I don’t know about you, but Easter has snuck up on me this year! Spring is on it’s way and everyone is looking for signs up bunnies, eggs, and crosses. And your piano students will be no different 🙂

I have long said that holidays are the perfect opportunities to shake things up and add some excitement around your studio. This time of year it seems that Valentine’s Day, St. Patty’s Day, and Easter come up one right after the other.

So what do you need? Quick, easy, and effective activities to get your students learning in new ways! And today we have just that. I’m offering 3 easy print and DIY activities you can implement with minimal prep work.

Easter Eggs Finger Independence

When young ones enter your studio, finger independence is often a difficult task. There hasn’t been much of a need for them to use their third finger independently from their fourth finger yet in their everyday activities! But this is a critical skill for piano playing 🙂 This activity is simple – print, cut, and grab some coins and a die to get started.

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Easter Egg Hunt Score Study

Did you see last month’s Luck O’ the Irish Score Study? Students often approach a new piece of music like reading a book. You start at the beginning and work til the end. What they don’t realize is that the music gives us lots of important clues that we can read into before we begin to practice. We shouldn’t wait til the end to find out that the dynamic changes, our fingers move, or there is a tempo change. Score study is an incredibly important skill that is often neglected. But having this in our tool boxes leads to much wiser practice! This printable includes a fun way to give your students an Easter Egg Hunt AND knowledge of their new music all at once 🙂

Easter Egg Matching Challenge

“It looks like a bag of skittles exploded in here!” One of my students exclaimed as he bounded into the studio. And yes, that is exactly what it looked like 🙂

This activity has been a student favorite for several years now. And it is a fantastic way to test knowledge across a wide range of music skills! Rhythm, terms, notes, etc. can all be included. I bought a couple packs of Easter eggs and drew symbols or questions and matching answers on the top and bottoms of the eggs. A basic black sharpie is perfect for this. Then I place them around my studio. Depending on the student, I typically set the stopwatch for 4 or 5 minutes. The student’s job is then to put as many eggs as they can back together (correctly) and into the Easter basket. Try again the next week to see if they can beat their score 🙂

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Looking for other ways to easily add in some Easter to your studio?

• Easter stickers (your dollar store or local craft store should have them!)
• Faith-based music (based on the family’s permission and practicing faith) or spring related songs
• a simple Easter garland
• Small, piano themed Easter treats
• etc.