Balloon Fingers

One of the most basic lessons in piano is numbering fingers. For older kids, numbering fingers can take all of 5 minutes to understand. But for preschool-aged students, it can take a while to understand what the finger numbers mean. So instead of reteaching this concept for the first 10 minutes every lesson for a few weeks, use this game to help solidify the finger numbers.

Supplies:

• 5 balloons
• A marker
• A basket (i.e. laundry basket, etc.)

Lesson:

Blow up the balloons and number them 1-5 with the marker. Have the balloons spread throughout the room before your student arrives. (You can hide them to whatever degree your student has the ability to find them).

After teaching your student the finger numbers, explain that you're going to play a game. Have them find the balloons (one at a time) and tell you the corresponding finger. Then they get to try to make a basket with the balloon. If you want to change the lesson up halfway through, point to a finger and have them find the corresponding balloon. And then have them make a basket.

Have you tried this? Let us know how it went in the comments below!