Did you know that it is National Cephalopod week? Apparently, it is June 21 to 29th, or thereabouts.
Octopuses are my favorite cephalopod. Ollie the Octopus is a story I wrote, illustrated by Bethany Beers-Mullen. Ollie can be used as a simple story in its own right, or can be used with the Octaband® to create a group dance for children.
I created the Octaband® as a way to get people with advanced dementia who were no longer relating to other people to hopefully interact. I'm so glad to say that it worked, and continues to work, with people with dementia all over the world. I called the stretchy, colorful prop an Octaband® from the beginning, because its role in the group reminded me of an octopus. I imagined that each of the octopus's arms were reaching in different directions to get food and then fed the mouth at the center. (I didn't know at the time that the mouth isn't actually in the center, but on the lower side of its head.) Similarly, the Octaband® reaches out to each of the participants and feeds the group synergy.
The Octaband® promotes group unity and cooperation, not only with people with dementia, but all people.
Here are some of the ways the Octaband® has been used as an octopus with children:
Lauren Schutte is a dance teacher for Social Shindig Service. She specializes in working with people with intellectual and/or physical disabilities on the NSW Central Coast of Australia. They do a warm-up to the Beatles' Octopus' Garden.
Dance/movement therapist Sara Rubinstein found that some children in a children's hospital wanted to wear the Octaband® as though they were an octopus.
Expressive therapist and licensed mental health counselor extraordinaire, Adam Riccio in Weymouth, MA. Adam put an octopus puppet on the center when he was working with a group of kids with behavioral problems. He found that just having them watch was very challenging. I can imagine it would be. He would suggest, "Let’s watch the octopus sleep in his octopus’s garden.“ He'd have the kids move to the Beatles song, "I’d like to be, under the sea, in an octopus’s garden in the shade”. And Adam said, "of course, the octopus has to do his exercises. So, let’s help the octopus do his exercises. On the count of 3, we’re going to lift the octopus up and try to catch him in the center. It’s not as easy as it sounds, but they love it.... And I like to torture them by counting really slowly ..... one ..... two ..... and then of course I’m the one who takes a deep breath in and out, once, twice, ....three. They lift it up, making the octopus in the middle rise up and try to catch it or not catch it and then 'Oh, we caught him' or “'We almost caught him.'
Princess Sharon uses the Octaband® at birthday parties. She does a game she calsl "feed the octopus!" "We all stand up with it in a circle and slowly go in and in and in and when we get to the middle we all pretend to feed the center part and then we move back slowly together and make it grow, grow, grow!!"
In her work with children with cerebral palsy, dance/movement therapist Rachel Federman Morales said she sometimes uses the Octaband® with the image of an octopus and its many arms and "we are in the ocean and I improvise from there.... Exploring the levels -high, middle and low."
Dance/movement therapist Suzy Matheson used the Octaband® when she was working as an artist in residence at a summer camp for homeless children. She used the book The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister to enhance literacy skills through creative movement. "In this book the Rainbow Fish seeks guidance from the wise Octopus on how to make friends by sharing his most prized possessions. The children particularly loved dancing with the Octaband® while listening to “Octopus’ Garden” by The Beatles. Some movements included saying hello to the Octopus going into the circle, making different shapes in space (blue bands- up, pink bands- down, yellow bands to the side and then reversing the order), walking around in a circle with the Octopus, as well as going back into the circle to say goodbye when the song was over."
So you can see, many people relate to the Octaband® as though it were an octopus and many like to move with it to the Beatles' Octopus's Garden.
You can get your very own octopus (Octaband®) here. Or, for a limited time, while these limited edition (only 6) Octaband®s handmade in U.S. last, here on Etsy.
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