Early years activity: Outdoors dance time
Bring movement, music and imagination together with this fun outdoors dance time activity. Children are encouraged to explore creative expression as they move like elements of the natural world - from swaying trees to fluttering butterflies. This activity supports physical development and gives children the freedom to express themselves in fun and imaginative ways.
Outdoors dance time learning aims
- Develop gross motor skills
- Encourage creative movement
- Build confidence and listening skills
- Explore nature through movement.
Resources you will need for this activity
- A small speaker or music player
- Upbeat music
- Scarves, ribbons, or leaves children have collected (optional).
Outdoors dance time activity outline
- Take the children outside to an open space such as the playground or garden. Ask the children to spread out so that they have enough room to move safely. Explain that they are going to use their bodies to dance and move like things they might see in nature
- Start with a short warm-up, e.g. encourage them to stretch their arms high above their heads and stand tall like trees. Invite them to wiggle and move their bodies gently like worms in the soil and then flap their arms slowly like butterflies flying through the garden. Make sure you model the movements so the children can copy and join in
- Once the children are warmed up, begin the nature dance game. Play some upbeat music and invite the children to listen carefully while you call out different ideas for movements. For example, sway from side to side like the wind, make small jumping movements like raindrops falling to the ground and flap their arms and move lightly like birds flying. You could also ask them to crouch down low and slowly grow tall like flowers opening in the sunshine. Give the children time to explore each movement and praise their efforts and creativity
- After modelling some ideas, invite the children to suggest their own nature movements and demonstrate them for the group
- Make some time for free dance. Encourage the children to move their bodies in any way they like while the music plays. Support and encourage the children’s confidence, celebrating different ways of moving such as spinning, jumping, stretching, or moving slowly and quickly
- Finally, guide the children into a calm cool-down. Ask them to take a deep breath, reach their arms up towards the sky and then slowly curl their bodies down into a small shape like a tiny seed resting in the soil. Encourage slow breathing to help the children relax before moving on to the next activity.
How to extend this activity
Encourage children to build a sequence of movements, e.g. grow from a seed to a tall plant, then open into a flower, and sway in the breeze. Finish with the flower closing up for night time. See if the children can repeat their sequence or add other movements into it, such as a bee searching for pollen.
NDNA products to support you with this activity
PANCo - Training
Disclaimer: Activities with children must always be risk assessed, including for allergies or choking. Children must always have adequate supervision. Resources and materials must always be appropriate for children’s age and stage of development.
