Little Movers is a creative dance class for children aged 1-4 and their parent or carer. One of the great things about the age in which we live is that there’s lots of choice of classes and activities you can do with your toddler. One question I get asked a lot is “Is this class right for my child?”
Yes, if you’re interested in providing free, creative space for your child to express who they are. At Little Movers the children get to be in charge. I take lots of my ideas from the children themselves, meaning that although props may be the same for a few weeks, the content of the sessions is often different as I tailor it to the children who are there and their ideas. Take this Friday just gone for example – I had brought lots of acid bright lycra into the class. Gorgeously stretchy and eye poppingly vibrant. We’d already been doing a fair bit of running in our warm led (led by one cheeky 3 year old chap who needed to run lots and lots!) My idea was to have some time of calm using the sensory quality of the lycra and enable everyone to take a breather. But no, the children in the room had other ideas. Absolutely in love with the idea of being chased we invented a new game – the children ran and the adults tried to throw the lycra over them. This then led into a matador/toreodor type game. The squeals of delight filled the room.
From there the whole session took a different turn, with hiding and escaping being the main theme. You see, when there’s no set content, the class can evolve organically and revolve around the children that are there in the room.
There’s been lots of emphasis placed on sensory experiences in early years and the importance of them – and that’s absolutely right. Little Movers matches that sensory experiences with a form of interaction that puts your child’s interests and fascinations as top priority. What that does for a child’s self-esteem and confidence in their ideas is out of this world. There is no judgement – a child’s inner drive to jump, roll, squash, stand still is not right or wrong, it simply exists. And the fact that we, the adults tune into it, is the best gift we can give our children.
If this class is right for you, you can find us on Facebook