Dance Games and Activities To Play In Class

     Are you looking to add some fun to your dance class? Do you ever get through your material and need some filler activities?

     In this blog we are going to talk about different games or activities that you could add to your class to make it hands on and to add some social time for the students to loosen up and have some fun in class!

     So this first game, I can’t believe I never played this when I was younger but it’s genius! Dance Telephone!!! It’s played just like you would play regular telephone where you pass a message except dance style you are passing on a dance sequence! I have played this with all elementary ages and they all had a fun time and it was pretty easy to play! Even my students from elementary school who don’t want to be at dance class enjoyed this dance game!

     Machines. I have played this when I was a kid and this was always so much fun. All ages love it too and can get really intricate. Basically you break up into groups, large or small, the more people the more you can get intricate with your machine. You then come up with a machine or something that moves, and then the students have to make that machine with their bodies. So picture a lawn mower, if you could have someone do a wheel barrow as the lawn mower and the other students could be the grass… Or with more students you can have several students be the lawn mower like the wheels and make the lawn mower more intricate. No noises, that gives it away too easily. It’s fun to try to guess what they are acting out. Conveyor belt, clock, car, washing machine, and I’m sure you can come up with more ideas but it’s always so much fun.

     Scavenger hunts are always fun. I love doing this with my online classes but I’m sure this would be harder to do in a studio setting with not much things around unless you planted some items around the classroom.

     Choreography challenge with emotions. “Emoji Dance” Have them all learn the same choreography, they can roll a dice to determine what emotion they will be using for their dance. They they perform the choreography with that emotion. Or you can just play different songs that have different emotions, like a slower song that might be sad, a song that might make you feel angry… It can be tweaked many different ways.

     Stations. I always love stations. The great thing about stations is that it can be super easy or you can give them a harder exercise to work on. I do incorporate a station where they can just chill or get water, or a talking station where they get to know each other. Other stations could be a prop station where they get to dance with the different props, hip hop in a box station where they look at the cards and practice different moves. Of course you can have a stretching or exercise station or a partnering station. There are endless options you can incorporate into your stations! They can take up a lot of your class or you can use the last few minutes of your class for stations depending on what you want to be accomplished.

     I have played a pin the tail on the donkey type game but used a famous dancer. For example in one of my classes I used some famous tap dancers and they had to pin the tap shoes on the tap dancers. But you can definitely do this in any class and it’s a great way to introduce some famous dancers of our past or present.

     You could always do a trivia type game that includes dance history or names of harder steps, stage directions etc. Whatever you want them to concentrate on or think is important in dance, use that as your trivia questions!

     Dance Bingo. You can do this many different ways. You could literally call out numbers and play bingo, or during class, if you do a certain step or say a certain word in class and they have it on their card they can mark it off. Or you could simply just do a dance step and if they remember the name of the step and have it on their card they can mark that spot off.

     Freeze dance of course. I’m sure most of us do this every now and then. I try not to do this every class but use it as a fun time that they have to earn.

     Popcorn dance. When the ball is passed to you, you have to dance. They must keep passing the ball, some might take longer than others.

     Animal dance. Tell your students to dance like a certain animal. Once the song comes on, they must dance how that animal might dance. You can have them all do it at once, or go one at a time and have the other students guess what animal they are.

     Body Part Dance Party! Pick a body part and only use that body part to dance with. You can do this all at once or they can take turns and try to do different moves using the same body part.

     Remote control Dance. Think of a Video/DVD player. You call out the commands play, fast forward, rewind and pause. You can give them choreography or they can do their own moves. Whoever doesn’t pause in time is out!

     Create your own hula. Start by teaching your students about Hawaiian culture and how hula dances aren’t just a cool way to dance but the moves actually tell a story or the moves mean different things. Have them come up with their own hula motions to dance out a story of their own.

     Well, these are just a few dance games you can use in your class when you either want just to have a game day or add a game to the end of your class. These work great and the kids love them. If you have any games you would like to share I’d love to hear it! You can share on my social media or you can message me from my website.

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     Well, thanks for listening reading! Till next time!