Introducing Music Achievement Cards!

My younger sister was sporty – she played softball, and had all the trophies and medals in her room to prove it. On the other hand, I took piano lessons and participated festivals and recitals – and you would never know it by looking at my room. Not a medal, trophy, or certificate in sight. And the thing was – my sister got these things just for participating!

I felt wronged by this entire system. So much so that I joined my school’s track team at one point. I felt so strongly about having a physical representation of the work I’d put in that I tried a sport I knew I’d hate. How much more committed to piano would I have been if there had been a physical reward?

We can’t forget that students – especially younger kids – do not yet have intrinsic motivation. We actually have an entire article about intrinsic vs. extrinsic motivation and piano lessons here. Just like us adults, students love having physical rewards or incentives. It gives them something to work towards and show how much they’ve accomplished. And that’s just one of the reasons the new Music Achievement Cards are so exciting!

Music Achievement Cards

Music Achievement Cards are a new way for students to show what they’ve accomplished at the piano! Affirming students, reminding them of their progress, and giving them a “collector card” is a fun way to motivate students.

These cards fit perfectly in baseball card sleeves, making them easy for students to count and collect. Kids love physical objects, miniatures, and collectibles. Think of how popular things like Pokemon, baseball, or Squishmallow cards are! And if this is a studio-wide incentive, it creates an opportunity to really make these feel special. Piano rewards can feel isolating because they’re based on the individual. These can create a felt sense of community for kids.

Are these a PDF? Or PRINTED and shipped?

We’re so excited that we are offering both! We have a PDF download version of these Music Achievement Cards, and professionally printed packets that can be shipped to your door.

The PDF cards are a great value because they can be printed over and over again for any student you teach. If five students are learning the same piece, you can continue printing out the cards for that piece! We’ve included printing tips to help with printing as well, and these look beautiful when printed on card stock paper!

What’s on each Achievement Card?

How Can These Cards Help Students?

As we mentioned above, these cards affirm students by giving them a physical representation of what they’ve accomplished and the progress they’ve made. When a student feels discouraged, you can pull out their notebook and show them all the progress they’ve made. Or, remind them how difficult they found a piece, and that they earned their card because they finished the piece?

Knowing they can earn cards by playing pieces is a great motivator for students to learn more pieces. As we’ve talked about many times with the 30/40 piece challenge, when students learn more music it improves sight reading, and helps them to progress faster. These Music Achievement Cards could even be used in conjunction with the 30/40 piece challenge!

How Else Can I Use Achievement Cards?

There are so many ways to use these, but here are just a few ideas:

• Incentives: Invite students to see how many cards they can collect. This is a bit like the 30 piece challenge, but with a tangible reward for learning each piece. You could even hold a studio-wide incentive based on series. First semester could be challenging all elementary level students to learn every piece in the Mythical Creatures series, for example. Early elementary students could be challenged to learn all Little Fuzzies pieces, etc. Studio-wide challenges are always a great way to create friendly competition and camaraderie so students don’t feel isolated in their progress!
• Rewards: Give the Achievement Cards as a reward once students learn their piece. Because Wendy designed the cards to fit perfectly in baseball card sleeves, they are easy to put in their music notebooks!
• Building Excitement: Create a whole Music Achievement Cards wall! This piques the interest of students, parents, and potential students (siblings, friends, etc.) It can also get your students excited about learning new pieces. If they see that they’ve completed 3 of the Mythical Creatures pieces, seeing the remainder of them can be a great motivator!
• Choosing Recital Pieces: When it’s time to choose a recital piece, show students your collection of pieces (in baseball card sleeves) from which they can choose!
• Brag Books: Students love being able to show off what they’ve achieved to family and friends. Help students create a Music Brag Book where they can showcase the special pieces they’ve learned with their Music Achievement Cards. you can display these at recitals to give students an extra sense of pride in their accomplishments!
• Studio Charts and Decor: The covers of these pieces are beautiful, and can be used on your studio wall, piano, or shelves to showcase the beautiful music students can learn. This is also a great way for potential students to get excited about what they can learn when viewing your studio.
• Studio Showcases (marketing): Compile your own Brag Book to show prospective piano families! Showing the beautiful covers and music details can help parents know you care about knowing how kids think, what they like, and are careful to select Music Kids Love®!

What do you think of the new Music Achievement Cards? We’d love to know!

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