For young children, dance and creative movement can help improve their physical and cognitive development, building skills necessary for success later in life.
Here are our 7 ways creative movement can benefit children:
1. Development
Dance provides opportunities to develop both gross and fine motor skills. Dancing also awakens children’s inner creativity, allowing them to hear a piece of music and decide how their body should respond to it. In early childhood creative movement, it’s important to have a mixture of structured directions for moving as well as plenty of time for individual exploring.
2. Social Skills To have a healthy social life, children must understand and embrace their own uniqueness. Through creative movement, they learn that not everyone interprets music the same way they do, and not everyone moves the same. This helps children see that everyone is different, but no one is wrong in their individuality. 3. Language
Coordinated movement is essential to proper brain development, which is necessary to advancing language skills. Dance allows both sides of the brain to engage as children must follow steps and directions while also utilizing their creativity and interpreting the music. 4. Body and Spatial Awareness In Creative Movement children work on their coordination, body control, balance, stamina, and overall strength. Dance builds coordination and improves childrens’ motor skills. They also learn to move in their own personal space, to be aware of other childrens’ space, and to respect others as everyone moves together in a shared space.
5. Self Esteem & Self Confidence As children learn and develop new skills, their self esteem and self confidence increases. Dancing and creative movement gives young children new skills to learn and master. Their progress keeps them motivated and interested, leading to better tenacity later in life. 6. Imagination Tiny dancers will spark their imagination as they make creative choices, think of new ideas, and interpret familiar materials in new ways. 7. Fun! Creative Movement is just plain fun for any toddler. The Concrete Rose Dance Academy offers Creative Movement for dancers ages 3 and 4.
“Before a child talks, they sing. Before they write, they draw. As soon as they stand, they dance. Art is fundamental to human expression.” – Phylicia Rashad