As we enter the beginning of December, it’s time to start gathering ideas for holiday activities for group classes and, if you haven’t already, Christmas or Hanukkah music for students.
For some of my favorite holiday books, see Trusty Christmas Favorites: Repertoire I Return to Year After Year.
There’s a heck of a lot of Christmas activities floating around in piano teacher world – believe me, I’ve tried them all!
To help you weed through the noise, finds this week include activities I’ve included in lesson plans in the past and seem to return to plus a few more goodies.
1
Christmas rhythm dictation sheets | Pianimation. (They’re harder for students than you may think! Because of that, I don’t do these with my very youngest students. The same goes for the next one.)
2
Christmas carol rhythm matchups | Pianimation. My older students usually do well with this one.
3
My eyes are on the beautiful Farm Fresh Christmas Trees sign from HarperGrayceSigns.com for our new house (and studio)!
The Kris Kringle Bed and Breakfast sign from signsofhopear.comis also on my radar!
4
Jingle Bells with Rhythm Instruments| Susan Paradis.
5
Musical Christmas chain project| Color in My Piano.
6
More holiday gift ideas for your students from You Love Piano. I especially like her idea of giving students a subscription to the Piano Explorer magazine. It would be a little pricier than most teachers might give students for a gift (I think a subscription is $12/year), but if you have a smaller studio or are tired of giving music ornaments, it’s certainly a fresh idea!
7
A fun movement activity to Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker “Trepak” | Heidi’s Piano Notes.
8
Christmas improv cards | Teach Piano Today.
9
Last year I had my students make cards for their parents as inspired by this post: Student Gifts that Keep on Giving. (It’s called “in-studio” marketing – remember, it’s the little things that set you apart!)
10
Rhythm Cup Explorations| Compose Create.
P.S. What are your plans for your students this holiday season? Trying anything new? Do you have a favorite activity you return to every year? Share in the comments!
P.S.S. This is the final edition of Friday Finds for 2017, be sure and check back the first Friday in January for the start of another year of goodies!
Piano Explorer magazine offers a group rate $6 per person if you order more than 5 copies
I use Layton music’s Christmas Tree folder game every year at group lessons and individual. I love how you can review both easy and harder concepts (piano keys, note names and key signatures) in this quick game of chance. I also recently blogged about free Christmas piano resource roundup but forgot about Trepak baseball. Thanks for the reminder! http://heidispianonotes.blogspot.com/2017/11/free-christmas-themed-piano-teaching.html