Fall is my favorite. I love the crisp air, the leaves that change, and all of the themes that come with this season. Apples, Pumpkins, and characters to name a few! This past week in class I came up with a leaf dance to do with my littles. Ahhh, it was just the best. Here is what we did:
1) Scatter: First I told them all to close their eyes. I dumped a big bag of leaves in a pile on the floor and then said “Surprise!” and they were so surprised because it was something new we have never danced with before. I turned on soft music and told them to take a handful and scatter them all over the room. “Spread them out, so each leaf has a spot” I said.
2) Gather: After we scattered them, I told them to gather them in two piles in their hands. As many as they could. This brings so much focus. It was amazing!
3) Toss: I counted to the number 3 and we tossed them in air and as they fell, they turned, and jumped in the leaves. It was so beautiful, and such a fun dance.
After we did this a few times (more like 100, because they loved it so much) I asked them to take just one leaf and hold it up high. We watched it fall to the floor and then tried to fall the same way as the leaf. It was amazing, for them to be able to see the leaves fall and then try to replicate the movement.
After we danced like the leaves for a while we gathered them into a pile and practiced our leaps over them, instead of using cones like we usually do.
I’m not sure who had more fun on this lesson, but I highly recommend it! 🙂
Do you do any leaf dances? What are your favorite fall dances? I would love to hear!
p.s. You can find the leaves I used here.
Comments
Ooo! I’m so stealing this class plan =)
Yes Diana! I am so excited about this lesson, they loved it and so did I + it teaches so much! 🙂 Let me know how it goes!
I want to do this so bad! I love the bit of dancing like the leaf falling. Incredible imagery!
It really is! 🙂
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Love that idea of colorful leave dance class. In Spring time I have my spring dance using flower petals, I cant wait to use leaves this fall. Thank you Maria for your inspiring blog!!!!
Thanks Joanna! I love the idea of using flower petals in the spring. I will for sure add those to the list of ideas! 🙂