Music of your choice and the means to play it out loud!
Benefits
Improving hand-eye coordination and physical gross motor skills - this dance is all about getting toddlers ready to write when they are older.
It also sparks imagination and creativity.
The experience
Clear some space and put on some music that either you know your child already loves or take the opportunity to introduce them to something new.
With your child, pick up some thin scarves or ribbons and wave and move to the music. Good moves to try are anti-clockwise circles in the air, straight lines from top to bottom and wavy and zig-zag lines. These are all movements that relate to the children’s pre-writing skills, and making these movements in the air, using gross-motor movement helps develop confidence in producing these on paper.
Let your child move in different ways and try out different dance moves. Vary the tempo of the music - can they move really fast to a fast song and then respond to a slower one?
You could also turn this into a game of musical statues. When you stop the music, everyone dancing has to freeze. Who froze the quickest? A fun competition the whole family can get involved in.
