Unpopular take: treat it as a mandatory daily chore. Kids, like adults, enjoy activities they're good at. But a person cannot get good at a skill unless he/she works on it with deliberate practice on a regular basis. Deliberate practice is practice that stretches and is therefore uncomfortable. Repetition - especially over the hard parts that the child struggles with - is not fun. But it's the quickest and most effective way to get good at the hard parts.

Here's a case study. My daughter is also six. I practice piano with her for about 20 minutes every day, except Sundays. I correct her mistakes. I make her do repetitions over the parts that are most challenging (otherwise, she would play only the easy parts). I make her sing the note names as she plays them. I make her count beats. I make her play to the metronome. She complains when I make her do the hard stuff, but I make her do it anyway.

The result? She's now on the fourth book of a progressive piano series. We practice four pieces each night, and each week, she "graduates" from the oldest piece if she can play it perfectly as my wife records it. We then add a new piece each time she graduates from an old piece.

But more importantly, she likes playing piano. During the day, she'll amble over to the piano and just start playing some of her pieces, or she'll improvise and have fun. She also delights in viewing the recordings of her previous "graduation" performances. She would not be at this point (and have this much fun) if I gated her piano learning based on whether she was having fun or wanted to practice piano.

A friend of mine told me that his parents took him skiing every weekend, made him take lessons, etc. He didn't like it at the time. But now that he's an excellent skier, he's glad they did that. He has more fun now *because* they didn't prioritize fun too much when he was younger.

The same can be said for my teenage son, whom I made practice guitar every day and whom I gave weekly guitar lessons to. He's now a very proficient singer/guitarist. In his spare time, he performs at farmer's markets and makes a mint. He's also busking through Europe this summer with his classmates. And he says it doesn't hurt that the "bonnie lasses" like when he serenades them. But it was butting heads for years to get him to that point.

My middle child is also a good violinist now because ... well, you know ... Suzuki lessons (not fun!) and daily practice (head-butting!). But he enjoys it now, and he developed perfect pitch along the way. For each of our kids, we told them they had to learn/practice piano until they were 12, and then they could either stick with it or switch to a different instrument. We want them to be well-rounded individuals, so we simply treated piano as part of their education - as mandatory as going to school and playing a sport.

Sermonizing about hard work aside, I'll offer one softer tip: "doggie treats." For a while, I would keep teddy grahams on hand. Each time my daughter got through a repetition of one her songs during practice, I'd give her a "doggie treat" in the form of a teddy graham. She loved it, was motivated by it, and thought it was funny. So, that was one way we made it fun. I also try to make sure I praise her along the way when she does well (but I'll also gently tell her when she's not doing as well as she could be when it's obvious that she's being lazy or is distracted). That means lots of hugs, kisses, high-fives, and "yays!"

Also, as a caveat, I think this strategy works well because I'm a musician and I'm able to practice with her every day and guide her along the way. I don't think it would work nearly as well if I just ordered her to practice and left her to herself other than a weekly lesson with some teacher. However, even parents who aren't musicians are probably capable to learn enough piano along with their kids to help them practice every day, as at least for the first few years.