Dancing In Your Kitchen... Or Anywhere Else In Your Home

What can you do at home?

In this crazy time where we are all stuck at home, there is no better time to talk about simple dance-based activities you can do at home with your kiddos! These are exercises and activities that I use in the studio throughout the dance year to support technical dance training and focus on the core concepts of space, time and energy. There are so many great things that you can do at home with little space and household objects that will make time at home productive and fun, here are a few of my favorites!

Strength Training/ Stretching

Strength training and stretching are important parts of dance. Using our imagination and objects around the house we can contiue to work on strenth and flexibility. Here are some actvities I use in classes that can be done at home to help enhance your range of motion, raise your heart rate, increase your endurance, build muscle and bone mass, improve balance, and prevent falls. Check it them out!

Bear walk push

In the studio we use the moveable balance beam. At home you can use anything that is long enough that you can be on one side while your child is on the opposite. Start by getting into a bear crawl position (Start on all fours and lift your knees so they're at a 90-degree angle and hovering an inch off the ground, move one hand and the opposite foot forward an equal distance while staying low to the ground, switch sides, moving the opposite hand and foot & repeat the movement while alternating sides) As you begin to bear crawl you will use your hands to push the object along the floor in one direction to pivot 180º. Have your child mimic the movement to push the object 180º back to you. When you are not the person push the object you are the pivot point so that the object does get pushed away from reach.

Low kneel pull

Sitting in a low kneel use the same object used for the bear walk push. Place the object at a distance so that when your arms are extended forward you can grasp the top of the object with both hands and pull it towards you.

Toe touch/ hamstring stretch

Floor variation- sitting on the floor stretch your legs out long in to front of you. keeping your legs as straight as possible lift your arms up in the air and hinge forward from the hips to touch the farthest point on your legs as you can without bending your knees. Hold for at least 5 seconds and aim to get to 15 seconds before relaxing.

Yoga ball variation- on the ball have your feet firmly planted on the floor. Hinge forwards at the hips to reach down and touch your toes. Aim to hold this position for 15 seconds before relaxing. You can use a slight bounce/pulse to tap the toes if you want to count the amount of time you are holding this stretch.

Two person variation- sit on the ground facing one another with the sole of your feet/shoes touching in a flexed position. take turns reaching forward trying to touch one another’s feet.

Arm raises

Standing or sitting on the yoga ball, begin with arms straight down at either side of the body, bring arms straight out to the side and then down to your sides. Next, raise arm straight out in front of your body and then return them down to your sides. Repeat 8-12 times.

Luigi arm pattern

This arm pattern is great for increasing memory and coordination. Arms come into the chest bent at the elbows, elbows fold down close to the body, arms lift straight up on wither side of head and then open to the side straight out. repeat this pattern 8 times using both arms simultaneously and then 8 times using a single arm.

Holding hands chest press

This can be done sitting or standing across from one another. Both persons should extend arms out in front of themselves. Interlock fingers/hands. One partner should pull the arms to their chest prior once holding hands. Begin exercise by pushing out towards the other person so that their elbows bend and hands come close to chest. Repeat at least 8-12 times.

Crayon rolls

Begin lying on your back on the ground, bring both arms up over head and clasp them together and have your legs out straight. Movement should initiate from the core to roll onto the side of the body and continue to stay in a long straight position.

I typically use this as a spatial awareness exercise in class, so when I roll towards the other person they are enticed to roll away so that we don’t bump into one another.

Cobra stretch

Lie on your belly, stretch your legs straight back behind you with eh tops of your feet on the floor. Bring your arm to a bent position at your sides , push into the ground with your hands and forearms to begin to straighten the arms to lift the chest off the floor, going only as far as your personal range of motion allows. Hold the pose for 15 seconds and then slowly lower back to the ground.

Happy baby

This is a gentle and relaxing stretch. Start lying on your back and draw your knees in towards you’re chest. Grab the outside of your feet with your elbows on the inside of your knees.

Draw your shoulders toward the ground, tone your arms and flex your feet as you pull down on your feet. Keep your knees wide and toward your armpits and try to stack ankles above knees.

Lengthen your lower back down to the ground. Keep in tune with your breath and stay here for up to one minute, and then release.

Balance and Moving Through Space

Balance and spatial awareness are very important skills in many activities including dance. Balance is a key component of fitness and is a underlying component to the develop of other gross motor skills. Good spatial awareness skills result in increased dexterity, a great sense of balance, flexibility and whole body strength. Here are some fun activities to do at home.

Walk the plank

Tape a line on the floor to walk on one foot in front of the other. This helps with balance, weight transferring, and spatial awareness.

If you want to challenge your kiddos, tape the floor in patterns (zigzags, curved lines, shapes, etc.)

Hula Hula Hoops

Hula Hoops have so many ways that they can be used to introduce spatial awareness! Here are a few different activities using hula hoops that can be a fun wear to teach your child about sharing and moving through space with other in different levels.

Hula Hooping

Take turns trying to use it as its original purpose, spinning around the body. Explain that if another person were to be too close that the hula hoop would fall and no longer be able to go round and round the body of the current hula hooper.

Hula Hop

Another activity can be placing many hula hoops on the ground. Explain that you are only able to walk inside the hula hoops to get from one side of the room to the other.

Personal Space

Place a hula hoop on the ground and ask your child to stand inside. Explain that this is their spot and they can only dance/move inside of the hoop. If you step outside of the hoop your turn is over.

Directions and Levels

Hold the hula hoop in different and ask your child to go through, over, under, etc. the hoop. This will introduce directional patterns to your child as they have to pass through the hoop different ways.

Animal Walks

Animal walks are fun way to promote stamina, strength, balance and coordination using your imagination. These walks help develop important gross motor skills and provide sensory input to those completing the activity. Core strength and balance are major targets of these activities and the sensory input provided can be a great way to regulate sensory systems especially when there is a present issue in sensory processing.

Snake crawl

Begin in a plank position low on your forearms, with your elbows on the on the ground, lift up one arm and move it forward, keeping the body in a steady plank position that stays low to the ground, your opposite leg will drag behind you as you move your other arm forward.

Bear walks

Begin in a standing position, bend over at the hips to reach out in front of you and touch the ground. The position should look like a triangle. Bend your knees slightly and then begging to walk forward in space.

Turtle crawl

Starting in the kneeling position, curl your back over and put your elbows on the ground. Keeping your bottom on your heels, and your elbows and hands on the ground, pull yourself forward in a slow motion.

Bunny hops

Standing tall, place your hands in front of your chest to show off your bunny paws. Beginning by stating that both feet should stay together and the hops will be small from 2 feet to 2 feet. Bend your knees slightly before hopping up and land again with your knees bent. Remember, bunnies are very quiet so the hops should make little to no sound upon landing!

Frog jumps

Starting in a wide squatted position with you hand on the ground between your legs, use your feet to jump forward and land with your hands and feet on the ground. Add in some extra fun by making the noise a frog makes every time you jump!

Crab walk

Squat down close the the ground or begin sitting on your bottom. Lean backwards and reach place your hands on the ground behind you. If starting from a seated position, make you’re your feet are planted firmly in front of your body and lift your bottom off the ground. You should now be in a table top position and remain in that position as you begin to walk sideways. To encourage keeping your bottom up and back straight as you walk, try balancing something lightweight on your tummy, it will only stay in place if you maintain the table top position!

Inchworm crawl

Start from a standing position, bend over reaching until your hands touch the floor. The goal is to have your hands touching the floor as close to your feet as your mobility allows. Once touching the floor, slowing begin to walk your hands away from your feet until you reach plank position. From the plank position, slowly walk your feet to your hands.Repeat this pattern as you move across the floor.

Elephant walk

This walk starts from a standing position. As you begin to mimic the way elephants walk, clasp your hands together to make your own elephant trunk. Bend at the hips to a flat-back position with your hands still clasped together, begin walks and allow your arms and hands swing side-to-side as you walk with straight legs across the floor. If you want add some vocals to it and ask what sound does an elephant make?

Octopus wiggles

An octopus likes to sit on the bottom of the ocean and feel around to find friends and food. Start by sitting on the ground in a way that’s most comfortable and begin to wiggle and reach your arms all around. Reach and wiggle away from your body to test your balance. If you are looking for more of a challenge on your bottom and try to incorporate your legs to the wiggling!

Rhythm

Rhythm is great way to add playtime into dance. Rhythm is important to attain musicality. The key to supporting this learning experience is to make it fun! Knock on the door and see who’s there, have a drum solo beating on the floor, do a little dance and give yourself a round of applause… all of this makes a beat! If you want some more structure look at the follow the leader activity below!

Follow the leader

Taking turns as the leader create a pattern of claps, stomps and shoulder shrugs in combinations of 3 or 4. Have the other person repeat the pattern and then switch rolls. Increase the number of actions in each sequence up to 8.

Improvisation/ free dance

I cannot stress enough the importance and fun of improvisation. This a time of exploration and discovery that not only allows for freedom but it strengthens independence and confidence. In this time everyone has the opportunity to move around in the space freely. Each person can do something different from another, the can listen to the music, sing, scat, dance, jump or take the time to rest. Improvisation does not have to have a set goal.You are the choreographer, just for a short time and this moves mountain and road blocks corrections of set instruction star tech the surface of. Free dance and improvisation is not only about creating new movement, it is a time of self-discovery that sneaks in lessons such as musicality stamina, coordination and so much more.

Put on some music and let your bodies decide the rest. Let it all go for just a few minutes, I promise it teaches many lessons structured movement can only introduce.

All in All Dance Everywhere!

Dance utilizes the entire body. Balancing on toes, raising arms, sliding and gliding through space all support flexibility, coordination, balance, range of motion, stamina, muscle tone, strength and posture. Physical fitness is not the only benefit, dance helps people develop emotionally, socially and cognitively. Dance supports many life skills through the dedication and discipline rooted in technique and these skills attained at home or in the studio environment will transfer over to school, work and other aspects of their lives.

As we have the opportunity to dance at home and soon back in the studio let’s make dance a part of our dance everyday!

Ps. If anyone needs demos to any of these activities please don’t hesitate to contact me and I will provide video tutorials!  

More Than Just Steps

What are transferable skills and how in the world do they have anything to do with dance?

Simply, they are skills learned in one setting that can be used to improve performance in another. Dance has a plethora of skills that can be used in other parts of life. Dance is a common activity for many people throughout their life in social, educational, and recreational settings. It’s a masked form of communication for many populations that can breaks down barriers. In dance for special needs there is a HUGE opportunity to teach skills that promote independence in activities of daily living.

Growing up in dance, I was taught discipline, respect, and responsibility without even acknowledging. I learned to listen to the teacher, only one person should talk at a time, share space with others, to take turns and to thank my teacher at the end of every class. I learned to succeed through the hard times and the mistakes because I was ALWAYS learning something.I could ramble on about this topic forever but I am going to focus on creativity, strength & coordination, and communication in this post. I feel that these three skills are extremely important transferable skills that dance teaches.

Creativity

Creativity is key, there I said it. Creativity is just like a muscle, if it is not used it will be lost. I spend about 50% of my teaching in all dance classes encouraging creativity. Imagination and improvisation allow students to make connections between things inside and outside of dance. Using prompts such as animals (lets move across the floor like a turtle) makes the students think about a thing that is not a technical dance term/movement. They have to decide if the need to move slow or fast, on the floor or standing, etc. The chance for the students to make decisions and create their own meaning to the movement is a BIG deal. This increases confidence, independence and enjoyment.

Strength and Coordination

Dance improves strength and coordination. This is among the top physical benefits of participation in dance. Practice and repetition gradually build the strength needed to perform poses and movements in dance while simultaneously increasing body awareness. Down the road, the repetition and building upon simple actions and positions in a dance setting can be used to promote independence and mobility.

Communication

Dance is a nonverbal way to express, or learn to express emotions. Communication is commonly a topic for conversation within teaching people with special needs. In this field you encounter individuals that do not communicate in the same ways as you do. Maybe one individual speaks, the other uses eye gaze, another uses simple signing, and one has a commutation application on a tablet. Sometimes the access to communication is not readily available at every second of the day, so what else can be used? Our bodies.

Dance is movement. It is not always a set of steps done in order to music. Dance can express feelings, needs and wants. In a class setting, I give my students the freedom to show me how different songs make them feel through movement. One song can make one person feel happy, another sad, and another energized and occasionally a song will make someone who may not have shown any expression the entire class suddenly smile from ear to ear. I also am able to use a variety of music to show my students what emotion I relate to specific songs, genres, and tempos.

Dance taught me many things beyond moving in time with the music and my goal as a teacher is to do the same for my students. I want them to learn to move in space with others, not only inside the studio or on stage but in life. I want my students to be creative, strong, and expressive people in their own unique ways.

Allow Me To Introduce Myself...

My name is Cassidy and I am the founder of iCANdance. Dance is my passion and profession, I received my Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in dance in 2018 and my Master of Science degree in adapted physical activity in 2019 from Slippery Rock University. Combining my knowledge from both degrees, I currently have three classes available for students with special needs at Siri’s School of the Performing Arts in Harmony, PA. I believe that dance is accessible for all people because at its core, dance is adaptable. iCANdance started in 2017 as a part of Siri’s School of the Performing Arts that provides dance classes for people with special needs. As the programs continues, it is my goal to not only offer classes to the community at Siri’s School of the Performing Arts but to create a traveling program that offers training, classes, and seminars about dance for special needs, the aging population, and inclusive dance training and performance.

Let’s take a minute to simplify the core elements of dance: space, time, and energy. To the untrained eye, dance is a black and white realm. Space, is the environment that a dancer moves in. Time is the speed at which movements are made. Energy if the effort displayed and/or used to execute movements. A dancer acquires skill and knowledge of a specific genre through classes and performs these skills in a show or competition to entertain, but dance is more than that. Dance is a conversation, expressing knowledge and feeling through nonverbal communication. Dance is transferable, it helps those who take part in all aspects of life.

As iCANdance enters this period of change and growth, this blog will be here to provide updates, stories, and information about dance for special needs. The dance world continues to evolve there is a need for professionals and the community alike to share information about how dance is universal. Here’s to the start of iCANdance’s contribution to the growth of dance for special needs. Dance is a lot more than meets the eye. When you are given the chance to dance, take it and run. I can dance, you can too!