7 Benefits of Creative Dance Classes for Children!
Our Creative Dance Classes at the Castle Rock Rec Center have been developed by Miss Jessica since 2009 and are based in child development and whole-child principles and follow the Dance to Learn® Curriculum. The Curriculum follows Conceptualized-Thematic weekly lesson plans to ensure participants are taught the foundations of dance through play-based, multi-sensory experiences! The benefits to this type of dance education provide several benefits to a child's overall growth and development!
DID YOU KNOW? A child's brain is 80% developed by the time they are 3? By the time they are 5, their brain has grown 90% of it's full size! Between the ages of 3-5, a child is learning and growing at a fast pace! That's why you need to enroll in a Developmentally Appropriate dance class focused on the whole child!
Here are some benefits of a Whole-Child Dance Education that you can experience in a Dance Exploration Creative Dance Class
1. Improved Communication Skills
Dance Exploration Creative Dance Classes begin in a circle time where children can share their stories and adventures of their week with their dance teacher and their peers. Our classes follow a "See, Say, Manipulate, Perform" process where participants will frequently "say" the movement or steps of an activity they are performing, this allows them to grow their dance terminology. The class allows open dialogue throughout, allowing each child to feel comfortable communicating their needs to their nurturing dance educator and their peers.
2. Increased Socialization Opportunities
In addition to communication skills, Creative Dance Classes also provide opportunities for socialization. This is especially important for children, as they are expanding their language development, starting to learn how to interact with other grown ups and their peers, and crave more opportunities to express themselves at this age! Classes provide a safe and fun environment where children can make friends and learn important social skills like how to share, take turns and follow directions.
3. Physical Development
Creative Dance Classes is the first introduction to dance. Dance has been proven to improve balance, coordination, strength, athleticism, flexibility, eye tracking, fine motor development and more. All of these skills are important for everyday tasks such as getting dressed, going up and down the stairs, reading, writing and academic studies!
4. Enhanced Cognitive Development
A Child's brain is growing rapidly at this age, that's why cognitive stimulation is crucial for success in school and beyond. Dance Exploration Creative Dance Classes focus on your Child's Brain and how it grows! In the class, we follow a conceptualized-thematic approach to Dance Education! This means that participants in the Dance Exploration Creative Dance Classes will learn about and explore 15 Abstract Dance Concepts through kid-friendly themes to help them categorize what they are learning. Those 15 Dance Concepts include: Action, Space, Tempo, Sizes, Levels, Pathways, Directions, Positions, Relationships, Body Parts, Body Shapes, Weight, Energy, Patterns, Sequences! With the help of a fun theme like Building a Snowman, your child will be able to tell you all about levels! The bottom of the snowman, his tummy is the middle, and his head is the highest and goes on top! Dancing like butterflies and caterpillars help them learn about the concept of Tempo and dancing down balance beams built in shapes pretending to be a school bus, helps them learn about Pathways. By learning the dance concepts, children will become a master communicator and master of their own body. They will be able to use these concepts to convey various emotions, topics, themes and stories, and they relate the concepts outside of their dance class and into real-world experiences. Learning the dance concepts through themes teaches children how to think critically and solve problems. This is an essential skill that will help them in all aspects of their lives.
5. Greater Sense of Self-Confidence
Creative Dance Classes classes use fun and creative skill tracking pages and stickers allowing children to feel a sense of accomplishment after each and every class! This feeling of accomplishment and a job well done, will build a sense of self-confidence. This is because your child is constantly learning new things and accomplishing new tasks each week. With each accomplishment, they will feel a sense of pride and self-assurance. This is an important foundation for a healthy sense of self-esteem that will last a lifetime.
6. Improve the Senses
Creative Dance Classes are designed to captivate all of your child's senses! One way we do this is with a lot of props! We love props and so does your child! Props stimulate their Tactile Sense (or their sense of touch) as we play with props of different sizes, shapes, weights and textures! Visually, props like balance beams improves their eye tracking and depth perception, while playing with a scarf improves their hand-eye coordination. Diverse music options activates their auditory processing as they listen and decipher what the music is telling them to do. Incorporating multiple movement exercises such as jumping, twirling, balancing, crawling, marching etc stimulates their vestibular system and improves their overall balance and coordination. Moving forwards, backwards, sideways and under objects in an obstacle course improves their proprioceptive sense or body intuition! This helps them develop a deeper understanding of their surroundings and builds a foundation for future learning.
7. Creative Expression
Each week we take 5-10 minutes of class for Creative Expression! Rather than the instructor leading the class, The Students decide what their body needs (their body is instinctive and knows what it's been missing through out the day). Using fun action prompts through movement cards, story books, or musical story adventures, Each child gets to move their body in their own way, building their Imagination and Creativity along the way!
Fun Fact
The Creative Dance classes at the Castle Rock Rec Center follow the Dance to Learn® Curriculum. Our Founder Miss Jessica has been developing the Curriculum since 2009. The Curriculum is rooted in Whole-Child Principles to ensure every child receives a Developmentally Appropriate Dance Education. The Curriculum includes Multi-Sensory experiences to ensure children of different learning modalities are captivated and engaged through out class!
Miss Jessica sells the Dance to Learn® Curriculum to other Dance Teachers and Dance Studios across the US and Globally! She's a top Educator in the Dance Industry whom is frequently hired for dance teacher conferences and trainings on the importance of understanding Child Development & Dance!