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

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 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

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.