The Benefits of Dance for Children

Dance is a fantastic hobby for a child and I’d love to tell you why.

Dance classes have a wide range of benefits on both the body and the mind. Dancing can increase your child's flexibility and range of motion, as well as their physical strength and stamina. Development in these areas can also help children with sports and other activities outside of the dance studio.

No one can resist smiling when watching toddlers dance to music. They just don’t have any inhibitions like us adults. But did you know that dancing really benefits babies and toddlers? Dancing and music aren’t just fun ways to pass the time. In fact, dancing helps children develop communication skills, self-expression, focus, rhythm and musicality. Learning to dance also builds confidence and self-belief.

Physical Development in Children

As children grow up, it is highly beneficial for them to get involved in physical activity of different kinds. Dance engages the entire body, from head to toe. For example, dance teaches skills like balance, coordination, better posture and body control. The cardio aspect of dance also strengthens the heart and lungs, which is linked to reducing stress, fighting off disease and illness, and or course, physical strength and fitness levels.

• Increased muscular strength, endurance and aerobic fitness.
• Improved coordination.
• Better agility.
• Increased flexibility.
• Healthy blood pressure.
• Improved balance.
• A deeper understanding of spatial awareness.
• Improved condition of heart and lungs.

Baby and Toddler Social Awareness

Tappy Toes provides a safe and nurturing environment for your baby, toddler or pre-schooler to feel comfortable and get used to social settings. During the class we work on turn-taking, sharing, tidy up time (Handing back props) They learn to understand and value working as a team and cooperating with each other to make the parachute work for example. Our ‘twirl’ section of the class encourages them to perform independently, supporting and encouraging other dancers by recognising and applauding their efforts. These social skills are important to learn early on, and your child will grow into a more effective communicator in the future.

Children's Communication Skills

Dance helps children learn to communicate by incorporating rhymes, lyrics, songs with actions, body language, expression through movement, and interaction with others. They learn how to listen, wait their turn and perform. We actively encourage them to be creative and use their imaginations with the use of imagery for our exercises. For example, we might be dipping our toes in the pond and asking the children ‘What’s in the pond?’. By calling out a register each lesson and asking the children to wave or call out a response helps develop not just their communication skills, but also their confidence. These are just some of the benefits of dance for children.

Cognitive Development

Gaining an awareness of how to function in the world and using movement as a response to a problem or idea are two areas of cognitive development your child will learn through a Tappy Toes dance classes. The use of imagery within our classes means your child will be working on leg extension, stretching feet and ankles, learning ballet port de bras (arm movements) and so much more, while in their heads they are creeping through a forest, searching for different creatures or catching butterflies and gentle releasing them and watching them fly away. This teaches them problem solving, transferring body weight, balance, imagination, space recognition, and so much more. These creative solutions help children handle decisions and responsibilities in the real world with confidence and effectiveness.

Self-Expression

We’ve all experienced a tantrum-ing toddler right? Tell me I’m, not alone!  Music and dance teach kids healthy ways to release their emotions and express their feelings. Tappy Toes children’s dance classes provide an outlet for babies and toddlers to ‘let themselves go’ and release any pent up energy in a creative and safe way. Dance can help our little ones express themselves, before they are even able to form words!

Join one of Our Toddler Dance Classes and Watch Them Blossom and Grow

Tappy Toes baby and toddler dance classes offer a three-week trial period, so you can really make sure your child enjoys it, before signing up for a term. We introduced this three-week trial period as a one-off drop in session really doesn’t give you a proper sense of how your child will settle into the class.

It is usual for a baby or toddler to feel overwhelmed when starting a new activity. It’s a new place, new people, new teacher. Sights and sounds are different and sometimes this can result in your little one not fully engaging in the class. We think it would be a real shame to give up after just one session, so the three-week trial allows you to come back again and give them another chance to settle. You will notice real progress over the three weeks, so much so, we are confident that you will want to join us for the term!

Book now at tappytoes.com/childrens-dance-classes