The idea for this song came from the use of a rubber band in teaching Resilience Theory by the Devereux Early Childhood Initiative instructors. They explain that although we can’t always know what adversity children may face in the future, we can give them internal tools of resilience to bounce back from whatever occurs. Building resilience in children is critical, and resilience can (and should) be taught. The rubber band is a great physical representation of these internal protective factors.
So, I got a bunch of rubber bands of different sizes and started stretching them over card board boxes and plastic containers to see what sounds I could create. I strummed, plucked, slapped, stretched, plucked and stretched at the same time, etc., until I found sounds that I liked, and then headed to the recording studio. The result is the recording of I Am a Rubber Band on the Songs of Confidence CD.
The first phrase that came to mind was, “Hey, Jack, I bounce back.” I started there with the lyric and went through as many examples as I could of how a rubber band resembles a resilient child’s ability to cope with all that life brings. The result is fun filled frolic that ends with Jack and Jill fixing the water can with, you guessed it, a rubber band.
When listening to the song, it might be fun to stretch a few rubber bands over whatever you can find and play along.
