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(Unit 2) Topic 7: Music and Movement

2 Clock Hours of Early Childhood Education

You Should be Dancin'

Topic 7 Page 13

Teamwork and collaboration are two very important aspects of any education program, and especially an early childhood program. Young children are making friendships and building social and emotional skills by interacting with their peers.

Movement activities give children another opportunity to practice these skills and to work as a team to accomplish goals and objectives.

In the video on the previous page we saw a group of preschoolers work together to create a “snake” by moving their bodies into one large, coiled line which resembled a massive snake. This is a prime example of the teamwork aspect that movement and dance can give to a preschool class. In other parts of the video we saw dance groups participate in performances which involved the timing and collaboration of all participants. This is not only a fantastic teamwork activity, but also a lesson in problem solving if children are allowed to create the dance themselves. While this seems like an absurd idea for an early childhood program, it really is not. Children can create these performances just like they can create other works of collaborative art. All it takes is some time and support from teachers and peers.

Ok, so they can work together, but why? Interestingly enough, the bonds that children create through dance and movement exercises can translate to other social and emotional concepts as well. Children may make new friends, strengthen older bonds, experience empathy for others, and learn to respect their peers through dance and movement activities. Consider breaking children into groups of different ability levels, social circles, and genders to allow them opportunities to build these concepts in different groups and new ways.