Dance Lessons Blog

What kind of dance lessons are good to teach babies and toddlers?

I recently got a job teaching children and babies at a daycare how to dance. I want to start incorporating lessons into my classes, as well as change up the exercises each week. What kinds of things should I be trying to teach babies, and what kinds of things should I be trying to teach children from 3-5 years old?

Don’t expect amazing things from 3-5 year olds.

Here’s RADs pre-primary syllabus:
Running in a circle
Running en diagonale
Walking with stretched feet
Walking on demi-pointe
Skips
Demi-plies
Rises
Points
Knee bends
Jumps
Bounces
Claps
Marches
Pony steps
Pony trots
Pony galops

Here’s the primary:
Swaying
Step close step point
Knee lifts
Stork walks
Sautes
Echappes sautes
Spring points
Galops sideways
Jumps with eye focus
Skip change of step

Here’s grade 1:
Battlements tendus
Petit jetes
Bivided battlements tensud
Transfer of weight
Classical walks
Swaying
Spinning
Soubresauts
Galops forward
Step forward (heel toe)
Picked up runs

For babies, focus on rhythm and movement. Clapping in time, counting to 4, bouncing in time, ‘free dance’ to music, happy feet and sad feet (pointed and flexed), pretending to be animals /ghosts /trees /princesses /butterflies, etc.