I recently discovered my students have better success covering the holes when I tell them to feel for the shape of each hole. It is easier to feel the holes than to see if you are covering them... especially with dark recorders.

We practice finding "G" without looking by feeling for the thumb hole first, then feel for the top hole, then the second, then the third. I don't let them even make a sound until we have practiced for several minutes feeling our way through covering the holes. We press for a few seconds and then look for the hole impressions on our fingers to tell us we are using the correct part of the fingers for covering. (Using this method, our first note was actually on pitch and with no squeaks! Yay!)

My student recorders are dark colored, but I teach with an ivory so the students can better see what I am doing. I plan to replace the dark recorders with ivory ones when I can get the funds.