Thread: Question for those who teach children's classes....

For those of you who teach children's classes, which do you offer?

1. A "play time" with lots of props and dance-related games? Maybe some crafts?
2. A disciplined dance class, such as what a children's ballet class might be like?

Whichever it is that you offer, what's your rationale for offering that as opposed to the other format I mentioned?

I don't currently teach a children's class, but when I did, it was more like a traditional dance class. The general structure went like this:

1. warm-up - big movements, sometimes some follow the leader, etc
2. review the technique we've learned so far using some fun little games (question and answer, acting out a story, etc)
3. work on something new - this was the no-nonsense part of class because they had already worked out some energy, but still had enough to pay attention to learning something new
4. blend the old with the new using a game and dancing to the music (follow the leader was a favorite)
5. close with a fun play game of their choice (duck duck goose with choochoo shimmies was well liked, simon says, red light green light with travelling steps, etc)
6. stretch and cool down


ETA - during step 4 or 5, we also had zill time. I taught basic rhythms and counting music to help them learn how to move on beat.
I chose this format because it was a dance class and I wanted them to actually learn, but when working with 3-5 year olds, attention span is short and energy is high, so the games encouraged them to focus. They did learn, and I was very happy to see how much they remembered names for movements and little cultural bits of information I taught.