Dance, Baby!

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Young children love to dance! Putting on some fun music and moving & grooving together is a great way to encourage physical activity, expose your child to a variety of musical styles, foster development of gross- and fine motor movement skills, and enrich relationships!

Here are a few ideas for “mixing up” a dance party:

• Play a “Move & Freeze” game: When the music is playing, dance; when the music pauses (a remote control is helpful here), freeze. This helps teach body control and response to sound.
• Let the elbow lead: …or the knee, or the head - choose a body part to lead the dance movements; this helps teach body part names, body awareness, and coordination.
• Paint the floor: “Continuous fluid movement” is a basic movement that is foundational to dance as well as music performance. Encouraging your child to move with “flow”, by painting the floor (wall, ceiling, your legs, etc) and moving with smooth, circular motions will help her learn to feel the space between the beats of music and move without tension.
• Move those hips: The hips are central to the body, and being able to move the hips with continuous fluid movement (as described above) is key. You may feel self-conscious, but your child won’t!

Helping your child move comfortably and confidently to music will be fun as well as support multiple areas of development! For more great ideas check out Music Play: The Early Childhood Music Curriculum Guide for Parents Teachers & Caregivers (Valerio, Reynolds, Bolton, Taggart & Gordon, GIA Publications).