The game Twister is great for developing spatial awareness in kids. As they contourt their bodies to follow the directions that are yelled out to them they learn where their bodies are and how to move to reach the various dots of color. The traditional game is great at developing core and gross motor skills! It’s essential to consider the size of the board. Ideally, it will share a similar measurement to that of the keys of a piano. If you are unfamiliar with Twister or Finger Twister, they are games developed by Hasbro. Finger Twister is a table top/travel version of the traditional Twister game. The PowerPoint template I created was inspired by the game but contains some quiz elements.

On each ‘spin’, count to three – one player calls out the pronoun and the other player calls out the number/colour. Alternate who calls what. After the player has put the finger on the number/colour, they should make up a sentence with the verb in the Present Simple tense. Have your students alternate positive and negative statements, yes/no questions and wh-questions. Put letters in the circles and you say the sounds and your child needs to put their fingers onto the correct letter. As someone just starting their musical journey, you might find that your fingers can’t quite make specific movements or positions, and reaching for some keys feels a little unnatural.After grasping the object without overshooting or missing the item, it is necessary to position or rotate the object within the hand. Isolation of the joints of the fingers and thumb allow for precise movements and coordination when manipulating objects in functional tasks. This option requires more resources. Finger Twister, just like Twister, is usually played with a color spinner. You spin the spinner and let the player use any finger on the correct color. Inexpensive solutions might include: a) making your own spinner (see here), or b) using a die (or a set of dice), c) using the Spinning Wheel in PowerPoint designed by Tekhnologic. The direct relationship helps children to understand the relative nature of our note value system. This leads to a deeper and more reliable understanding of rhythms. Plus it’s really fun too. 7. Landmark Landmines Finger games and songs are actually great for engaging circle time activities, just like action rhymes we see in young childhood. These movement-based activities are driven in play but offer opportunities for motor skill work, language development, comradery, and fun! Reinforce learning notes in both clefs using these colorful and clever puzzles for students to match bass clef, treble clef, piano key, and notes on the staff.

It’s just as important that we perform these exercises in a way that will help us progress on the guitar – that’s why using a metronome is important. Students can play using one or both hands. One-handed games are faster and more difficult. Two-handed games take a little longer but may be easier to play for the first time. Pinch putty or playdough 10 times, with 3 repetitions (find more reps in our theraputty exercises blog post)

6. Relative Rhythms

This exercise is very similar to exercise 9. However, this time we are going to be bending up 1 note! If there are odd numbers in the class, create a group of three and nominate one student to be the judge. (The judge can decide how good the answer is and which player places their finger on the board.) All you need to do is spin the spinner and place your fingers in the right spot to play the game! Why you should play. The relative rhythm cards come out every day in my studio. They can be adapted for dictation, composition or simply used to demonstrate a new note value.

I have a lot of games in my studio. All have their merits, but some of them stand out. These are the free piano teaching games that I return to again and again. Before your students play the game, add particular verbs to each segment of the wheel and print out the ‘boards’. This is my favourite game for the first few lessons with any new student. Even tween and teen beginners have happily played this game.Board games- You can learn with board games you already own by using the game pieces: spinners, dice, timers, game pieces all offer opportunities to move those hands. Use the game pieces for hand strengthening, precision, and dexterity. Prior to even touching a piano key, learning the correct notes is 100% necessary so students can make playing second nature without even thinking about it. These flashcards help them with the rote memorization of both notes and note names. Here’s how it should sound: https://nationalguitaracademy.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Bending-1-1.mp3 Guitar Exercises #10 One Note Bends If you are already touching a color with the limb that has been called, you must move your limb to another circle of the same color. Hand therapists work with fingers all day long. They use some great exercises to strengthen and rehabilitate the hand. Imagine trying to use these same exercises on a four year old.

Watch out for the 8th fret on the G, B and E strings. You will have to use your first finger for each of those frets. Guitar Exercises #7 Practice Hammer Ons This piano lesson game idea will help students practice a variety of piano-related techniques and skills. The fun, holiday-themed game requires students to perform challenges, complete a task, or answer a question. You can make the game more complex by adding a ‘left hand’ and ‘right hand’ section of the spinner, increasing the number of dots on the board, or including numbers in the spinner and board. Learning the many key signatures can be incredibly tedious and is often a point of frustration for students. Help them along by allowing them a little creative freedom and fun with this board game where they will answer riddles and move around the board learning the necessary key signatures. For example, if you wanted to bend up two notes on the 7th fret of the G string. (3rd string.) To make sure you were bending up to the correct note, you would play the 9th fret of the G string (3rd string.) first.This grand staff game from Susan Paradis is fantastic for several reasons. First, because it’s fun, colourful and young piano beginners love it. Separation of the sides of the hand– Playing with finger games allows for range of motion and strength with separation of the sides of the hand. This separation provides grip strength and dexterity sides in functional grip.