Autumn is here! Here is a fun studio idea for you that can earn you some bonus points with parents and help foster camaraderie between students! Bonus for you: this can be adjusted to fit any holiday or theme you want!
A little backstory: I moved into a commercial location in 2018 after travel teaching for 6 years. I was looking for a way to continue selling the change of who was doing the driving and help students get to know each other, and studio events that gave parents some free time seemed like a good start! October is the perfect time for a Music Halloween Party! Plus you can sneak some learning into the fun!
At the beginning of October, I sent out the invite/survey to families, told them the cost
($10/student), etc. I had 2 date options, 6-9p; due to space I cap parties at 10-12; and I wanted to know if the list of movies I picked was approved. This event is really low cost to you! We had....
Halloween themed music games for preschoolers on up - I already paid for or spent the time laminating these games. There is no extra cost. (I get most of my games from TeachPianoToday, Susan Paradis, Start Piano Studio, and Jennifer Foxx. They all have some free options as well as paid.)
Kids wear their Halloween costumes - free to me! And I get to see all their fun outfits!
Pizza - I figure about $5/student, tops (because pizzas can’t be ordered in halves).
Plenty of kid-friendly Halloween movies on Netflix - also a fee that I have already spent. If you don’t have a smart TV or a streaming service, you will need to pick a movie beforehand that you either own or rent, but that cost is still minimal.
Bonus to teacher: while they watch the movie, you can do prep or admin work that you need to do anyway!
Parents LOVE being able to get a few hours to themselves! 3 hours of child-free time for $10 a piece?!? GOLD!
The rough schedule I have for my parties is: arrive/play games, add pizza, clean up, vote on and watch movie (I usually have one of the older students lead the vote!).
Some other options to think about for parties:
Invite a Friend: for our Valentine’s party, I allowed one non-studio guest per student at the same rate. Friends get exposed to your space and see all the fun music games! I allow siblings 4yo and up to most of our studio parties, and they do not count as the non-studio guest.
Have a special middle school or high school party: these guys wanna have fun too! Survey them ahead of time to find out what they’d like to do, but pizza and movies are age-universal. (I like to make some of these “performance parties” instead of having games since they are trying out for orchestra or musicals; helps get some of the jitters out!)
As I mentioned earlier, change the theme or holiday! You could have done a Lion King party before the live action came out in July (watched the animated version)...or do a Frozen Sing-a-Long party in November before the second one comes out! Valentine’s Day is great time - parents want to go out anyway! Help them out!
Open some events to the public: I personally charge a bit more for the “outsiders” not invited by a current family, but that is up to you. Their first experience being a party might bring you a new student or two.
I hope you have fun planning your studio party! We would love to see your pictures!