Piano lessons – 3 reasons why they’re a better gift

Benefits of Music, Early Childhood Music, Piano

Piano lessons as a gift? Well, the short answer is – yes, of course! And here’s why.

piano lessons and music classes for children If you’re like me you might feel tempted to want to give a gift that gets you instant excitement when they open it. Yet, I also have quite a few photos that show my kids playing with the box it came in rather than the gift itself. That instant excitement when a gift is opened can be a fairly fleeting moment.

Thinking back to when I was little, the memories that I have are more of things that I did rather than things that I received. These years with them, in the long run, are so few. We want them to remember them fondly. That’s why experience gifts are becoming more popular. And giving them an experience gift will have a longer “shelf life”.

But I know, you want to give them something that will make them super excited and instantly happy. So how does giving piano lessons make them happy when they might not even know they want to play the piano? Well here are three reasons why it’s better to give piano lessons rather than the latest hot toy as a gift.

1. Piano lessons changes kids’ brains for the better

It can be rather hard to find toys that are both fun and good for your child. Piano lessons, however, can be both. Research shows that playing the piano develops the brain to work in a more complex, yet efficient way. Both sides of their brain can work together. Plus their language and math skills are being developed.
Additionally, they’re building executive function skills that help with school and life.

2. Piano lessons are a unique gift (i.e. your kids will be happier)

piano lessons for kids 4-6 years Piano lessons are an unexpected, surprise gift. Unless they’ve been asking for them for a while. Experience gifts are hard to compare with a gift someone else got. And it’s hard for your child to compare their piano lessons to another sibling’s or friend’s lessons, especially if they started at different times. The experience is unique to each person. And research has shown that the uniqueness of the gift and the experience makes people happier. We tend to look back at experiences with rose-tinted glasses. Even if they had a bad day, overall they’ll look back and remember the overall good feeling of their lessons. So they are certain to have happy or rewarding memories attached to an experience present like piano lessons.

3. Piano lessons last a lifetime

piano lessons for kids 6-9 years The hot toy of this year will be forgotten next year. When they’re so little their wants are fleeting and change so often. We all know that physical gifts can make you happy for only so long. But it’s also backed up by research into happiness. Ultimately you need to get more stuff to keep that happy feeling going.

But when you give experiences, like piano lessons, the feeling the gift gives will live longer. And the positive changes that piano lessons make to their brains and the skills that they develop will never be lost. Plus the memories of the fun they had will forever be a part of them and they’ll consider being a piano player as part of their identity.

How to wrap it?

For smaller children, it might help them to understand what they’re getting if you give them a little something to go along with their piano lessons gift. There are so many wonderful picture books out there that have a piano in them or are about a composer. Here are a few special ones that I’ve found:

Most little kids can start to take piano as soon as they firmly know their ABC’s and can count to 10. Check out this article if you’re wondering, “Is my child ready for piano lessons?”

If you’d like to gift the gift of piano lessons to your child aged 4 to 9 years old, please contact My Little Conservatory directly, and we’ll work with you to schedule lessons.

Written by Amelia Vitarelli, owner and educator of My Little Conservatory in San Jose, CA. Amelia has been enriching the lives of children in Silicon Valley for over 20 years.

December 17, 2018/by My Little Conservatory

What’s more important than a strong academic foundation for school?

Benefits of Music, Early Childhood Development, Early Childhood Music, Kindermusik, Parenting

Many parents put in a lot of thought into what preschool activities their child will do thinking that what their child learns there will have a huge influence in how they do in elementary school and beyond.It’s true, however not in the way you may think. I hear “my 3 year old can already read,” or “my 4 year old already knows how to multiply.” That truly is great! I love kids that love to learn. But it should not be the main focus for a preschooler. Studies have shown that focusing on academic knowledge early on is not what’s going to ensure that your child does well in school. Read more

August 7, 2018/by My Little Conservatory

But I don’t want to do that! Use music to create solid routines and ease transitions

Early Childhood Music, Family Fun, Parenting

CC License, Some Rights Reserved: Thomas Galvez We’ve all been there. Your child is behaving like an angel and suddenly turns into a little devil when you tell them that they have to do something else. It’s understandable. They’re not really little devils! They’re learning how to behave properly and what your expectations are of them. And who wants to stop something fun? Young children need routine and schedules to help them predict what their day will be like. When you plan transitions into your day it helps give them a heads-up of what’s next. And there are some great ways to ease them into the transitions of the day – with music! Read more

June 26, 2018/by My Little Conservatory

It’s Butterfly Time at My Little Conservatory! Share these butterfly songs with your toddler

Early Childhood Music

Spring is here! As the flowers start to bloom, the butterflies come back. Their bright colors quickly catch the eye of children, who go chasing after them. Embrace that curiosity and use song to teach them more about these delicate and beautiful pollinators.

One of the best way to teach kids new concepts is through song. Below are some songs you can sing and dance to with your children. For babies, you can sing along for them and clap their hands together with the beat. But these songs are probably best for toddlers. Ask them to come up with movements that go with the lyrics, or use the ones suggested with each song. Use props like scarves and streamers as your wings. Or you could even make your own butterfly wings together to help them really get into their imagination.
Read more

April 30, 2018/by My Little Conservatory

How does all this banging and shaking help? Toddlers and percussion

Benefits of Music, Early Childhood Development, Early Childhood Music, Kindermusik

Have you ever left your child alone for a brief moment only to find she’s pulled out the pots and pans to bang away on them? Or perhaps your child literally dances to the beat of his own drum that he’s made out of a box? Mine have! But there are great reasons for it and benefits from doing it. Toddlers have an innate drumming ability. And it’s one of the easiest instrument types for them to explore at such a young age. Rhythmic music and drumming have been the foundation of music since before written history. It’s a universal language! You see pictures of it on the walls of caves and still see it as fundamental to popular music. We are born with an appreciation for percussion. And listening to and performing percussion actually helps your child’s brain and body development. Read more

April 19, 2018/by My Little Conservatory

Top 25 Children’s Music Blogs

Early Childhood Music

Our My Little Conservatory Blog made #9 on this list of the Top 25 Children’s Music Blogs by Feedspot. Woohoo! Check out this awesome list! There are some really great blogs listed on this compilation. Our very own Kindermusik Minds On Music Blog received first place!

April 17, 2018/by My Little Conservatory

Perfect fairy music for dancing and instrument play alongs

Early Childhood Music, Family Fun

Saint Patrick’s Day is coming up and it brings to mind Ireland and it’s fairy folklore. Old Irish folk tradition included a strong belief in the fairy world and that fairies were to be both feared and respected. For example, if you tried to catch a leprechaun for it’s gold be prepared to have mischief and bad luck follow. Or you could just offer the leprechaun a bed for the night and he’d gladly give you gold in return.

If you have a child like mine that LOVES fairies, you know that fairies are less feared and more revered today. And TinkerBell and her friends are at the top of the list. So why not embrace their love of fairies. Indulge it, and introduce them to fairy inspired songs where your little ones can let out their inner fairy to dance and play along with instruments. Read more

March 12, 2018/by My Little Conservatory

Our Level 1 class – what sets it apart?

Early Childhood Music, Kindermusik

As any parent of a young toddler knows, they are fully on the move. They’re crawling at full speed, taking their first wobbly steps or learning to run sure-footedly. And because of these new skills, 1 to 2 year olds are less likely to sit patiently through any type of activity. But at My Little Conservatory, we design our music class for 1-2 year olds so that it meets the needs of young toddlers rather than trying to get them to do something they are not ready to do. Here’s what makes our Level 1 class perfect young toddlers.

More Movement

Twirl, wiggle and dance! Young toddlers want to move, so we let them. By being free to move around class and grove to the music, they get to develop muscles in their little bodies that they need to walk. Allowing them to dance and move also helps them feel the music and beat in their bodies. No matter if they are a crawler or a walker, they also learn how to control their little bodies. Through start and stop play with the instruments and scarves, they improve their large motor skills. Read more

February 25, 2018/by My Little Conservatory

A Musical Celebration for Black History Month

Early Childhood Music, Teaching Music

February is Black History Month. What better way to celebrate it than through music. American music would not be what it is today without the influence of African American music. It begins from when Africans were forced into slavery and brought music to America from their homeland. As time went on, African-American music evolved into what we hear today. Here are some of the major African-American musical genres.

African-American Spirituals

A spiritual is a type of religious folksong that is closely associated with the enslavement of African-Americans in the American South. The songs proliferated in the last few decades of the eighteenth century leading up to the end of legalized slavery in the 1860s. The African American spiritual (also called the Negro Spiritual) constitutes one of the largest and most significant forms of American folksong. In the following video, Calvin Earl presents an African American spiritual song in hopes of providing a better understanding of the music created by the slaves in the cotton fields of the Old South in America. The history and secret codes within the spiritual ‘Wade In The Water’ is brought to life in a small clip of his performance in Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia.

Your Multicultural Holiday Playlist