Top Tips When Teaching Dance Choreography for Kids
Children are generally very fast learners and this can make it very rewarding teaching them anything. Of course, many children also have short attention spans. This shouldn’t always be perceived as a bad thing. The short attention span is part of their fascination and curiosity with all the different things going on around them.
But, what it does mean when teaching them is that you have to adopt the right approach if you want them to learn and flourish.
This is particularly important when it comes to dancing as preschool dance lessons can be very beneficial. Dancing teaches children to move and coordinate their bodies, it also boosts social skills, the ability to follow instructions, and even allows them to be creative.
If you want to teach dance choreography for kids you need to follow these tips:
Keep It Simple
Remember that children have short attention spans? If you try to teach them a long and convoluted sequence of steps they will switch off part way through and you’ll feel like you are hitting your head against a brick wall.
However, children are very capable of learning short dance routines. Keep the steps simple and short, you’ll be surprised at how quickly they can pick it up and remember it.
You can then build on this with more short step sequences and gradually put the various steps together The children will have learned a long dance routine but they will have done it in short stages and this makes it possible.
It’s Fun
Dancing should be fun and children prefer fun activities. If it’s not fun they will look for other things to do. The best way to make it fun is to intersperse learning steps with freestyle dance. This will allow the children to express themselves, burn off excess energy, and focus on what they need to do when they need to.
Reward them
No, you don’t need to give them sweets every time they complete a routine successfully. There are many other rewards that children love. Use your imagination or ask them for suggestions, this gets them even more invested in learning the dance moves.
A small reward or incentive helps to keep them focused and will make your job teaching choreography much easier.
Repetition
The best way for children to learn dance is to repeat it over and over again. If you do this in a fun way the children can learn steps without thinking or even realizing they are. The same approach is used in all formats of learning, repetition is essential to success.
Inspire Them
Most children love to be praised by their parents. Encourage them to show the moves they have learned to their parents and demonstrate their skills. You can also organize an event that gives them the opportunity to display their talents. Just be sure to pay attention to which roles each child is comfortable in, you want them to enjoy the experience. That’s the best way of keeping them learning.
Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates
