Why do kids color on their walls?

Sep 2

When I was a child, I was obsessed and completely captivated by coloring. I especially loved coloring books. I had stacks and stacks of coloring books of all kinds. But I didn’t have to have a coloring book. If it could be colored, I’d color it! I even turned places on my bedroom walls into an art project (Oops… now THAT did not always end well!).

My creativity didn’t stop there. I was all about games like tic-tac-toe, eye spy, and I even loved to work math problems! (as long as it wasn’t too tricky) I loved to see how fast I could work my math fact sheets! I loved playing the piano. I would sit and play for a long time, though like so many kids, practicing wasn’t always my thing. I often tried to do the last minute thing and whip something up just before lessons or just before the deadline for an event. I just wanted to play, play, play music. I did not really want to “practice.”

Christmas break meant “break time.” No school - and no practice!” LOL - NOT! In my house, it was not break time. In my house, we practiced more over break time!

But Christmas break was always a special time, not just because of the holiday magic but because my amazing piano teacher had a genius trick up her sleeve - fun theory sheets that felt more like playtime than work. I solved rhyming mysteries, named notes, played musical BINGO with friends, and I even got to color on most of the pages and a variety of scenes. Once in a while I’d even get out my little 8-color paint set and just have at it on those pictures. I had fun. I was reviewing. After the holidays, I returned to lessons reading music better than before. It turned out all those games and activities were covertly reinforcing important skills like note recognition, number of beats, musical symbols and so much more. It was fun. I loved those little sheets. My teacher was brilliant - she had her secret weapon and it worked.

Today’s music teachers have so many more resources to engage students than when I was young, and I’m excited to share my own contribution: the Christmas Activity Sheets Book 1. This studio-licensed book is packed with over 70 pages of creative activities designed to keep elementary students learning and reinforcing musical concepts while having a blast over the holidays.

GET THE CHRISTMAS ACTIVITY BOOK

One of the highlights of the Christmas Activity Sheets Book 1 is that it contains printable board games. These games come with answer key pages (called the “Answer Captain”) so the games can be played solo or with friends and family. Students can print the one page game, and grab from their everyday items from around the house - like a coin or a button for a marker and a standard dice - and they’re ready to play. If they don’t have a dice, players can write numbers on a few pieces of paper and then draw from the stack of papers to see how many spaces to move across the board. This gives writing practice for students. I encourage my own students to draw notes and rests on a piece of paper and draw from these stacks of papers to decide how many spaces to move on the board. This adds additional learning for the students and they love the challenge.

Even people who don’t know anything about music can join in as the "Answer Captain," managing the answer sheet and making sure everyone stays on track so parents and non musical friends can play along. The variety in this booklet is unmatched, offering activities from coloring sheets and note identification, to music math pages, to puzzles and board games. It’s the perfect way for students to stay occupied and have fun, while parents can feel good knowing their kids are engaged in valuable (and fun) learning activities and it is all studio licensed.

This book is part of my Studio Savers Collection and it is now available on my website. Purchase the Christmas Activity Book 1 once and you’ll have unlimited access to use it with all your students year after year. You can gift them the whole book or send individual pages as you deem fit. Why not package it as a digital holiday surprise for all your elementary students? The Studio Savers Christmas Activity Book 1 is a versatile and engaging resource that turns music theory into an enjoyable holiday adventure. Don’t miss out - your students will love it, and their parents will thank you. Happy teaching and happy holidays!