Idea Share #22: What teaching props do you use that help create good habits?

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Idea Share #22: What teaching props do you use that help create good habits?

For Idea Share #22, we asked a super fun question: “What teaching props do you use that help create good habits?“

We wanted teachers to share about gadgets or gizmos that helped with any important habit including practice habits, technique habits, remembering to read their assignments, or anything that we want piano students to develop to become better musicians.

As usual, we got some great responses and really fun ideas from many of our generous and creative ComposeCreate teachers and we’ve included them all below!

It’s nice to be able to read about what teachers shared, but don’t forget that the energy created when teachers are commenting on the ideas and building them (which we don’t include in this summary) is so energy-giving! So please consider joining us at one of our live webinars in the future! You can join the newsletter to make sure you don’t miss our webinars.

What We Released at This Webinar

At this webinar, we released:

  • The Autumn 2026 Bundle which included 6 new pieces ranging from early elementary to intermediate
  • Two new Little Fuzzies pieces: Both included in the autumn bundle, but available individually as well. In one, The Little Fuzzies have been busy, but this time they forgot to check the weather before they went on an apple-picking quest in the fall! What happens when it gets colder and colder as they pick the bright red apples? And is that what influences them to decide they they don’t want to spend winter in the cold? Well, whatever influenced their decision, they try out very creative ways to go south during what becomes the Fuzzy Migration! 
  • Wickedly Allergic: Plenty of kids have seasonal allergies, but even “a perfume that your grandma wore” might be the reason that you sneeze or get a funny rash! Whether your students have allergies or not, just the engaging cover will make them want to learn this piece!
  • Autumn Retreat – A new late elementary Exploring Beautiful Places solo based on Wendy’s dream of one day finding a little cabin nestled in the pine and aspen trees in the mountains and spend weeks and weeks reading books, hiking, and composing music
  • Busted Broom – A special solo for your early elementary students on the black keys! What if your broom is busted and behaves badly? It’s a great new spin on the traditional witches’ broom idea!
  • A new pop piece called Leave It Raw – Includes piano, vocal and guitar chords and helps the musician articulate the frustration that happens when we go through something difficult, but people don’t know how to sit with us through the pain. Very moving!
  • And we now have Autumn and Halloween Music Achievement Cards for most of those one-off (not in a series) autumn and Halloween solos!

Idea Share #22 Question

We asked teachers, “What teaching props do you use that help create good habits?” And here are the great ideas that our teachers shared:

  1. Robin: I do a big variety of things. One of them is a practice Bingo, with some sort of teensy prize at the completion of it.
  2. Pamela: Bead counters! While students are doing their 10xRCC routine (ten times in a row, correct and comfy), the bead counters from The Practice Shoppe make it fun. With it, they don’t have to keep track, and can focus completely on their playing.
  3. Kelli Stegman: Fuzzy practice buddies for hand shape – don’t smush the fuzzy!
  4. Barbara: I use the plastic-coated colored paper clips to mark the end of their assignment (in their lesson book.) They know that anything before that clip they should keep playing!
  5. Robin: I have a plush turtle to demonstrate hand shape, AND to remind them to practice slowly at first.
  6. Helen: Squishy lady bug for hand shape.
  7. Mary: Finger pop-its for ADHD people to help students to overcome knuckle collapses
  8. Joan: Diane Hidy’s ladybug for hand position
  9. Lori: I use sticky notes to mark the page in their book of the piece to practice. They are taught to look for the sticky notes!(I don’t use an assignment book.) I also use Mrs. Ladybug (from Diane Hidy’s idea) to help create good hand shape.
  10. Nancy: For Students who forget to read their assignment sheet during the week, I’ll write a secret word that they must tell me at their next lesson before they see their last sheet
  11. Annette: I go through sticky notes to keep their attention focused.
  12. Emily: I like to hand my kids a Needoh to squish while we’re doing our chat/catchup at the beginning
  13. Eva: Hour glass style timers have been giving my kids the feeling that practice is not interminable
  14. Janelle: A square popper. I give it at the first lesson. You have to use the fingertip to get your finger to pop the silicon “dimple”. We start talking about technique then, and we also pop to the beat of music – talking about keeping a steady beat. It’s working for “tall” finger joints.
  15. Carolyn: Teaching staccato . . . I have a little plastic frog I put on their wrists, and when they do it right (bounce their wrists) the frog hops off.
  16. Jean: Collapsible giraffe for collapsing joints and ladybug “pillow” for hand shape
  17. Helen: A little pom pom on the key that they always move up to. It was a Little Fuzzy piece, can’t remember which one.
  18. Maya: Small 3d animal erasers to spell scales and chords
  19. Laura: I have loved an idea I got from MTNA Conference in Chicago this past March. Helen Marlais used those little “tiny animals” that you get by the cash registers at gift/toy stores. She used a tiny kangaroo to set on top of the wrist and teach the student to jump into the key (push the kangaroo toward the fallboard) to get a nice strong, crisp sound and motion.
  20. Nancy: Beanbag on shoulder to remind students to be aware if their shoulders are starting to get tense and come up – Wendy’s idea
  21. Kelli: I have a weighted polar bear wrap that I’ve placed on children’s shoulders for relaxing their shoulders.
  22. Robin: I have a variety of puzzle erasers and other little toys (just got some cute pumpkins of various colors) to use in lots of ways. Place them on keys I name, move one to the opposite side of the piano for every correct repetition, prize for completing a challenge.
  23. Maya: I think Andrea Dow with Wunderkeys makes little fidgets out of a small tuna can or solo cup + a balloon stretched over the opening – you pull and pluck it with each finger to develop a firm rounded knuckle
  24. Maya: I have my students make ‘finger circles’ with fingers 1-2, 1-3, and 1-4 and press into the circle to practice playing on fingertips and no collapsing
  25. Robin: Mini candy corn erasers are the perfect size to place on the music (if it’s laying flat) to have them point out certain intervals, or dynamic markings, or rests, whatever.
  26. Laura: I stumbled on an idea a few months ago in trying to help a student with balance between the hands. We put a slap bracelet on the wrist of the hand that needed to be louder. The physical sensation of that bracelet helped them to have an extra layer of sensation in helping to develop that feeling of a difference between the hands.
  27. Keera: I found some stretchy ‘people’, they are a couple inches tall and have magnets in the hands and feet. They are fun to create intervals on a magnetic staff board.
  28. Robin: I have numerous pieces of sturdy felt for glissandos, and thank you for that idea. They hold up way better than 3 x 5 cards, too. And the palm of the hand is also a great technique.
  29. Kelly: Practice Space! An amazing gamified site for student to do lists and prizes
  30. Susana: I use a string with beads, the student can only slide a bead to the other end of the string when they have played a piece perfectly.
  31. Kathryn: Frog guarro that I picked up in Tijuano for tapping rhythms
  32. J. Dianne: Use lots of analogies to things they already know and then take time to practice.
  33. Marian: Piano Safari!
  34. Michelle: Diane Hidy shared of using a ladybug that fits amazingly well under a student’s hand to help with proper hand position. I know I bought one on Amazon, and will try find the link to share.
  35. Pam: The normal size pink eraser — balanced on the back of the hand while teaching them to lift their wrists toward the fall board as they move from chord to chord. It gives them a bit of weight, keeping them mindful of it — and it’s quite interesting that even if you only put ONE on one of the hands, they BOTH stay tall and move in the lovely goals we’ve set!
  36. Becca: I have seasonal little figures/erasers for my students to move from one side of the piano to the other as they practice a piece. It can be 3 cupcake erasers, halloween erasers,etc.
  37. Kathy: Attach a post-it with 2 or 3 things to practice, to the top of that page. This is on top of listing each item on the written assignment (because they often dont look at that written assignment)
  38. Lynn: Stickers! Oh the power of the sticker.😀
  39. Judith: Using 2 stuffed toys ( Porci a porcupine for round hand shape and Flopsy a bunny for loose wrists)
  40. J. Dianne: Stickers to be sure
  41. Mary: I have some home-made fuzzies that we use for moving from one side of the piano to the other as they play through sections or tricky measures.
  42. Julie: I bought a sloth stuffed animal. It comes out when sight-reading or practicing a challenging part of a piece to remind students to play at “sloth speed”. SLOWLY in order to get it correct.
  43. J. Dianne: Stuffed animals
  44. Shelley: I have given my students mini “pop-its” on a keychain and they put it in their binders. Each day they practice they can pop a button. Then they tell me how many they popped through the week.
  45. Lyn: I have a treasure box for students who practice 4-5 days. It has stickers and candy in it.
  46. Lisa: Not only do I use felt squares for Wendy’s glissandos, but for students swipe to say “Up to the right” and “Down to the left”, which was suggested by the late Marvin Blickenstaff. They learn right – left and up-down on the piano well.
  47. J. Dianne: I have a tapping frog to give hints about hand position.
  48. J. Dianne: Talking frog (stuffed animal)
  49. Michelle: The ladybug from Diane Hidy is called “Ladybug Squeezie” on Amazon and is currently $9.99
  50. Judith: Erasers for repeated practice. Moving them from one side to another
  51. Mary: I also tap the beat on the piano bench while going through music (not just clapping it) so they can feel AND hear the beat as they play.
  52. Mindy: Carbon paper! I tell my students it’s my portable “copy machine”. I use it as I write out their assignment sheet, so if they don’t understand something between lessons, I can revisit my “copy” if they call for help. I also know exactly what I assigned as I plan for the next week.
  53. Mary: Boom Wackers have been a hit instead of tapping or clapping rhythm of a piece their learning. gives them a quick science of sound lesson, too…
  54. Becca: I was inspired by Pokemon a few years ago, and I made some musical skill characters that you can level up. I made them stickers that students can achieve

THANK YOU to our community for coming to the webinar and sharing your best tips for teaching your students how to practice at home!

What’s a Piano Teaching Idea Share?

During each webinar, we pose a question designed to spark ideas and support piano teachers everywhere. After both webinars, we gather all the responses and share them as a curated list or, in earlier Idea Shares, a free downloadable PDF. That way, you can tap into the collective creativity of the ComposeCreate® teaching community any time!

Check out all the Idea Shares here:

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