Hello!
For those of you who read our previous post about the Groove Child® Primary Dance Toolkit session at Mudeford Infants, we are back again to report on SESSION 2! This session was lead with a focus on EMOTIONS, using props to help the children project their feelings onto initially, as we set about working on a choreographed piece…
As mentioned last week, part of our mission to inspire a more ‘whole child’ development approach to dance includes reaching out to Primary Schools and offering them our adaptable and easy to use creative movement toolkit as a solution to increasing physical activity in the school day that nurtures the mental and emotional growth of the child.
Recent articles about the Primary PE & Sport Premium have indicated that schools ideally need to seek staff training in physical activities for children that supports certain key visions, including:
- Physical education with a holistic focus on both physical and emotional development
- Helping children develop physical literacy
- Closing gender and disability gaps
- Working towards giving the children a recommended 30 active minutes per day
Groove Child® Primary CPD workshops and INSET training for school staff offers all this and more – as Mudeford Infants has been discovering! (Read our WEEK 1 post if you’ve yet to see it)
So, back to Mudeford! THIS session Groove Child co-founder, Amy Reynolds, was back with Mrs Kate Jennings and the very energetic Year 1 children.
The children were guided through a fun warm up,and ‘Picture Perfect’ improvisation that helped them get into the mood (well actually, in several different moods) exploring various feelings and emotions, facial expressions, body language, and also discussing situations where they may have felt angry, sad, or nervous.
Then using our ‘Layered Movement’ exercise, children volunteered their ideas of how to change the feeling of a step by giving it a new emotion. All the while using a specially created soundtrack to help inspire the children’s performance and develop their sense of musicality.
After a few minutes of experimenting and exploring feelings through movement, we then came together in a circle and attempted to ‘sculpt’ three brave volunteers into a three different positions – EXCITED, SHY, and HAPPY.
BUT! We gave the children special ‘rules’ to follow that tested their creative problem-solving skills to get there…
Finally, the session finished with work on a set choreography led by Amy, inspired again by theme of FEELINGS…taking them on a bit of an emotional journey (by 3pm, as you can imagine, we were all exhausted).
Aside from the physical activity of dance, the children experienced much more within this session, including:
- An exploration of feelings, what someone might look like when they’re feeling a certain way
- Having the confidence to raise your hand with an idea or volunteer for something
- Stepping out of their comfort zone and have their growth mindset encouraged through practice and effort within the session.
Mrs Jennings joined in with the class and led a couple of exercises this time, once she’d had chance to observe them.
In the NEXT SESSION, Amy is passing the baton – it’s totally over to her!
For the final taster week, Mrs Jennings will be planning and delivering her own Groove Child inspired session to the awesome theme of (…drum roll…) SUPERHEROES!
Using the exercises she’s observed over the past two sessions – just a small fraction of the Groove Child toolkit – Mrs Jennings has already created her plan of how to adapt what shes seen to fit her new Superheroes theme (pssst! we’ve had a sneak peek…and the plan looks GREAT. We can’t wait to see it in action).
We’ll keep you posted on how it goes…
In the meantime, If you could have any SUPER POWER, what would it be? Let us know in the comments below! 🙂
Groove Child® classes are designed to help teachers nurture children’s positive sense of self, confidence, and self expression in a way that celebrates their individuality through creative movement and dance. Primary Head Teachers – visit our website TODAY and contact us to receive more details regardingCPD workshops in your area or personalised INSET training days for your staff: www.groovechilddance.com
Groove Child Dance Syllabus - Blog 