Everyone loves music! Toddlers, in particular, as they are gradually learning the language and wanting to express themselves, enjoy singing along to their favorite tunes. Add to that their love of movement and energy spending and you’ll easily realize the perfect combination: dance!
Dancing has plenty of advantages for your child. It’s a wonderful way to explore one’s own physicality and be creative with movement. It can really help with coordination. It’s also a way to express yourself and connect to the music you are listening to. And finally, it’s a way to connect to others and react to how they are moving.
For today’s article we’ve compiled four creative activities relating to dance, each corresponding to one of these four main advantages. Some of them even use TuTiTu’s musical videos for kids, which we know your child adores! Try them all and see which ones your child loves best. A great time is guaranteed!
Practice coordination: Do the animal dance
Dancing to a set choreography is a really good way to improve coordination. A routine forces you to follow instructions as well as to do the same movement over and over again (and repetition, of course, is a key ingredient in a preschooler’s life.)
You should try to do TuTiTu’s Animal Song dance together with your child! Every episode features a new animal, introducing itself through a game of hide-and-seek and through song and dance. Learn the choreography and practice it! If you want you can film it and upload it to our Facebook page and we will share it with the rest of our fans!
Connect with others: Play musical chairs
This one’s a classic – it’s the game we all played throughout our childhoods. Though it’s not exactly dancing, it’s still an opportunity to connect to your own physicality as well as to others’ through music. In the game, as long as music is playing, everyone has to run in circles around a set of chairs (one chair fewer than the number of players.) Once the music pauses everyone has to sit down – the person who is left standing is out of the game, and you pull one more chair away, and so on until only one is left. It’s a simple game, but it’s one that teaches you to be attentive to those around you.
Express yourself: Make up a literal dance
In this activity you play a favorite song and make up a spontaneous dance together. The idea is to be inspired by the lyrics to varying degrees – depending on the players’ creativity and age – and make up movements that correspond to the lyrics. You can play out what the singer is singing or be a bit more abstract and find your own way to dance the meaning of the song. You’ll be surprised just how many options there are, and just how creative young children can be when given the opportunity.
Explore your physicality: Freeform dance
And finally, for all the fun there is to be had in structured games and activities, sometimes the best thing to do is just let go and have fun! Put on music that’s fun to move to, something with a rhythm your little one likes, and encourage them to ‘dance like nobody’s watching’ and just be themselves. Run around, roll on the floor, be as weird (or as conventional!) as they wish to be. Best of all is if you do it yourself too! Show them how great it is to just sway to the music and let it inspire you without thinking about it too much.
Do you and your children love to dance?
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