5 Secrets to an Easy and Exciting Holiday Party!

I want my students to have fun at our year end holiday party. But I want it to be EASY for me too. Here are what I think are the

5 Secrets to an Easy and Fun Holiday Party:

hoidayfoodbythepeachmartini

  1. Food. That is, food that I don’t make. For some time now, I’ve been having my students bring all the food to our parties. Parents and students at this time love to bring their own Christmas treats and if they’re too busy to make any, they just bring some store bought. We usually end up with a great mix of sweet and salty. Some parents have mentioned in the past that they are concerned the students will fill up on junk food and not eat their dinner, so I solve this by having them bring finger dinner food…little sandwiches or crackers and cheese. Then, all I have to do is supply the plates, napkins, and drinks.
  2. An easier schedule. Definitely cancel all private lessons for the week and do just a few parties. I like to divide my students into an older and younger group (though their levels don’t matter so much for the holiday party) and then have them overlap in the middle so that we can share treats. You can do this on several days if you have a big studio. Or you can have several party times during the week and have students choose a time convenient to them. This can get a bit hairy I know, and I don’t have all the answers for everyone regarding scheduling. But the idea is that you set the schedule to work for you and make it be easier than your usual schedule. Set party times to be convenient for you and then give your families a choice if necessary. But, don’t get sucked into giving group lessons and then offering other students private lessons…that’s a scheduling nightmare! If you send your schedule out soon enough with enough choices, it is not unreasonable to expect parents to adapt.
  3. An icebreaker game. Because you want an easy schedule, you’ll probably give your students a choice of times to attend. If you do this, you’ll end up with a mix of kids that might not know each other. So I like to do a “Christmas Who Am I?” game at the beginning. To do this, you simply put the name of a Christmas character (like Mary, Jesus, wise man, shepherd, Scrooge, Grinch, drummer boy, etc.) on a piece of paper and tape it to the back of every student as they come in, without letting them see the name. Then students walk around asking each other YES or NO questions like, “Am I a girl?” “Am I in the traditional Christmas story?” etc. I always encourage the older students to help the young ones come up with questions. When they they they know the name of their character, they have to ask me though instead of another student. It’s great fun and the kids are all talking to and laughing with each other by the end of the game.
  4. Stinky Stockings Sample8 Lvl2Fun. Games, Games, and more Games! But don’t bore your students with all your usual group games, even if they are fun. Do Christmas group games! Of course, you’ll probably want to check out Stinky Stockings, the hot potato Christmas game (there’s a box down below where you can order and have it in your inbox in minutes). Your students will love it!
    Other games you can do, even with mixed ages might be  a Name That Tune game, and Encore game, and more. Details on those are here. They’re all super easy.
  5. Stinky Stockings. Did I mention Stinky Stockings? 😉 Okay, well I just wanted to make sure you had a fun game for your party! You can purchase the hot selling game below. (I’m being serious now, it’s surpassing my expectation for sales.)

Whatever you do, remember that kids will just be excited that it’s Christmas! So throw a holiday piano party, even if it just means some food, some fun, and some festive spirit enjoyed together around the piano. Your kids will love it!

3 thoughts on “5 Secrets to an Easy and Exciting Holiday Party!”

  1. My Christmas group lesson is the same as you suggested above and works well for me too. I like to add at the end shining silly Christmas songs like the 12 Days of Christmas Texas style or junk food style!

  2. What a great idea, Donna! You mean like, “On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…[and then make up your own words about junk food]?”

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