Free Christmas Themed Piano Teaching Resource Roundup

While rounding up free Christmas themed resources and ideas that I have gathered over the years for my upcoming Christmas Piano Group Lesson and found some gems that I have used in the past but had forgotten about. I hope you enjoy using some of these fun activities with your students this Christmas season! The game links are organized by concept with links to free Christmas music and improv activities listed at the bottom. Update: Unfortunately some of the resources are no longer free since this post was created years ago, but I come back to them year after year for Christmas piano fun.

Easy Piano Festival Refreshments

Almond Sheet Cake and Fudge Mint Brownies

Today I was in charge of preparing a lunch for all of our music club festival judges at Fall festival.  Since I had a conflicting event, I needed something easy to prepare and transport that could feed a crowd without needing refrigeration.  I chose prepared items from the store for the lunch, but I love the taste of homemade desserts so much more than store-bought treats. I made 2 different desserts to top off the meal. Since they both are a bit denser than traditional cake the cleanup was a snap with minimal crumbs although with a crowd of children that might be a different story. :)
I chose two of my favorite desserts from my sister Kara's cooking blog- Creationsbykara.blogspot.com.  Her pictures definitely look more decadent than mine!
Since both of these recipes are usually made in a larger sheet cake pan that is harder to transport, I picked up some 9x13 cake pans with lids from the Dollar Tree and split the batter between them and it worked just fine.

I think the Almond Sheet Cake is even better with some topping although it tastes great alone too.  I just bought some cherry pie filling for ease but Kara uses homemade raspberry sauce.  The frosting on these is very forgiving and I love how it is perfectly smooth after you pour it on.  Doesn't this look divine?

Unfortunately, I learned this month the hard way (with kidney stones) that having a daily dose of chocolate may not be the best choice for me, but I still crave it! I skipped the chocolate topping on these Best Ever Mint Brownies but they were still delicious.  I love how both of these desserts require much less prep work than cookies and easily feed a crowd.  The "crowd" of 8 in my home can easily devour a pan in just one night!

It is my sister who I can thank for inspiring me to join the blogging world and take up the piano lessons in the first place!  After she decided that piano was not her thing and she begged to quit, I volunteered to go in her place and loved it from the start. She later discovered her niche in cooking and crafting and definitely tops me in the world of successful blogging!

Five Fun Ways to Teach Theme and Variations Form in Music Lessons

Theory Headbandz Group Music Game

If you are looking for a fun interactive way to reinforce music terms and symbols Hedbanz is a great place to start! I used this musical twist on Hedbanz as the opening game for my Spooktacular Halloween Monster Mash group lessons this month and again for the UVMTA workshop I taught on maximizing learning through creative activities in music lessons.  

My kids love the traditional version of Hedbanz where you try and guess the word or picture on your card while others act it out for you... kind of a group twist on charades.   I have also attended several parties where you get a name of a well-known person stuck to your back and then must ask yes or no questions to figure out your identity.  The Hedbanz just make it a lot easier for everyone to see who you are.  So I melded these two games by adding a flashcard (hidden from the student's view) to the top of their hedbanz as they entered. They had to ask questions to other students to try and figure out their identity.  Am I a rhythm? Do I tell you how fast to play?  I love how this activity really engaged all of the students at once because they not only had to think of effective questions to narrow down the possibilities of their term, but they also had to answer questions to help others identify who they were.  Since I just used traditional flashcards, even beginning students who may not have known all of the terms could peek at the answers on backs of others cards if needed to be able to know the name and meaning of their terms.

There once was an Ant Named Andante...

ANdANTe = Walking Speed

There once was an ANT named ANdANTe.  He was a very cautious ANT, he never liked to run because he was afraid he might fall and get hurt.  So ANdANTe WALKED everywhere.  One day when he was out with his friends it started to rain and the other ants ran for cover, but not ANdANTe.

ANdANTe marched down to the ground to get out of the rain. (Tap walking speed on your lap as you sing to the tune of “The Ants Go Marching”)  So if you spy ANdANTe remember to walk and not run!

Check out these tempo posters on Colourful Keys including one to remember Andante!

How to Maximize Learning in Music Lessons

The time at music lessons just seems to fly by each week because time flies when you are having fun!   Following are some ideas and links to resources I shared at the UVMTA Workshop: Spicing up Music Lessons-Using Creative Activities to Maximize Learning  At the end of the post is a youtube video recording of the entire workshop.

7 Principles to Make the Most of Music Lesson Minutes

Making the Most of Music Lesson Minutes: Lessons I learned from a stick figure spotlight

Several years ago I marveled as I watched my son's exceptional kindergarten teacher spotlight a child in the class while simultaneously power packing the moment with teaching concepts. The wheels started churning in my own mind as I tried to think of how I could apply this same strategy to piano instruction.

Instead of just spouting off random facts about the child such as "Today we are spotlighting Sammy.  He likes___, _____, _____ and _______ and is the 3rd of 4 children...etc," she sandwiched into a simple spotlight some auditory, kinesthetic, visual activities which had all of the children's attention completely focussed on her and engaged in the learning activity.
As she drew a circle (head) on the whiteboard, each child traced an orange circle in the air with their finger and sang round orange circle. As she added each shape they traced, identified sides, sang and at the same time were trying to figure out the mystery child by looking for clues around them. The lessons continued as they used similar activities to sound out and spell his name in the air.
Following are some of the key ingredients that I think really made this moment effective.

Multi-Tasking to the Max- The minutes at weekly music lessons are limited. By packing in multiple concepts in a way that doesn't overwhelm students they will walk away learning and be retaining even more. Efficient use of time involves multi sensory activities ideally done simultaneously.
Use Appropriate Teaching Order (Hear, Feel, See, Name)-