Turn Practice At Home Into a Game!

PUZZLES GAME

Use a wooden puzzle, like the one pictured below. Remove all the pieces. For every repetition of a given task (correct bow hold, song ending, scale, etc) let your child pick a piece and put it in the puzzle. When all the pieces are gone, they can be done with their practicing.

PLASTIC EASTER EGGS GAME

Take 6 plastic easter eggs and put one tiny “surprise treat” inside. This can be 1 M&M, 3 peanuts, a chocolate chip, a fruit snack, etc. The key here is that each egg is a little different than the last, so there is the element of surprise. They want to practice until all the eggs are opened, because their curiosity won’t let them do otherwise. Have them play through their music piece or a section of their piece, and each time they do their best, they can open an egg. When the eggs are all opened, the practice session is complete.

DRY ERASE LIST GAME

Using a Dry Erase Board, list out a practice plan like the following example:

Scales

Chords

Mary Had a Little Lamb - Line 1

Mary Had a Little Lamb - Line 2

Lightly Row - Line 1

Lightly Row - Line 2

Start at the top, and each time they finish one task on the list, let them erase it from the board. Let them know that as soon as they complete the list, practice is over. This gives a great visual for them to see their own progress through the practice session, and see when they’re “almost done.”

GIANT DICE GAME

Have them roll a dice to see how many times they need to play through each practice task. Roll again for each piece or practice exercise. You can use normal dice, but it would be more fun to use giant dice. Try typing "large, foam dice" into Amazon!

LEGOS GAME

This one is similar to the plastic Easter eggs game, but this time uses legos. Grab a Lego mini figure and pull it all apart. Put one piece in each egg. As they do practice tasks, and earn the privilege of opening each egg, they will build the little man (or woman) one piece at a time. It’s surprisingly entertaining. Don’t let them see the mini figure ahead of time, or it loses some of it’s charm. Curiosity is your greatest asset here. Is it the woodland elf? Or the princess? Or the cowboy? They have to practice to find out. You could even make a silly one, with un-matching parts.

TRAINS GAME

With a lot of kids’ obsession with the wooden railway trains, you might have some luck using these in practice sessions. For each piece they perform, they can add a piece of track to the their railway, or add a train.

TOWERS GAME

Start with a tower of building blocks or Legos. They can remove one piece of the tower each time they complete a practice activity. When the tower is all down, practice time is over. You can go the opposite way and build towers as well. Again, this one works really well as a visual for them to see when practice time is almost done.

SMILEY FACES GAME

Cut out 8-10 paper circles. You can use regular printing paper, but if you have colored card stock or construction paper, that’s even better. You’ll also need a pen or some markers. Each practice task completed gets them a smiley face drawn by you. Be sure to make them wacky and fun. Big, dark eyebrows on one, a pirate with a patch, a tongue sticking out, super large eyes, or big glasses. Draw each one as you go so they get a little break between performing their songs. Don’t let them watch you draw it. Make them wait, then flip it around dramatically for them to see what you’ve drawn for them. Get ready for giggles! You can also give each smiley face a silly name like, “Bowhold Bill” or “Twinkle Tim”, that goes along with what your child just performed.