Make Dance Fun

Preschool Dance Party Part 2: Preschool Progressions

August 27, 2021 Becca Moore and Dani Rosenberg Season 1 Episode 29
Make Dance Fun
Preschool Dance Party Part 2: Preschool Progressions
Show Notes

Episode 29 is Part 2 of our Preschool Dance Party series. We're sharing  ideas for Preschool Progressions - fun ways to up our across-the-floor game! Dancing across the floor is fun and if your preschoolers continue dancing, progressions are not going anywhere! Start helping them understand standing in line, waiting their turn, going across the floor to get individual feedback from the teacher, doing a series of steps, working on coordination and just adding in some creativity and FUN! 

Hopscotch: Great for working on coordination skills, jumping and shifting weight from one foot to two.  Create a hopscotch path with tape, chalk, rubber mats, etc. Use animal options like bunnies, kangaroos, frogs, grasshoppers and even cats. Purchase inexpensive animal headbands, bunny ears or poodle skirts for them to wear to add fun. As they advance, add a rhythm and musicality challenge to it.

Rainbow Runner: Use a table runner for a vibrant visual path that the dancers can skip down, chassé, do heel drops, etc. Purchase a 100 ft. rainbow plastic tablecloth roll for an instant colorful path! 

Obstacle Courses: Preschoolers love something specific to focus on like traveling to different locations and making each stop along the path something exciting. Theming them out to the fullest keeps them engaged and interested in what’s going on. Our Twirl Flashie Cards are great for obstacle courses. You can place the cards at the different stops and they have to flip them over and demonstrate whatever the step or image is. 

Dino Feet: Cut out giant dinosaur prints from poster board ~14x8, add tape to secure, place multiple sets side by side facing different directions. The dancers  jump on two feet right on top of the dino prints but have to change their direction to match the direction the prints are facing.  You can do this activity with any feet - puppy, cat paws, snowman, etc.  

Hula Hoops: Set them up for each of the stops along the path and they can jump into them and demonstrate certain steps, they can jump out of them, pick it up and use it as a handheld prop, and they can crawl or step through them. Imagine they are giant donuts or wheels, etc. Or line them up across the floor touching and the kids can pretend they are astronauts and do moon jumps from one hoop to the next. Then they can try to moonwalk back to the end of the line. 

Bonus fun: create a human maypole. Tie really long pieces of ribbon around the hula hoop, enough for each dancer to hold onto one. Make a circle and hold the hula hoop up high over your head while the dancers will dance with the ribbons. 

Ideas for Keeping Dancers Standing in Line: Stanchions, Rugs ("magic carpet"!), Yoga mats , Dance Dots (turn them into flower petals, musical notes, bunny ears, etc.) , Colorful Tape

Think outside the box, add a piece of imagination to it and have fun! 

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