At our preschool piano camp we wanted to teach the kids about curved fingers - but how can you make that a fun and understandable concept for 3- and 4-year-olds? I decided to take my usual bird's nest analogy and add in a fun little visual to help them understand the concept. I found the idea for these cute little fuzzy birds on this blog (which actually is written by a fellow-piano major of mine from BYU) and decided they would be perfect for teaching about curved fingers!
The kids LOVED holding their little birds (which are made with the really BIG pom poms, so they fit perfectly in a little hand) in their curved-finger birds nest. They could easily see that if they flattened their fingers, their poor little bird would fall right out of the nest! We had a lot of fun with these little birds.
In what ways have you taught important piano concepts to young children in fun and creative ways?
Labels: Ideas for Summer Teaching, Jenny Boster, Preschool Music, Preschool Piano Camp, Summer Camps, Summer Classes, Teaching Beginning Technique, Technique, Young Beginners
