Dancing is an amazing activity for children (and adults!) and a good source of fun and exercise. It is also a creative outlet, a way for your child to express all that they are feeling. For children younger than five, dancing does not have to be complicated, and can be done anywhere! Here is a fun dance game to try with your child.
Best Ages for This Activity
One to five.
How to Prepare
All you need is a little space anywhere in the house, or even outside in the backyard. Make sure there are no sharp objects around in case your child falls. Move the furniture a little if you have to. If your child is young, it is best to dance on a rug as it is less slippery, and on a flat surface instead of a bumpy one.
What You Will Need:
- A music player – it can be your phone or a speaker (speakers make it even better as it is a little louder and clearer)
- Your child in their dancing shoes (or bare feet)
What To Do
- Invite your child to play a game called “Dance, dance, freeze!”. Here is how you play:
- When the music plays, you dance, dance, dance!
- When the music stops, you freeze immediately! Like a statue, in whatever position you are in, and don’t move until the music starts again
- Put on your favourite, happiest song and dance until the music stops and then freeze in place for a few seconds, then start the song again and start dancing again!
It is like playing musical chairs without the chairs, and with a lot more dancing! The focus is on dancing and trying different moves, expressing ourselves freely. Freezing in place just makes it more fun as it adds the element of surprise.
You can dance as well as long as there’s someone to control the music (or if you can pause it right from your phone without stopping your dance moves so your child won’t know when it’s about to stop).
You don’t have to play children’s music, be adventurous and try something that makes you want to dance too!
It is a fun activity to play with siblings and friends as well.
Learning Opportunities
This activity is part of our dance curriculum at CEFA Early Learning Schools. Dance is part of our curriculum because it is an essential way for children to express themselves creatively, and to discover who they are and what they like in the process. This is good for their social and emotional development. It also improves their confidence, improves their general sense of well-being and happiness, develops their self-esteem and, if they dance with a friend, also improves their social skills. Besides, starting to dance now leaves them with virtually zero risk of becoming wallflowers when they grow up.
Dancing also has great physical benefits. It is good for the heart and lungs, increases muscular strength, endurance and aerobic fitness, improves coordination, agility and flexibility. It also improves balance, gross motor skills and spatial awareness. Dancing has other benefits like reducing anxiety and depression, releasing stress and dissipating anger.
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