Day 4 is here, and today’s activity will help your students with not only their note reading, but also their fine motor skills! Piano playing in general helps with fine motor movement, but some students need extra practice. Note sorting can be done in a variety of ways, but is always a good activity to slow things down and also to avoid flashcard repetition.

For this DIY, you will need the printed pack below, a hole punch. a pencil box, some letter beads, and pipe cleaners 🙂

Print out the note cards – each one spells an actual word. Laminate them (I am a huge fan of laminating if you haven’t learned yet), and put a single hole punch in the side. Loop a pipe cleaner through it, and your cards will be all set! Place the cards and the beads in a plastic pencil box. Students will find beads that match the letters on the card, and string the beads onto the pipe cleaner in order to spell a word. And that’s it! You have a sensory box perfect for practicing note reading and fine motor control.

I’ve included 4 packs for you – beginning middle C position (a,b,c,d,e), full middle c position, c position, and grand staff. Snag a pencil box for each set, or change the cards out as you switch students. I got carried away with creating the cards, and once I printed them realized it’s unlikely you’ll be putting 16 cards in the box at once. So if you print the entire pack, you’ll have plenty that you can switch out to keep your students on their toes 🙂

Pro tip: This is a great activity to send with a student who is waiting around while a sibling is having their lesson 🙂

AND as a Christmas bonus, I’ve also included a line and space note sorting sheet. Cut the cards, and you’re all set to go! For added intensity, time how quickly your student can place all 16 presents in their correct spot in Santa’s sleigh.

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