Piano Valentine’s Day Cards and Games

Whether you love or hate Valentine’s Day, I think we can all agree that celebrating love and showing appreciation for each other is always a good thing! Every Valentine’s Day I like to encourage my students with a little piano-themed Valentine and some games to let them know how much I care about them, their music journey, and helping them grow their love for making music.

Here I’m sharing some of the Valentine’s Day cards I’ve given my students as well as games that I pull out every year to play with my students! I hope you find something that inspires you this Valentine’s Day. Check out the

Here I’m sharing some of the Valentine’s Day cards I’ve given my students as well as games that I pull out every year to play with my students! I hope you find something that inspires you this Valentine’s Day. Check out the Toucan Piano Store for more piano teaching resources and music theory games.

Valentine’s Day Cards

I love coming up with Valentine’s day cards for my students! The first one I ever made was my “You Hold the Keys to My Heart” Valentine (I love a good music pun!). I handed them out with a small piece of candy during Valentine’s Day week. You can download this free printable here.

A pink Valentine's Day Card sits on top of the keys of a piano. They card reads "You hold the keys to my heart".
Piano-themed Valentine's day cards sit inside a heart-shaped bowl.

This year I wanted to make a new Valentine that I could attach a heart-shaped chocolate to. The result was my “You Make my Heart Happy with Every Note you Play!” Valentine. I attached a Hershey’s Strawberry Cream Heart to the center of the heart-shaped note with double sided tape. They have been a hit so far! You can download this free printable here.

Music themed Valentines with heart shaped chocolates sitting on a wooden table.

Valentine’s Day Rhythm Games

The Path to Your Heart: A Would-You-Rather Rhythm Game

This one is a favorite with my students and I pull it out every year! The Path to Your Heart combines both the fun of “would you rather” questions with rhythm exercises. It is a great game for in-person lessons, online lessons, group lessons, and even classrooms! Check out the blogpost for more information.

A would you rather question printed on a sheet of paper is laying on a wooden table. The sheet has two possible answers accompanied by rhythm notes. A drumstick held by a piano teacher points to a rhythm on the sheet.

Sky-High Love

I love fun and easy games that use things I already have around my studio! For this Valentine’s Day game, I used my rhythm popsicle sticks and mini heart-shaped erasers. It’s so simple and the kids absolutely love it! The record so far for the most eraser stacked at my studio is 31!! I’m excited to see if anyone will beat the record this year. For more information on how to play check out the video below or the blogpost.

Valentine’s Day Note Reading Games

Sweet Words

Everyone loves hearing sweet words! But these sweet words are missing letters… Who will be able to find their missing letters and complete their word first? Students will have fun reading the notes on the staff (or naming the white keys on the piano) to try to fill in the missing letters of their sweet word(s) first. Check out the blogpost for Sweet Words here.

The word "Friend" is spelled out using keyboard cards and letters.

I Can Heart-ly Wait for the Punchline

What is better than a joke?! Well, a music-themed joke, of course! I love introducing my students to music theory jokes, especially when I can mix in some music theory. I love this game in particular because not only do students have to think about keyboard geography, they have to be able to associate the notes with their exact location on the piano. Check out the full blogpost for more information.

Piano student plays a note-reading game based on music theory jokes.

Musical M.A.S.H.

Did you play MASH (Mansion, Apartment, Shack, House) when you were a kid? All it required was a piece of paper and a pencil! My friends and I would spend countless recesses trying to find out if we would marry our crushes, have 20 kids while living in a mansion (we all wanted the mansion, of course) and driving a Ferrari! This Valentine’s Day my students and I are playing the musical version of M.A.S.H. (maestro, accompanist, soloist, hobbyist) that I created. We will be drilling our knowledge of the spaces on the grand staff while figuring out our musical futures!

Musical M.A.S.H. is available as a free download in the Toucan Piano Shop. You can read more about it here.

Other Valentine’s Day Resources

Rainbow Manuscript Paper

We are in the season of hearts and rainbows – Valentine’s Day and St. Patrick’s Day – and what better way to show your love for someone than with an original piece of music! The rainbow manuscript paper is available in the Toucan Piano shop as a free printable! Print as many as you like for your students. You can read more about how I use the rainbow manuscript paper with my students here.

Piano student composes an original song on a piece of rainbow manuscript paper.

The Die of Destiny

Sometimes, when the weather is miserable or after a tiring day at school, a student will walk into my studio without their usual bounce in their step. I’ve found that a little silliness and a dash of chance gets them in the mood to pull out their piano books and play music. This quick lesson starter only takes a minute and gets students in the mood to play! Check out the blogpost here.

Explore more creative teaching ideas
  • Chord Snowblast
    Cast away the winter blues and have fun reviewing chords with Chord Snowblast! Build chords and collect points while trying to avoid the snow blast! Kids will test their knowledge of building chords AND they will actually be hoping to get all the chords with sharps and flats!!
  • Two Sides of the Same Coin
    This St. Patrick’s day see if your students have the luck of the Irish! Two Sides of the Same Coin is a game about enharmonics that can be played in several different ways! Students will try to collect the most enharmonic pairs and hope that their coins don’t get stolen by another player (or the Leprechaun!).
  • Pot of Gold Rhythm Game
    Students love this easy rhythm game for beginner/elementary level students. The value of each rhythm note or rest will determine how many coins go into the pot. Who can fill their pot the fastest?! This game can be adapted for any time of the year or use mini-cauldrons for a fun Halloween or St. Patrick’s Day game.

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Don’t Miss a Beat

Rhythm and meter are fundamental components of music that all students need to continuously work at… even though they more often than not complain about it. As teachers, it can be hard to find a game that grows with a student or can be played by multiple students at different levels at the same time (in the case of a group lesson or piano party).

Don’t Miss a Beat! is a fun multi-level rhythm game that you can play with ALL of your students in your studio. With 136 rhythm cards in the deck, it covers the basics from quarter, half and whole notes all the way up to more complicated rhythms such as triplets, sixteenth notes, dotted eighth notes and their combinations. It also covers three different time signatures: 3/4, 4/4, and 6/8. It can be purchased in the Toucan Piano Store.

Piano teacher measures the height of a large stack of rhythm cards from the games Don't Miss a Beat!

All you need to play are the Don’t Miss a Beat! cards, dice (one for each player), and a white board and dry erase marker (or paper and pencil). Players take turns drawing a card from the deck and try to figure out how many beats are missing in the measure.

Students must analyze the time signature and figure out how to successfully complete the measure using their knowledge of rhythm note and rest values.

Don't Miss a Beat! rhythm card deck sits on top of a whiteboard and next to a pair of dice and a black dry-erase marker.
Piano student writes the correcting counting under a rhythm sequence on a white board.

Check out the game in action:

If students need an extra challenge, Don’t Miss a Beat! comes with two printable challenge dice. When using the dice in the game, the player must use the rolled rhythm to help complete the measure. This helps to keep students from resorting to the same rhythms over and over again.

Variation of the Game for Students at Different Skill Levels

Don’t Miss a Beat! can be adapted to students at different skill levels. Simply create a deck of rhythm cards for each student based on the rhythms they know and what you would like them to drill.

To play, player 1 draws a card from his/her deck, analyzes the measure and determines how many beats are missing. Both players try to roll that number. For example, if the measure is missing 2 beats, the players must roll a 2.

If player 1 rolls a 2 first, then player 1 will complete the measure by writing out a rhythm sequence that satisfies the time signature. Then player 1 will clap and count the measure to earn a point.

However, if player 2 rolls the 2 first, player 1 has been blocked and the round is over. Player 2 now draws a card from his/her deck and the same procedure is repeated.

Whoever collects 5 points first wins.

Don’t Miss a Beat! is available for purchase in the Toucan Piano Store by clicking here.

Explore more creative teaching ideas
  • Sky High Love
    The rhythms get longer as the heart towers get higher! Whose tower will remain standing in the end?! This adrenaline-inducing rhythm game is a great way to kick-off a lesson and get the energy up.
  • Compose a Ringtone
    Ringtones are helpful but what if we could make them special too?! This is a fun and quick project that even the most reluctant students can get behind.
  • Rainbow Manuscript Paper
    This colorful manuscript paper is available in the Toucan Piano shop as a free printable! They are available in three sizes, so they can be used for a variety of ages and activities, like writing out original compositions, explaining music theory concepts, music dictation, games, and so much more!

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Valentine’s Day “Would You Rather…” Rhythm Game

Would you rather play parallel thirds or parallel sixths?

Would you rather play Chopin or Debussy?

Kids LOVE “would you rather” questions! I use them all the time as ice-breakers at piano parties and group lessons. They always get everyone laughing and trying to pick between two oftentimes awful options… like, would you rather play piano with a bucket on your head or pedal with a cement block on your foot? SO hard to choose!!!

When faced with the choice of playing a rhythm game or answering a “would you rather” question, I say why not do both?!

The Path to Your Heart combines both the fun of “would you rather” questions with rhythm exercises. It is a great game for in-person lessons, online lessons, group lessons, and even classrooms!

Instead of just answering the question, the student must clap the rhythm path that leads to the answer they prefer. It is a fun way to drill rhythms and learn a little more about your student.

Each level of The Path to Your Heart comes with three “would you rather” questions. You can use it as a:

  • lesson warm-up! Ask one question at the beginning of each lesson in the weeks leading up to Valentine’s day.
  • Valentine’s day game. Go through all three questions.
  • ice-breaker game at a group lesson or piano party. Take turns asking each student a question. The others have to figure out which answer they picked but listening to the rhythms that he/she tapped.
  • team activity! Ask a question and the students divide themselves into 2 groups according to which option they’d prefer. Then they have to tap the rhythm together as a group.
Piano student holding a bright red drumstick taps out the rhythms on a worksheet. The student is answering a would your rather question by tapping out a rhythm sequence of quarter notes, quarter rests, half notes and whole notes.

It is also the perfect game for online lessons since it requires no set-up or additional materials. Just share your screen with your student and start playing!

Piano teacher in a pink sweater teaching a student during an online lesson. They are playing a Valentine's day rhythm game that show quarter notes, quarter rests, half notes, and whole notes.

The Path to Your Heart covers the following rhythms (and corresponding rests): whole note, half note, quarter note, eighth note pairs, dotted quarter note, and single eighth note.

Explore more creative teaching ideas

For more Valentine’s Day games, check out:

  • I Can Heart-ly Wait for the Punchline
    A heart themed laugh-out-loud note reading game.
    I love this game because not only do students have to think about keyboard geography, they also have to be able to associate the notes with their exact location on the piano. 
  • Sky High Love
    The rhythms get longer as the heart towers get higher! Whose tower will remain standing in the end?!
    This adrenaline-inducing rhythm game is a great way to kick-off a lesson and get the energy up.
  • Sweet Words
    Students will have fun reading the notes on the staff (or naming the white keys on the piano) to try to fill in the missing letters of their sweet word(s) first. 
  • Musical M.A.S.H
    This free printable game tests your student’s knowledge of the spaces on the grand staff. It’s a fast, easy game to play, and will predict your student’s musical future with hilarious results!

Let’s stay in touch, join the list!

As a “toucan” of our appreciation download a free set of note flashcards (link in our Welcome email)!

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Sky High Love: A Valentine’s Day Rhythm Game

I love fun and easy games that use things I already have around my studio! For this Valentine’s Day game, I used my rhythm popsicle sticks and mini heart-shaped erasers.

Place all the rhythm popsicle sticks in a container so that the student cannot see the rhythms that are written on the popsicle sticks. The mini heart-shaped erasers are placed in the center of the table.

The student pulls a popsicle stick out of the container and claps and counts the rhythm written on the stick. The student will then take the number of mini erasers from the pile that corresponds to the total number of beats that are on the stick. The student stacks the mini erasers to form a tower. For example, if the stick had a half note written on it, the student would take 2 mini erasers and stack them one on top of the other.

When a new popsicle stick is pulled from the container, the player must place the new rhythm stick next to his/her other sticks and clap and count them all as a sequence. Just as the tower of mini erasers will get taller with each round of play, the rhythm sequence each player must clap and count will also get longer.

Players take turns until one of the towers topples over.

The player whose tower is still standing at the end, wins! This is a great game to get the energy up at the beginning of a lesson! I’ve been playing this all week with my students. It has been so much fun to see how they each have a strategy for stacking their heart erasers. They really get into it!!

I always get excited about teaching aids that I can find multiple uses for… my rhythm popsicle sticks are one of them! Another game I love to play with my rhythm popsicle sticks is this Snowball Rhythm Game. It is a favorite every winter with my students.

Explore more creative teaching ideas
  • I Can Heart-ly Wait for the Punchline
    A heart themed laugh-out-loud note reading game.
    I love this game because not only do students have to think about keyboard geography, they also have to be able to associate the notes with their exact location on the piano. 
  • Sweet Words
    Students will have fun reading the notes on the staff (or naming the white keys on the piano) to try to fill in the missing letters of their sweet word(s) first. 
  • Musical M.A.S.H
    This free printable game tests your student’s knowledge of the spaces on the grand staff. It’s a fast, easy game to play, and will predict your student’s musical future with hilarious results!

Let’s stay in touch, join the list!

As a “toucan” of our appreciation download a free set of note flashcards (link in our Welcome email)!

By joining the list, you agree to share your email address with the site owner and Mailchimp to receive updates from Toucan Piano. Use the unsubscribe link in those emails to opt out at any time.

Processing…
Success! You're on the list.

We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

toucanpiano9 Comments