Dance
Balloon Dance
Balloon DanceDirections Attach air-inflated balloons to short lengths of string. Have your child hold the balloon away from her body and move around it, trying not to get too close. Still holding the string, toss the balloon into the air and let it float down. Follow the movement the balloon is making by going upwards when the balloon is tossed and downwards as the balloon floats down. Holding the string, do turning and wave-like movements with the balloon. Turn on some music and create a dance with the balloon. read more
Body Sculpting
Body SculptingDirections Ask your child to pretend that he is a soft lump of play dough and that you are the sculptor. Gently move your child's body into different shapes and positions. Then try bending, turning, and lifting your child's body. Next, it is your child's turn to be the sculptor. Stand, sit, or lie while he shapes your body. Offer no resistance and hold each new position still until your child moves it again. read more
Bridges and Tunnels
Bridges and TunnelsDirections First, discuss with your child the differences between bridges and tunnels what they typically look like and what they are used for. Make a bridge with your body and have your child go over it. Next make a tunnel and have your child go through it. Take turns creating interesting bridges and tunnels. If there are other children, you can make a series of bridges and tunnels and have the children go over and through them. read more
Chiffon Dancing
Chiffon DancingDirections Provide yourself and your child with chiffon scarves. Throw them into the air and watch them float down to the ground. After each scarf has settled, imitate the scarf movements in the air and down to the ground with your own movements. Try this several times. Drape the scarf over your head or shoulders and dance. Think of other ways that you and your child can dance with the scarves: making large circles and zigzags, leaping over them, wrapping up, and then unwinding. read more
Circle Dancing
Circle DancingDirections Identify with your child all the things in and around the house that are circular. These may include wheels, plates, balls, clock faces, coins, cookies, and doorknobs. Roll a coin and a ball and watch them travel. Have your child put his body into a round or circular shape. Encourage your child to move in circles and explore the ways round objects move in place and from place to place. Try spinning and swirling too. read more
Elastic Shapes
Elastic ShapesMaterials A continuous circular elastic band Directions read more
Elephant Stomp
Elephant StompDirections Ask your child to describe the characteristics of an elephant: size, strength, weight, and shape. Ask your child to show you how a big heavy elephant would move. How would it turn around? How would it get down onto the ground and roll over? Make sure your child is acting out each response and not just answering in words. The goal is to become the elephant; think, move, and thunder while walking. How does an elephant move in a hurry? Would an elephant grab an apple with his trunk or mouth from an apple tree? What does a tired elephant do? read more
Fireworks Dance
Fireworks DanceDirections Have a discussion with your child about the shapes and sounds of fireworks and about his or her reactions to fireworks displays. Move with your child and shoot into the air with a loud sound, then drift down to the ground making a soft sound. Alternate jumping, leaping, and exploding loudly, and then landing quietly. Try jumping, leaping, and exploding quietly with loud landings. As a finale, do a dance showing many fireworks going off, one after the other. read more
Freeze and Melt
Freeze and MeltDirections Have your child run freely around the space. When you say freeze or clap your hands, she must stop and remain absolutely still. When you say melt, your child can relax and start to move around again. Continue freezing and melting in various shapes. Let your child say freeze and melt while you move around the room. Be creative with the shapes you choose to become. read more
Growing and Shrinking
Growing and ShrinkingDirections Stand where you have lots of room. Imagine you and your child are each in a giant bubble. Reach out and try to touch the walls of the bubble. Imagine the bubble begins to get smaller and smaller until you can squeeze it up and hold it tightly in your hand. Now let it go and feel it expand all around you again. As the bubble gets bigger, you and your child grow bigger too. read more
High Space, Low Space
High Space, Low SpaceDirections Go outside with your child and talk together about the space around us. Distinguish between high space up in the sky, low space (down on the ground), and medium space (in the middle). What living things move in these spaces? Ask your child how she would move in a high space (like a bird), in low space (crawling like a bug or snake), and middle space (animals with four legs). Experiment with dance movements exploring the space above and below. read more
If Toys Could Dance
If Toys Could DanceDirections Ask your child to collect a few of her favorite toys. Set them down with you and your child and talk about what would happen if each toy could move and dance. How would they dance? Let your child show you how each of her toys might move. Alternatively, ask your child, "If you were that toy, what kind of dance would you do?" read more
Leggy Dance
Leggy DanceDirectionsPlay some bright, rhythmical music. Stand facing your child and point out the different parts of the legs and feet. Now discover all the ways each part can move: bend the knees, wiggle the toes, circle the ankles, arch the foot, kick, and hop. Dance on one leg and dance with both legs. Add other body parts when child is readyhead, arms, shoulders, back, and waist. read more
Let's Move!
Let's Move!Directions:At an early age, children associate how they move to words that describe the movements they make. For example: run, lie down, stand up, walk. This activity will help your child build his movement vocabulary. read more
Newspaper Dance
Newspaper DanceMaterials 2 or 3 sheets of newspaper Directions There are many ways to create dances with a double sheet of newspaper. read more
Playing with Dance
Directions Get everyone involved in this group dance. Put on some lively music that everyone likes and clear a big open space. Someone start as the leader by making up some interesting, funny steps that everyone can follow along with for a few minutes. When the leader raps someone else on the shoulder, everyone begins to follow along with the new leaders steps for a few minutes before the next leader is tapped. Keep going as long as you like. read more
Poem Dance
Poem DanceDirections Choose a favorite poem and read it aloud. Select a few of the ideas, words, or images in the poem and express them in movement with your child. Some ideas will suggest how to move and others will suggest a mood, feeling, or environment. Some poems can be read and moved to for their rhythmic quality. Have one person read the poem while the other moves to the rhythm of the words. read more
Punchinello
Punchinello Activity for a group of children Age group: 30-40 months Duration of activity: 15 minutes Try this "Monkey see, monkey do" activity the next time you have a bunch of young, restless children to entertain. Have children form a circle. Ask one child to stand in the center as the leader, Punchinello. The children in the circle sing the following song: read more
Rope Shaping
Rope ShapingDirections Find a jump rope or a length of cord. Make a simple shape with it on the floor. Ask your child to move his body into the same shape. Repeat by making other interesting shapes with the rope. Now reverse the order of the activity. Have your child make a shape and then try to duplicate it with the rope. This is a good activity for other family members to join in, since sometimes it takes two people to imitate the shape of the rope. read more
Rubber-Neck Dance
Rubber-Neck DanceDirections While facing your child, identify all the parts of the face and neck that can move: wiggle your nose, raise your eyebrows, stretch your neck, and stick out your tongue. Now sit in front of a mirror with some rhythmic music on and suggest how a face can dance by moving features in time with the music. Experiment with repeated facial expressions; from smile to frown in rhythm. Move your head from side to side stretching and turning the neck. Even hair can dance with a little help from little fingers. read more
Silly Walks
Silly WalksDirectionsFirst of all, ask your child to walk around in her normal, everyday walk. Now try walking very high, very low, very wide, very narrow, very fast, and very slowly. Think of other ways people walk and try them out. Now ask your child to create her own special walk and make it as silly as possible. Can you do your silly walk backwards? Sideways? Turning? Finally, slow down your silly walk until it stops in an unusual shape. Next time you are out in public, sit and enjoy watching how unique each person's walk can be. read more
Space Dance
Space DanceMaterials Balls or balloons Electronic music (e. g., The Planets by Horst) Directions read more
