The Magic Carpet

I have been searching for a long time for a floor rug with the grand staff on it.  Almost everything I found was made out of vinyl, fabric, or some other form of plastic, and I knew we would be out a rug before you could say, "pianos, penguins, & popsicles."  So...off I went into the world of Google and Pinterest to find a more lasting solution to my quest.  I stumbled upon this post over at pianimation.com and decided to take matters into my own hands.  I basically followed her instructions to make the rug.  I bought this rug from Walmart and painted on the staff lines using painter's tape and black paint.  I sewed up some bean bags one afternoon and...presto!  A magic carpet for our studio...almost as cool as Aladin's.

Today in lessons, David pulled out the magic carpet and had some fun.  Our students had a great time learning intervals and competing to identify them quickly, on the rug and on the keyboard.  We are excited to put it to good use!

Piano Party

We had our first piano party yesterday and it was a success!  It was a little on the crazy side trying to squeeze 15 people into our little apartment, but I think it was worth it.  We played a name game to get to know each other called piano pals.  The objective was to meet everyone.  We wanted the kids to feel like they are coming to play for their friends at master class and not just strangers.

Everyone went around the room, meeting all the other students.  They had to record the name of each person along with an interesting fact about them.  When we were done filling in our boxes, we sat down and as each person officially introduced him/herself, we crossed off the names until someone got 4 in a row.

After getting to know each other a little, the big kids paired up with the little kids and played note bingo.  Meanwhile, David and I pour the batter on the grill and flipped out the most amazing cinnamon swirl pancakes ever!  They are so delicious.

Hopefully the kids had fun and will feel like they really made some pals for piano master classes in the future.