This fun activity was inspired by the Pianimation blog. Pretty sure I found it via Pinterest (are you following me there yet?). This is just my take on it. Not every lesson includes the Potato Head, but it’s a fun, tangible activity for students to see success.
Check out the original post from Pianimation for the main idea of this activity. I have used it in much the same way, but I also include rewards for when the student displays a good attitude, does something the first time I ask, etc. A student isn’t guaranteed that he or she will get to add a potato part each time s/he does something great, but it’s very possible! It’s also an option that parts can be lost for poor behavior. At the end of the lesson, if the student has completed the Potato Head (however s/he wants to assemble it), the prize pouch is brought out!
You can also use different Potato Heads for different seasons (stock up during post-holiday sales!), but one Potato Head should be plenty.
So far, this has worked out well. One thing that I want to be careful of is that a student earns those potato pieces, not just that I want the student to complete the Potato Head or that I feel obligated that each time the Potato Head comes out, a prize is automatically given. Chances are, the student will benefit in the long term more from an earned prize than one that is unearned.
What do you do to encourage great work in music lessons? Do you have ideas to give this Potato Head activity another fun twist? Please let me know in the comments!
Barbara Fischer runs Fischarper, LLC and loves her job as a harpist and private music educator. She enjoys blogging about various aspects of the music field on fischarper.com/blog. For more music resources, check out the Fischarper store. Find out where you can find Barbara on the interwebs here. And you can sign up to receive Fischarper updates by joining the email list.