4 Fun DIY Christmas Piano Party Games

Have you ever wanted to host a different type of piano studio event? In this post, I’ll share with you how I put together my ‘Blitzen Bash’ party complete with Christmas piano party games.

⬆️ Listen to the podcast above or keep on reading, whichever fits your style. ↙️

I I hosted this event for my students in December 2019 and it was a blast. I’ll share all the details with you here so that you can take some inspiration for your own fun Christmas piano party!

The “gig-like” atmosphere

The main goal of the Blitzen Bash was to provide a “gig like” experience that was appropriate even for my youngest students.

What I mean by it being gig-like rather than concert-like is that there would be other stuff going on while my students played. 

This is more like the environment that many musicians perform in. They’re not up on a stage all the time with all eyes on them. They’re often providing background music for ambience while people chat and mill about. 

Both types of playing are valuable but our students normally only experience the concert or recital environment. 

Playing Logistics for the Blitzen Bash

For the Blitzen Bash, my students prepared a set of 3–5 Christmas pieces and I set up a running order for them to play them in. 

I invited piano families to come along at staggered times throughout the day so that they would be there about 15 minutes before the first student from that family was due to play their set.

I did this because I wanted this to feel more like an open-house than a concert. I also knew that I couldn’t physically fit everyone together in my home so I had to structure it so they arrived throughout the day.

DIY Christmas Piano Party Games

If I wanted my students to experience playing at a Christmas party, I had to also create a party-atmosphere!

I knew that if I just encouraged people to chat they would feel awkward at interrupting the students’ playing and would likely stand around and watch attentively instead. 

I needed to get some noise going – and it had to start with the kiddos. Once the kiddos were creating a bit of ruckus I knew the parents would happily chat and grab coffees and create the hum of conversation that I was after.

That’s why I set up 4 different Christmas piano party games and activity stations for the kids to get involved in.

Visit the ‘Special Occasions’ section of my Music Theory page for more holiday ideas and freebies.

Station 1: Pin the Tail on the Treble Clef

For this one, you need a GIANT treble clef without the dot on the end of the tail. Affix the treble clef to the wall at about the same height as most of your students.

You can draw one free-hand or print one out. I did a combination of both – printed it but then coloured it in by hand. (I have no good reason for doing it that way; I guess I just felt like doing some colouring I guess! 😆)

If yIf you have a corkboard handy you could use actual pins. I chose to simply stick my treble clef on the way so we used speech bubble post-it notes as our “tail”.

Instructions for students:

1. Stare at the treble clef intensely until you think you’ve memorised where the tail should go.
2. Have someone help you put on the blindfold, put the treble clef’s tail in your hand and spin you around, leaving your back towards the treble clef. 
3. Try to place the tail on the treble clef!
4. Take off the blindfold, trace around your spot and sign your name.

Station 2: Name that Tune

For this station, I put together coloured notation versions of excerpts from pop songs, famous classical themes and Christmas carols. I did this easily in Musescore using the coloured notes function, but you could do it by hand if you prefer.

I set up these cards next to my Boomwhackers so that the kiddos could play each card and then write their guess for the melody on the back. 

Instructions for students:

1. Pick up a card and play the tune by tapping the tops of the boomwhackers.
2. Try to guess what the tune is.
3. Turn over the card and write your guess for the name of the song along with your name.

Station 3: Symbol Snowman

This one was by far the messiest. I almost hesitate to show the photos of this because I used the wrong type of paint, and the snowman was made from all sorts of random parts…it was not my finest design work. 

But here’s the thing: This monstrosity was BY FAR the most popular station. The adults in my life (including myself) might have found it unsightly, but the kids absolutely loved it. 

The basic idea is to take a big sheet of poster board or other sturdy material (mine was a former art portfolio from my college days), cut holes in it, insert cups into the holes and then decorate it as a snowman. 

Hot tip: If you don’t want yours to be as hideous as mine make sure to read your tube of paint before using it to check the expiration date and type of paint. 🤣

Instructions for students:

1. Take all 5 beanbags and stand behind the line.
2. Throw each beanbag, one at a time, aiming for the matching hole. 
3. Count your points! You get 1 point for every beanbag in a hole, and an extra bonus 2 points if it’s in the correct (matching) hole.
4. The winner is the one with the most points at the end of three rounds.

Station 4: Colouring Station

As a former quiet kid myself, I know not everyone wants to jump into a game with relative strangers. That’s why I set up a colouring station in the back corner of our space as the last station.

I laid out lots of options for colouring pencils, pens and crayons and made copies of our Musical Hues sheets available. I also put out a spare sketchbook with (very messy!) instructions to tear out a sheet if they felt like drawing their own picture instead.

VMT members can download the full set of Musical Hues Colouring Sheets from the VMT library.

Not a member? You can sample a taste of these awesome colouring sheets by entering your info in the box below. Then visit the membership page to join and get instant access to the Musical Hues Colouring Sheets, plus loads of other resources to make your own Blitzen Bash a success!

Instructions for students:

1. Choose a sheet from the folder and take it out. Make sure you know all the symbols on the page. (Ask someone for help if you’re not sure.)
2. Colour it in following the directions along the side of the page.
3. Write the name of the instrument across the top (if you can figure out what it is.)

Have you hosted a Christmas Piano Party?

I’d love to hear about the Christmas piano party games and activities you had! Make sure to leave a comment below before you head off to try some of these ideas at your next one. 🙂 🎄