How to Awaken the Love of Dancing for Your Toddler

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How to Awaken the Love of Dancing for Your Toddler

Dancing is a performing art that consists of a sequence of movements to the sound of music. The movement of the body is used to express an emotion or to entertain others. It’s also an important activity for toddlers to take part in. But how do you awaken the love of dancing for your toddler? Find out why creative movement for toddlers is important and how to get your little one to start enjoying the art of dancing.

All from the point of view of a father.

Creative Movement and Why It’s Important for Toddlers

In early child development, creative movement can stimulate three important senses: Hearing, sight and touch. When toddlers listen to the music and learn to move in time with the beat they can fine-tune these senses. Additionally, through dancing toddlers can sharpen motor skills.

Dancing teaches toddlers to control their bodies through a series of movements such as jumping, spinning or stepping. Hearing the music will also inspire toddlers in a creative way. For example, when a child hears a beat they can decide how their bodies respond to it in the best way.

Tips on How to Awaken the Love of Dancing for Your Toddler

Do you want your toddler to become interested in the art of dancing? There are many ways you can inspire your little one to become a mover and shaker but not all of them are effective. Here are some tips to help you.

Enrol Your Toddler into Dance School

Besides dancing with your toddler at home to show her the basic techniques, a professional instructor is probably the best way to teach your toddler how to properly dance. Dancing schools teach toddlers the performing arts which is ideal if your toddler e.g. becomes a child actor later in life.

If you enrol your child into dancing school they’ll experience benefits such as:

Getting regular exercises
Learning how to talk to others
Encouraged daily stretching
Teaches her creativity
Opportunities to perform at concerts

Dancing will also strengthen your toddler’s physical strength and stamina and improve your little one’s posture.

Have a Daily Family Dance Party

Whether you’re making breakfast in the morning or getting ready to go to bed in the evenings you can turn any activity into a dance scene. Make sure you have a device you can play music through and choose tracks you know your toddler will love.

Then simply put the music on at any given time and encourage your toddler to dance. This is also a fun way to get your toddler to do certain things such as getting dressed or getting ready for bath time. You also want to encourage your other family members to dance too so you always have a fun activity to do together every day.

Buy Fun Dancing Games Everyone Can Play

Another fun way to get your toddler to love the art of dancing is to buy them games that teach them how to dance. There are easy dancing games for Xbox and PlayStation that your toddler might love such as Just Dance.

If you do get your toddler a dancing game you may want to baby proof your plants at home so your little one doesn’t knock pot plants over when they’re dancing.

Watch Dance Competitions Together

There are plenty of professional child dancing stars and they’ve even made reality TV shows about dancing competitions. If you want to inspire your toddler to dance, why not watch dancing competitions together? This is a great activity on a rainy day besides just reading.

You can either watch these dancing competitions on TV or go to live shows. Whether it’s hip hop dancing, ballet or ballroom dancing there’s bound to be a dancing style your toddler will want to try. There are also thousands of dance videos on YouTube that your toddler will love to watch.

Keep the Dancing Activities Fun

Negative reinforcement is a sure way to get your toddler to stop loving the art of dance. You don’t want to make dancing a chore for your toddler or force your little one to dance if they don’t want to. It’s important to make the dancing activities fun for your toddler so they develop a passion for dancing.

As a father, I find that turning a dance into a game is also a way to keep your toddler interested in dancing. You can create a series of games such as musical dance chairs that will keep your little one intrigued.

This involves putting chairs in a circle and having several people dance around them while the music is playing. When the music stops, someone must sit down on a chair in order not to be eliminated.

Final Thoughts

I find, as a father of a little girl, that children become disinterested as soon as they’re forced to do something or if it’s not fun. So if you want your toddler to love dancing then play music around the house often and dance with your little one regularly, whether it’s at home or at parties.