Well… our mention of creating a Piano Studio Mascot in our post “My Piano is Naked Without These 4 Items” resulted in a steady stream of emails begging for more details! And for every person who made a point of emailing, I’m sure there were three who didn’t have the time to do so… so today’s post is all about how to create and use a piano studio mascot.
“I Missed Something… What’s a Piano Studio Mascot?”
A piano studio mascot is a stuffed toy that goes home with one of your piano students each week. This stuffy becomes their “practice buddy” as he keeps them company on their piano for the 6 days before their next piano lesson. The mascot travels with a special practice log where students record information about their home practice. When the mascot is returned at the following lesson, he is then passed onto another student along with the log. Students love this “breath of fresh air” to their practice routine and they really like to look back and read their peers’ entries in the log (and compare practice minutes!)
Here’s how to easily create and implement a piano studio mascot:
Choose Your Creature
Our studio has “Treblesome Tiger”, but you can choose any critter and give him a clever name (one reader trying this idea wrote in to say she had created “Bravo Bobcat” as she lives in Arizona). Be a kid again and hit the toy store to find an appealing mascot!
Announce Your Mascot’s Arrival
The bigger deal you make of your mascot, the more excited your students will be when it is their turn to take him home. Make a display on your studio wall, announce it on your website, and put it in your newsletter. This year I’m even going to make a little iMovie about Treblesome Tiger so I can post it to be shared on Facebook. Create lots of hype and the payoffs will be larger. This is also “shareable news” as you can let all of your students know who has the mascot that week, share the previous students’ practice minutes etc. etc.
Create The Log Book
What you put in your Mascot Log book is up to you. I like to include a space for the student to tell a little bit about themselves, record what they did with their mascot (at the piano and away from the piano) and keep track of the minutes practiced each day with a grand total for the week. Put these sheets into a binder, and this becomes the log book. Decorate the front of the binder with an 8×10 photo of your mascot sitting on a piano or doing something equally musical. Make sure your Mascot’s name is on the front (it’s all about branding… even with these little studio activities you’re still generating word-of-mouth buzz).
Send The Buddy Home!
Pick a first student to take him home whom you know will be very conscientious and who will get your log book off to a fabulous start. In fact, hand-pick the first few students so that the idea of the mascot catches on with families who will definitely remember to a) actually complete the activity, b) not let the family dog maul the mascot and c) remember to return him! I send the mascot home with students under the age of 11. It just seems to work best with young children.
Keep Us In The Loop!
We’d love to see your studio mascots! Tag us @teachpiantoday across all social media platforms us to let us know how you are making out with this new addition to your piano teaching studio and together we’ll bask in the glorious thing that is increased practice hours!
Nothing goes better with a Piano Studio Practice Mascot than some amazingly awesome activities for your student and your mascot to complete together! I love to send home 6 activities from Shhh… Your Piano Teacher Things This is Practice for my student to complete during their week with Treblesome Tiger. It’s a sure-fire way to see their practice hours skyrocket and their parents are always speechless at the progress they make. This is by far one of our most popular products – check it out!
Catherine says
I’d already flagged up to get hold of a mascot before beginning of term (in UK we go back to school in 2 weeks!) but love the idea of sendinf home some activities as well! I know the kids I teach will love it (I have a large cohort of little girls at the moment- one started with me and then all her friends wanted to learn piano too!)
Carol says
Thanks for the post, Andrea! I have almost finished the website. I have implemented the changes you suggested! Love them!
My mascot is Pezzo Penguin. When I re-designed the logo, I included him in it to give Pezzo some prestige 🙂
Thanks for all you do to inspire music teachers!
Tara Johnson says
WOW! Great idea! I LOVE it! I will be looking in stores for the perfect mascot. Somehow, I missed your first post. Oh, dear! 🙂 Yes… I was one of the three! LOL
Thanks so much for re-inspiring me! I’m a bit on the frazzled end of things right now and your posts really boost my enthusiasm! Thanks, again!
Elaine says
Do you every have families concerned about germs with a pal going home with a different student each week?
I am looking at having the students earn their own practice pal after a certain amount of practice logging on my website…
Tanya Brooks says
Well, you could get one made from plastic and then Lysol it every week. That’s what I would do.
Jan says
This is a great idea. My mascot and logbook are set to go also. I have a glen terrior puppet from folkmanis that I named Coda. I had fun making a wall poster using dog print fonts. With all the ideas you two come up with, you must be thinking all the time. We are lucky to have you! Thanks!
Jo says
Clef the Teddy Bear (T B stands for Teddy Bear and Treble Bass) is now going home with my young students. So far it’s been reported that he snores loudly and that he enjoys singing and dancing! A comment about germs: Clef is washable, so I can take care of that between students if needed. Thanks for the fun idea. I think some of my students will enjoy our practice “pet”. (We are calling him that rather than a mascot).
Joyce says
I chose 3 stuffed animals, had the students vote on their mascot of choice, then collected names and had students vote – our mascot is Melody Bear and you can see his/her (depending on what the student wants – lol) adventures on my website even – yes Melody Bear has its own page…so far, Melody Bear has been to the Halloween aisle at Walmart – student wrote about the adventure, then to Hawaii where there were a few pics of him/her relaxing and soaking up the sun, and then Melody Bear got dressed up by a student for Halloween – as Super Bear and went trick-or-treating – but later was hogging up all the 200 pieces of candy they got…fun idea this Mascot…kids love this
Linda says
Where can I find your website Joyce?
Kristin says
My sister knitted me a Beethoven doll to be my studio mascot. The little conductor’s baton in his hand is great for keeping the beat. Haven’t sent him home yet, since most of my students are older, but he is prominently displayed by my piano, and they love him!
Heidi says
My studio theme this year is all about fish, I kind of modified and expanded your e-fish-ent practice incentive! I really wanted to find a good practice pal for my younger students, and amazingly found an adorable rainbow fish at the dollar store! He is sooo cute and very funny with the big lips. I have a binder for him, kind of set up like a diary. The first page is for pasting on a picture of Mr. Fortissimo Fishy (sorry, I borrowed the name!) and whichever student had him that week. They can draw and color a picture instead if they want. Then I have one diary entry for each day of his stay with the student, with an activity they need to do. Kind of fill-in-the-blank format. I also have a sign-up sheet ready to have hanging up, so the students that are interested can take turns. I can see that older students won’t be interested, that’s why it’s an option! I’m really excited to try this out!
Jennifer says
Hey Heidi! I know you posted this a while back, but I was wondering if you could share or send me your diary sheets for the log you made for your mascot. I’m excited to try this myself, and I figured I could save time if someone has already created a file to use! I would appreciate it! Thank you!
Jennifer says
I have a little bear dressed in a Mountie costume that we got at a Canada Day celebration. I am introducing him as ‘Al’, last name ‘Gretto’ (full name Al E. Gretto). I am telling the students that Al hopes they will all still be excited to take him home even though he looks like the Practice Police 😉 Maybe he can hand out practice badges for 5 days of completed practice assignments!
Linda says
Great idea! I already have a stuffed chicken made by a student that is named “J.S. Bawwk!” in my studio. The idea to send him home as a practice buddy and having a log book is wonderful! I’ll be doing this soon!
Andrea says
Awesome name Linda!! LOL
Christi says
My sister named her real chicken that.
Definitely thinking about this idea… wondering where I can find a cheap stuffed Border Collie, since we have a bunch of real ones that my students see when they leave.
Megan says
Hello! I was so inspired by this blog! This week, I will be introducing our new Practice Pal, Forte Frog! Next week, one of my families will take him home to be a “ribbity” great practice helper! Thank you for the great idea! 🙂
Megan Schuk says
Hello again! I have been sending home our piano studio mascot, Fortissimo Frog, with a new family each week! This has been such a fun thing for my students and has helped them with remembering to practice with their practice buddy each day! Several of my students have gotten quite creative and have made him a duct tape bow tie and a flannel shirt! Several other students have also told me that I need to find him a girl frog and name her Fermata. Lol! Thank you for this fantastic idea!
Andrea says
So glad the Studio Mascot idea is working well for you Megan! 🙂
JENNIFER HALE says
This is such a great idea and I think will help some of my younger students, if anything to keep the excitement up!
Two questions:
1) does anyone have a sample log record sheet they’ve made and don’t mind sharing? Figured I’d ask before trying to create my own!
2) are there any ideas similar to this for students older than 11?
Thanks!