I remember a 6-month-old baby from New York who danced at the music class. Naturally not on his feet. He had just learned to sit without support and now he jammed along music by rhythmically moving his upper body. I couldn’t believe my eyes – can such a little baby actually dance? After one year’s break I saw this child in the class room again. I was curious to see how he was dancing now. It was so lovely! His rhythmic sense and joy for dancing were all over his body.
I was very delighted when I witnessed the same thing happening with our son when he started sitting on his own. The need for dancing was apparent whenever he heard music around him. Now as a 2-year-old he entertains us and warms our hearts with all kinds of hand movements, circles and hip wiggles. We didn’t need to teach him this. The children have a natural need to jiggle and move around along music. We certainly have sang and played music for him before and right after his birth as well which probably has enhanced his sense of rhythm.
The joy of music and dance is easy to execute at home. Here are a few tips about how to elate the child to dance:
1. Play any music and see what happens
Put on some music from the stereo, your cell phone or any amplification system. The music can be your favorite music (really anything) or children’s music. Watch what happens. Does your child start moving immediately or does she/he not react at all? If not, change the song and possibly music genre too. If you have played pop or rock try jazz or classical instead. What happens now?
Our son’s music taste has started to get interesting hues. Nowadays he won’t approve any kind of music. This he will express with a very opinionated shout “don’t like, go away”. Next day the same song might be the best song to dance ever.
Here is a home video where you can see what kind of joy music gives to our son:
2. Why don’t YOU dance along!
If you live in Finland and/or know Finns you know that we are a bit shy and reserved nation that misses a hip wiggle gene. So, this “dance along” tip can be a challenge for a Finn but if you are not a Finn then let’s not talk about this topic any further. It’s always great if you dance with your kid. Let the rhythm of music take you on a ride. Move and goof around. If you dance with a baby, take him/her to your arms and bounce or sway along the beat. Go round and round (switch directions) or jump gently up and down. Let the baby feel the beat through your body movement.
If your child moves and dances on their own feet then grab their hands and make circles or jump together. Or you can just move in front of her/him so that they can see what you are doing and can imitate you. They love it! Raise your hands up and down, jump, do marching steps and wiggle your hips! And of course you can always dance with the child in your arms if they are still lightweight.
3. Sing familiar kids songs with movements
Warm up your vocal folds and sing kids songs that have fun body movements. Here are some noteworthy songs:
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WHEELS ON THE BUS
This is our son’s ultimate favorite song and to honor him we made this video. Sing and play along!
Warning! Your kid might get hooked on this video. At least it happened to our son. But here you can listen to all the possible verses of The Wheels On The Bus and the movements that go along with them.
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HEAD, SHOULDERS, KNEES & TOES
This is fun for little older kids when their motor skills have developed a bit more. You can sing and move along this one. One fun thing to do, if you sing it on your own, is to speed up the song as you repeat verses. In the end you get completely thrown out of the movement series and that is part of the fun!
4. Dance with instruments in front of the mirror
Why not be a rock star for a moment! You can bring extra flavor to your dance by taking some shakers and/or toy instruments, like a toy guitar or ukulele, to the game. Play, sing and dance together and look at yourselves in the mirror. Make rock star moves (whatever they are)!
5. Freeze Dance
This is a classic fun game especially for older children (3-year-olds and up). You can create music yourself by playing a shaker and singing any song you know. Soon enough you stop playing and freeze and the child will follow your example. After a short moment you start playing music again and the dance continues. You can decide whether you want to go rounds, march, jump on one foot or crawl. All this is moving (dancing) to the music. If you don’t feel like singing and/or playing you can always use recorded music and hit play and pause as you go.
I hope these tips gave you inspiration to create fun music experiences with your child. If you have your own tips about music and dance games please do share them here in the comment field.
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