Want to guess what one of my favorite things about Easter is? That’s right… chocolate! Also, hunting for eggs!
Last week's blog was about “getting to know your child better” with my open and closed-ended questions in plastic Easter eggs.
Check it out HERE if you missed it!
Every year, Easter has me thinking about the small family traditions that I had with my own children when they were young.
Do you have a special hunt prepared every year?
I sure did and even tried a few different ones BUT my children always insisted on the same Easter tradition of Bunny POOPS!
Even as married adults when I come to visit them at Easter, they beg me to be the Easter bunny and do the bunny poops for them! Maybe it's for the complete free thorough house floor cleaning that goes along with it!
This is how it goes. The original version was that your child wakes up to a trail of jelly beans on the floor leading to a hiding spot for their easter basket. Maybe to behind the couch or inside the washing machine, for example. I wanted a slightly healthier version so I used chocolate-covered raisins and peanuts and we called them bunny poops! Well, what a HIT! Sometimes some plastic easter eggs can be included in the trail or save them all for the end basket! And bonus, in order to put the candy poops in a trail on the floor the entire house floor was swept and scrubbed cleaned like a kitchen plate! Now, who does want that?
So, for your eggs from last week’s practice activities: here are a few MORE fun ideas to use for practicing and Easter and maybe they will even become a NEW family tradition for you.
See your work with a candy:
Children can’t always understand or perceive time. When they can “see” their work they will practice longer because they can make more sense of what they need to do and what they have already done.
Twas the night before Easter:
If you want them to do 6 review songs and 2 drill spots then have a total of 8 eggs in a basket. Tell them clearly that these 8 eggs is their practice and after each egg is opened they will answer a fun question and get a treat to line up on the stand. After the eggs are all done then they can have the treats to take with them. The empty “earned” and “hard-working eggs” will go into a bigger basket that will build up the days and weeks before the big Easter HUNT! YOu can even put a calendar there at the basket and cross off each day they practiced and filled the egg basket. The night before Easter, on Easter eve, leave the empty basket of eggs out with a carrot (like Santa's cookies) for the Easter bunny. Tell them the bunny will come at night and hide the eggs for them to wake up to and find the next morning. That night after they go to sleep refill the eggs with treats and house them around the house OR outside early in the morning before they wake up. OR like I did, clean all your floors and leave a “bunny poop” trail or chocolate-covered raisins and peanuts from their bed to their basket filled with a gift and/or their practice eggs full of treats!
Remember the magic is that they first EARN their eggs the week or two before the egg hunt with all of their hard work practicing. SO what does this mean? It means that this year you set the activity up and they practice and possibly even practice hard but then NEXT YEAR, they will remember this year and practice EVEN HARDER! So keep your plastic eggs from this year and plan to buy a whole lot more for next year as they will UP their practicing and need more to make a bigger hunt!
Ideas for extra things to put in your” get to know you” plastic eggs:
Jelly bean
Cadbury eggie
A paper of a review songs
A scale
If children practice with a practice chart - each check on their chart can equal one egg.
I took a look on Amazon searching “plastic easter eggs'' and I found a set that had little finger puppets already in them. You could buy these or buy some finger puppets separately and put them in your eggs, after each practice have a few in random eggs and treats in other ones. Put a puppet show on together and make up a fun silly story to go with one of their Suzuki songs.
Speaking of adventures, let me tell you all about the digital course I built called "Suzuki Practicing Academy". It is an at-your-own-pace, six-week online course for teachers and students that will bring you even more successful practices with your players! It only runs a few times a year so you don't want to miss the next time! I offer a free Masterclass to kick off each course. You can join the waitlist here.
Check out my Free PDF download Checklist for a Successful Music Practice for teachers and practicing parents.
Your easy checklist for successful home music practices from Christy, the practicing pro. Whether you are a new or seasoned practice parent or music teacher, this checklist will help you organize before, during, and after practices for effective and fun practices.
INVITATION from Christy Hodder:
Speaking of amazing practices, let me tell you all about the digital course, the Practicing Pro Academy. This is for the serious practicing parents and music teachers and is an at-your-own-pace, step-by-step, online course to bring you more effective, positive, and fun home music practices. Registrants receive a special package in the mail from me, and I am with you in person with Q&As to answer all your questions.
Learn more about PPA and join the waitlist HERE for the next Practicing Pro Academy course. It's only offered once a year so you don't want to miss it. The registration will only open for a few weeks and I'll let everyone on the waitlist know immediately so that you can grab one of the spots.
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