If you are having a party for your child, you know that it will be difficult to keep all the kids engaged at all times. With their lack of attention span and bubbling energy, it will be challenging for you to keep them busy and entertained throughout. Kids dance party games can help you. Dance games keep the mind and body of kids engaged and help improve various skills.
10 Engaging Dance Games for Children
So, here are our ten dance activities for children between the age group of 5-8.
1. Say Ola to Hula!
This is a popular Hawaiian dance tradition that has become a global kids dance game. You will need a hula hoop for this, and we have modified this to fit kids who may not have learnt to hula hoop as yet.
How To:
- Play a nice Hawaiian song.
- A Bollywood beach song is a good alternative.
- Make the kids dance with the hula hoop.
- The best hula dancer can claim the throne of the entertainer.
- It is not necessary that the kids know how to hula hoop around the waist. It could be around the arm too. They can also use it as a prop and make crazy dance moves.
2. The Pool Ball Dance
A party at the pool during summers is quite common, but if you have arranged a pool party for your kid, you should also organise a pool dance game for all the children attending the party.
How To:
- You will need a ball that is easy for kids to catch and throw.
- Make sure the children stand at random positions in the pool.
- Play some music, go for fun songs.
- The ball is thrown to one child who will begin to dance to the song that is being played.
- Change the song, and the child holding the ball will throw it to any random child, who will then start dancing and, thus, the game continues.
- There is no winner in this dance game, but it sure is fun.
3. The Animal Dance
This dance also involves using chits. This game is good for the imagination and knowledge. This makes use of various animal movements and sounds that children very cleverly observe.
How To:
- Write the names of different animals on separate chits.
- Call-out an animal name from a chit.
- Children will have to make the noise of the animal and dance as they perceive the animal to be.
- It is best not to interfere and teach them animal movements.
- It is quite interesting to see the animal moves they come up with.
- Make sure you have a variety of animals that children connect with such as snakes, birds, lion, rabbit etc.
4. The Balloon Dance
The balloon dance is a great dance game for birthday parties where balloons can easily be used as props. Don’t be taken away just by the name; this dance is an activity for hand and leg coordination.
How To :
- Give each child a balloon.
- Once they begin dancing, they juggle the balloon.
- Tell them that the balloon they are holding should not fall down.
- The one who dances with the balloon for the longest time wins the game.
- It can be made tough by asking them not to use palms.
5. The Emoji Dance
Everything is digital these days. If there is one thing that children connect with, its emojis. This game helps them express emotions better too.
How To:
- Take a print out of popular emoji expressions, such as happy, sad, angry, and amazed.
- Make them into large flashcards.
- The card you flash is the theme on which they dance.
- Play music as per the theme.
- Music needs to change along with the expression.
- Happy emoji can be on a peppy song; the sad expression will be comical (surprisingly) on a sad song.
- Kids will love dancing to such songs that express different emotions.
6. The High Five Dance
Children love high fives. It’s one of their favourite mode of expression. It is one cool thing that connects them with other children. A good icebreaker, this dance is a must if you want all the children to interact.
How To:
- Ask children to team up, i.e every child needs one partner, and give each pair some time to prepare.
- Each pair comes up to the stage area and faces each other.
- They will have to create a dance with claps, high fives, double fives, low fives and snapping.
- This one can even be done without music if required and claps can be used for rhythm.
7. The Paintbrush Dance
The best part is that you don’t need a paintbrush for this game. You need to make children imagine that they have a paintbrush on a particular part of the body and they will have to paint the space around them with that body part. This improves their imaginary and cognitive skills.
How To:
- Write down different parts of the body on separate chits of paper.
- For example, you can write down elbows, hands, nose, knee, head, etc.
- As the chit is called out, one child will paint the floor and everything around him with that part of the body, that is mentioned in the chit.
- The imaginary paintbrush then shifts to the next body part that is called out in another chit.
- For example, if the paintbrush is on the elbow, the child will paint around him with the elbow. If it comes to hands, the child will do dance moves using his hands.
8. Jumping Jack Dance
If one thing is abundant in children, it is energy. Kids don’t need sugar to get high on energy, they are already bubbling with energy. It is a good dance game to exhaust their energy and engage them in some good physical exercise.
How To:
- Music needs to be peppy. The peppier, the better.
- In this dance game, kids need to jump as much as possible.
- The highest, the weirdest, and the best jumps from children will be considered and you can give those children some stars.
9. Remote Dance
For once, you can control your children at a party. This acts as an activity for spontaneity and quick thinking.
How To:
- You need a pretend remote, a real one or even a flashcard with remote buttons terms.
- Play the music low every time you call out a term.
- The terms on the flashcard remote could be, fast forward, rewind, pause, and play.
- Children make moves according to the term that is called out.
- For example, if you call out ‘Rewind’, children need to walk back or jog backwards. If you call out ‘Forward’, their dance moves will be quick.
10. Sack Dance
Sack game is a traditional sport around the world. This is a dance originated from that and worked well with younger children.
How To:
- Get some clean sacks for each child.
- They need to get inside and start dancing in sacks without falling.
- Increase the intensity by making two children stand in one large sack.
- The one who lasts the longest without falling is the winner.
- This dance is best suited for outdoor parties.
When you have kids, you are always on your feet, running around them and meeting their demands. But if you have organised a party for them, you need to find ways to keep them busy. And what better than dancing? Teach the kids these dance games to keep them happily engaged. These games will keep their minds and bodies active, thereby, improving their body mobility and hand-eye coordination. However, to work on their problem-solving skills and to promote overall intelligence, get DIY kits for them and let them learn while having fun.
Dance along with the kids and keep up with the energy. These games will make sure that all the children have the best time at the party and also make some new friends. Enjoy, as they groove to the music.
