ring on the cone of the corresponding color.
  • Forming/spelling words: have a different letter velcroed onto each cone for a fun way to build words!
  • Reading words: Have some of the client’s spelling/sight words velcroed onto the cones. When the ring lands on a specific word, it can be an opportunity to practice sounding out that specific word. (example in image to the right).
  • Expressive communication: identifying images velcroed onto the cones or objects hiding underneath them!
  • Prepositions: Using where the ring lands to practice understanding of prepositions: the ring landed on the cone. The ring landed under the table.
  • Counting/numbers: working on counting by 5s or 10s? Label the cones sequentially and work on counting together. 
  • Learning music: have different music symbols, note names, piano keys, etc velcroed to the cone. Practice identifying and playing them on an instrument as you land rings on the cones!
  • Music composition: use the color of the cones with color coded instruments (resonator bells, boomwhackers, desk bells, etc) to make unique melody lines.
Cones and rings displayed on table. Cones have sight words velcroed to the front, from left to right: boil, point, joy, coin, toy.

Fun/Seasonal Activities

  • Songwriting: If you want to make songwriting activities multimodal, this is a great way to do so. For fill-in-the-blank songwriting, you could have different options for blanks attached to the cones. Whichever cone the ring lands on is the option selected for that blank! Could make for a silly songwriting activity.
  • Halloween: In the past, have added Velcro ghosts to the outside of the cones and we “busted” them with the Ghostbusters song playing in the background.
  • St. Patrick’s Day: Tape a leprechaun visual inside one or more cones. After tossing all of the rings, see if the student “caught” the leprechaun by landing a ring on the leprechaun cone. Pair with some Irish instrumental music.

 

Our music therapist, Abby, is shown smiling, standing in front of greenery outside. Abby has long, wavy blonde-red hair and is wearing a blue groovy garfoose t-shirt.

This blog post was written and shared by Abby Petrey, MT-BC. Abby provides 1:1 and group music therapy support services in homes, community settings, and various schools. Abby is also the social media coordinator for The Groovy Garfoose. Abby’s passions outside of music include reading, cuddling her cat, and game nights with friends. All images in this post are original and were created/taken by Abby.