Make a musical board game!
Think Monopoly, Chutes & Ladders, or Candy Land! Make your own game board and laminate it. Each week, write your practice items, review songs, and scales on the board with dry erase markers. Find a dice and some game pieces and play together as a family! Keep it simple or get extra creative with lots of rules, challenges, and components.
Photo by Flute Play
2. Make a fortune teller
Make a paper fortune teller and fill it with items on your practice list. Scales or rhythms go on the outside and songs & technique go on the inside flaps.
3. Build an obstacle course
Does your child need movement while practicing? Then this one's for you! Set up an obstacle course either outside in the backyard or in the middle of the living room! Jump, spin, skip, run, and leap through as many challenges as you like. Pillows, jump rope, blankets, hula hoops, whatever you have around will work great.
Then, pick 2 or 3 spots throughout the course to add stop signs. When your child gets there...FREEZE! You hand them the flute and they play through their song or repetition. Timing the race is fun, but pause the stopwatch while they are actually playing. We don't want to encourage messy, rushed practicing.
4. Draw a Card
Write everything you need to practice down on little pieces of paper. Fold each one up tight, like a secret message! Then drop the papers in a hat, shake it up, close your eyes and draw one at a time. Simple but fun!
You can also do this virtually by downloading a spinner app on your tablet or phone. Input your practice points, spin the wheel, and see what you get!
5. Color-by-Number
You can find color-by-number pictures online and print right from home. Each number is already assigned a color. Your job is to assign each number something to play on your flute.
Here are some examples:
1= Blue= G Major Scale
2= Orange= New Song “A” Section
3= Yellow= New Song “B” Section
4= Purple= Review Song
And so on...
Print simple pictures that you can finish in one practice session or go for a more complex design that will take you all week to complete.This is such a rewarding experience because at the end you get a beautiful piece of artwork to display!
It also shows your child that each little piece matters, every repetition counts, and new skills are built one step at a time.