CONNIE'S BLOG:
Moving Is Learning!
Connie has been blogging since 2011. Her posts range from tips for teachers, the benefits of dance, playful class plans, to how to choose a creative dance class for your child, and much, much more! All of her posts are below, starting with the most recently-published ones.
Read about these beautiful creative dance-centered picture books by
five talented authors. You will love these colorful books filled with fun, play, creativity, and movement!
Connie's picks for picture books about dance and creativity (published by Shepherd.com)
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Stomping through mud puddles!
HERE COMES SPRING!
This blog post is a creative dance activity to welcome spring
For ages 3-7
Time: 15-25 minutes
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Dance about a spring shower!
(Music suggestion: "When It's Showery," by David Jack; an upbeat instrumental; or any song about the spring season)
Movement prompts: (Call out the prompts one by one, allowing enough time after each one for children to fully explore their movement ideas)
*Time to put on our raincoats and boots. Don't forget your rain hat!
*Let's go out and play in the rain. Make footprints in the mud. Stomp in the puddles. Can you try to run between the raindrops? *Float in the sky like you are a big storm cloud. Change from shape to shape as you soar through the sky.
*Now imagine you are a raindrop. First, you are a light drop blowing in the wind. Now be a fat raindrop that plops to the ground and makes a big splash.
*Imagine you are a seed waiting in the ground. The gentle shower helps you to open and begin to grow. Slowly push up through the moist soil, and grow tall. What kind of plant are you?
*Shake all over like a doggie playing in the rain
Rainbow
(Music suggestion: "I Can Sing a Rainbow" -- various versions, or an upbeat instrumental selction)
*The storm is over! Let's paint a big rainbow! Grab your magic paint brush. Let's start with red, then orange. Paint your bright colors across the blue sky. What color comes next?
*Now let's dance about the rainbow! Trace its shape in the air. Run under and around the rainbow. Can you try to jump over it? Can you hop over it? Leap over it? Climb up one side and slide down the other side.
*Now dance about all the different colors!
Sun
(Music suggestion: "Mr. Sun," by Raffi, or a lively instrumental selection)
*Think of all the things you like to do outside on a warm, sunny spring day. Now dance about your ideas!
*To finish the dance about spring, make your body into the shape of a rainbow!
Do your little ones love to move, groove, dance, tap, rap, play, bend, twist, stomp, chant, freeze, balance, make silly shapes, jump, hop, slither, stretch, crawl, leap, tiptoe, twirl, and gallop?
Our new picture book TAP AND RAP, MOVE AND GROOVE (Free Spirit Publishing) will inspire them to do all of these and more, plus they will use their imaginations while having fun.
The fourteen original dance chants, like "Tappity Rap," "Thumbs Up," "Lively Feet," and "Quack, Quack, Quack, Moo!" provide everything you need for a creative, playful dance activity, while at the same time, reinforcing early literacy skills. The activities also nurture important developmental skills such as body awareness, spatial awareness, listening to and following instructions, multi-tasking, and problem solving.
One of the best parts about this book is the gorgeous illustrations by talented artist Debbie Palen. The beautiful, colorful pictures truly capture the joy and energy of children in movement. Little ones will love all of the lively and fun characters Debbie created.
TAP AND RAP, MOVE AND GROOVE is coming in October, 2023, and is available for pre-order now:
Debbie and I are excited to share our fun-filled book with you!
Keep on dancing,
Connie
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An energetic brain break is always a welcome activity in the middle of a busy day. These playful, active, and enriching brain break ideas will be fun for a small or large group of children.
1. Category Caper
Time: 10 minutes
Directions:
This activity can be done in a small space. All of the movements can be performed in place.
Identify 3 categories: i.e., colors, fruits, vegetables.
Then, match an action to each category, i.e. color = jump, fruit = sit, vegetable = run in place.
Name, show a picture, or hold up an object and the children will categorize it.
The children then perform the corresponding action.
*This game should progress quickly, to keep the children moving constantly from sitting to jumping, to running.
2. Time to Rhyme
Time: 10-15 minutes
Directions:
This activity can be done in a small space. All of the movements can be performed in place.
1. Say the following poem line by line, allowing the children to respond in movement to each movement prompt.
I like to march right under the arch.
I like to jump and land with a thump.
I like to learn how to turn.
I like to run – it's so much fun.
I like to hop then quickly stop.
I like to freeze and bend my knees.
2. Repeat the activity, and instead of saying the action word, give the rhyming word and encourage the children to fill in the blank with the appropriate motor skill. For example, say, " I like to _______, and land with a thump." Once the children guess the action word, they respond in movement.
3. Vary this activity for a larger space. Ask the children to think of rhyming words for the following additional motor skills: walk, crawl, slide, gallop, prance
3. My Turn!
Time: 10-15 minutes, depending on the number of children
Materials: Movements written on file cards, one movement per card (enough for one per child, or several per child for a small group).
With the children standing evenly spaced in a circle, say to them: We will go around the circle and each child will have a turn. I am going to choose a card from this stack. When it is your turn, you will do the movement on the card.
Movement suggestions:
Once you have gone around the circle, shuffle the cards and go around again, if the children are still engaged in the activity.
Other suggestions for continuing the activity:
*Ask the children to think of their own movements as you go around again
*Ask the children which one was their favorite movement, and have them all do their favorite movements at the same time
*Continuing with the favorite movement idea, ask them to repeat their favorite movements five times in a row
*Play a lively musical selection, and allow the children to move about in the shared space, trying out many of the movement ideas from the circle.
Keep on Dancing,
Connie
MOVING IS LEARNING!
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Hello, Halloween!
Here is a lively poem, SHAKE, RATTLE, AND ROLL, that I wrote in honor of Halloween. It accompanies the dance activity below. Have fun grooving at the
Skeleton Jamboree and Monster Ball!
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Shake, Rattle and Roll
Here I go, clackety, clop,
I'm gettin' ready for the skeleton hop.
.
I'll be gleaming from head to toe.
Shining my bones 'til they sparkle and glow.
Cranium, maxillae, mandible bones,
Humerus, radius, trapezoid bones,
Pectoral girdle, scapula bones,
Tarsus, talus, cuneiform bones.
Waxing my skull to shine like new,
Wearing my mask and top hat too.
Look at my pale, unearthly gleam,
Under the moon, I grin and beam.
Shake those sacrums and ischiums now,
Rattle and roll, curtsy and bow.
Clavicle, vomer, and palatine bones.
Pelvis, ribs and ischium bones,
Femur, patella, tibia bones.
Phalanges, ulna, cuboid bones
Shake and shimmy and strut and swing,
Rock and rattle and do our thing.
Jam and jitterbug, jive and jig.
Move and groove at our jamboree gig!
Halloween Dance Activity
Here is your invitation to dance like a monster, a skeleton, or a witch with a broomstick!
Imagine you are invited to a monster ball. What monster would you want to be? What would you look like? What would you be wearing? Show how you would walk, how you would run, and how you would dance.
Now think about all of the other characters at the ball. Let's try moving and dancing like each one. Here are some ideas, and you will have a chance to think of your own and explore those movements too.
(Call out the Halloween characters on the list one by one, and give children plenty of time to explore their movement ideas before moving on to the next prompt. Play any of these musical selections while children dance about the different characters).
Witch with a broomstick
Zombie
Frankenstein
Skeleton
Ghost
Black cat
Bat
Jack O'Lantern
Spider
Robot
What else?
Which was your favorite? Let's do one final dance, so everyone can dance about their very favorite Halloween character!
Music suggestions:
Monster Mash, (Bobby Pickett, 1962)
Monster Boogie (Laurie Berkner Band, from the 1998 Album Buzz Buzz)
Night on Bald Mountain, Mussorgsky, from Pictures at an Exhibition (any rendition)
For very young children: Halloween Shark (Pink Fong Halloween Special) Apple Music
Keep on Dancing!
Connie
Hello!
I was invited by Kids & Company, of Toronto, Canada, to lead a thirty-minute video movement session for young children in May. Kids & Company requested a presentation that would get children up and moving while spending more time indoors during the Covid quarantine.
I thought it would be fun to create a short activity for each letter of the alphabet. I devised 26 movement prompts that children and families can do together. This creative movement session will definitely use a lot of that great kid energy!
Watch the Video Here: DANCE THE ALPHABET!
For more ideas about movement, the alphabet, and early literacy, check out my picture book
From A to Z with Energy! 26 Ways to Move and Play
Keep on Dancing, Everyone!
Connie
