5 Ways Preschool Dance Supports Social and Emotional Development

When we think about what children learn in preschool dance classes, we often focus on things like coordination, balance, musicality, and beginning dance steps. And of course, those are all important! But did you know that many of the activities we use in preschool dance can also help children develop important social and emotional skills?

Young children learn so much through play. They're learning how to interact with other children, express their feelings, make decisions, and become more independent. And because movement and imaginative play are such important parts of a well-designed preschool dance class, we have some wonderful opportunities to support that development while we're teaching dance.

Years ago, I came across an article about different types of play and their benefits for children's social and emotional development. As I read through it, I realized that we were already incorporating many of those types of play into our preschool ballet and creative movement classes. We weren't necessarily calling them independent play, dramatic play, or cooperative play, but that's exactly what many of our activities were encouraging.

Today, I want to share five types of play we can incorporate into preschool dance classes and explain a little about how they can support children's development.

1. Independent Play: Building Confidence and Independence

If you've followed my teaching approach for very long, you know that I love including opportunities for free dance in preschool classes. While much of our class time is spent learning particular movements or following along with the teacher, I also think it's important to give children opportunities to explore movement independently.

During a free dance, I might play a piece of music and encourage students to create their own movements. Sometimes there's a theme or story to guide them, and sometimes the activity is completely open-ended. The children are free to decide how they want to move, rather than simply copying what I'm demonstrating.

This kind of self-directed movement exploration has some similarities to independent play. Children are making their own decisions, experimenting with new ideas, and discovering what their bodies can do. They may choose to practice a movement we've already learned, or they may come up with something entirely new.

And for some children, having the freedom to make those choices can be particularly valuable. A student who is hesitant to participate in a structured exercise may feel more comfortable exploring movement when there's no single correct way to perform it. Another child may surprise you with the creativity and confidence she demonstrates when she's given an opportunity to dance independently.

In early childhood development, independent or solitary play is a normal and valuable part of how children learn. Young children don't always need to be interacting with their peers to benefit from an activity. Sometimes they need opportunities to explore their own interests and ideas without having to coordinate what they're doing with someone else.

Of course, children who are dancing independently during a group free dance aren't necessarily engaged in solitary play in the strict developmental sense. They're still sharing a classroom with other children, and they may be observing or imitating their classmates. But they're practicing some of the same skills associated with independent exploration, including decision-making, initiative, and confidence in their own abilities.

2. Dramatic and Imaginative Play: Exploring Feelings and Emotions

Imaginative play has always been one of my favorite tools for teaching preschool dance. In fact, I originally began using more role-playing activities because I noticed that my students paid much better attention when they were pretending to be characters in a story!

But imaginative play can do much more than keep children interested in an exercise.

When children pretend to be someone else, they're experimenting with different roles, situations, and emotions. They may pretend to be excited princesses preparing for a ball, frightened animals hiding from a storm, or brave explorers setting off on an adventure. These experiences give them opportunities to think about how different characters might feel and how those feelings could be expressed through movement.

For example, during a Cinderella-themed lesson, you might ask students how Cinderella feels when she's getting ready for the ball. Is she excited? Nervous? Happy? How might she dance when she first enters the ballroom? Then you could ask students to imagine how her movements might change when the clock begins striking midnight and she realizes she needs to hurry home.

You don't need to spend a long time discussing emotions, particularly with younger preschoolers. A few simple questions can encourage children to begin thinking about feelings and how they might express them.

Developmental psychologists have long recognized the importance of pretend play in early childhood. Lev Vygotsky, for example, emphasized how imaginative play gives children opportunities to practice following the expectations associated with different roles. A child pretending to be a doctor, a parent, or a character from a story begins thinking about how that person might behave.

In dance class, we can use those same imaginative experiences to encourage children to explore emotions, practice expressing themselves, and begin considering perspectives other than their own.

And I love that we can do all of this while introducing dance concepts! We might use different movement qualities to express happiness, sadness, excitement, or fear, giving children opportunities to explore both emotional expression and the expressive possibilities of dance.

3. Physical Play: Developing Body Awareness and Self-Regulation

This one probably seems obvious. After all, dance is a physical activity!

But physical play is important for much more than developing strength and coordination. Movement gives young children opportunities to explore their abilities, become more aware of their bodies, and practice controlling their movements in different situations.

Think about a simple activity in which students pretend to be animals moving through a forest. They might jump like rabbits, tiptoe quietly like deer, stomp heavily like bears, or freeze when they hear a particular sound in the music.

While they're developing movement skills, they're also practicing changing their actions in response to instructions and environmental cues. They may need to stop an exciting movement, slow their bodies down, or change direction when the music tells them to do something different.

These kinds of activities provide opportunities to practice aspects of self-regulation, particularly the ability to control an action or respond to a change in instructions.

Self-regulation develops gradually throughout early childhood. A three-year-old may understand that she should stop when the music stops but still have difficulty doing so every time, especially when she's excited. Through repeated opportunities to practice, along with patient guidance from her teacher, she can become more comfortable responding to those expectations.

Physical activity also supports children's overall health and development, and there is research connecting movement with aspects of cognitive and emotional well-being. But I wouldn't suggest that a particular dance exercise automatically improves memory or concentration. Instead, I think it's helpful to recognize that dance provides opportunities to practice physical, cognitive, and self-regulation skills together.

And because children are actively moving rather than sitting and listening to lengthy explanations, we can introduce these skills in ways that make sense for their developmental abilities.

4. Sensory Play: Exploring the World Through Movement

Young children learn about the world through their senses. They touch things, listen to sounds, watch how objects move, and experiment with different physical experiences. And we can incorporate many of those opportunities into preschool dance classes.

One of the easiest ways to do this is through props.

Scarves, for example, can help children explore different movement qualities while providing a visual and tactile experience. A child can watch her scarf float through the air, feel the fabric moving through her hands, and experiment with making it travel in different directions.

Beanbags, soft balls, and other age-appropriate props can also provide opportunities for sensory exploration while reinforcing dance concepts. Students might carry beanbags across the room, follow pathways created with floor markers, or explore moving with lightweight scarves to different kinds of music.

Of course, sensory experiences aren't limited to props. Music itself provides opportunities to explore differences in sound, rhythm, tempo, and volume. Students can also become more aware of their bodies as they move through different levels, balance on one foot, or experiment with moving quickly and slowly.

Some children find particular sensory experiences enjoyable or helpful when settling into an activity, while others may be uncomfortable with certain textures, sounds, or types of movement. That's something worth remembering when choosing props and activities for young students.

I wouldn't assume that giving a child a prop will automatically help her calm down or concentrate. But thoughtfully chosen sensory experiences can provide another way for children to explore movement and participate in class.

And as always, I think the most important thing is to choose props and activities that support what you're trying to teach, rather than adding them simply because they're fun.

5. Cooperative Play: Learning to Work With Others

One of the things young children gradually learn is how to participate in activities with other children. And preschool dance gives us plenty of opportunities to introduce and practice those skills.

You may have heard of Mildred Parten's research on children's social play. Parten described different ways children participate in play, including solitary play, parallel play, associative play, and cooperative play.

In parallel play, children may play alongside one another without necessarily interacting very much. As they develop, they often become more interested in sharing materials, communicating with peers, and eventually working together toward a common goal.

Of course, these aren't rigid stages that every child moves through at exactly the same age. Children may participate in different types of play depending on the activity, their interests, and the other children around them.

We can see these differences in preschool dance classes, too.

A younger child may happily dance beside her classmates while concentrating entirely on her own movements. Another may begin watching and imitating what the other children are doing. Older preschoolers may be ready to participate in activities that require them to cooperate more directly.

For example, you might ask two students to work together to create a short movement sequence. One chooses a movement, the other adds another, and then they perform the sequence together. Or perhaps a small group is pretending to travel through an enchanted forest and needs to decide how they'll cross an imaginary river.

These activities encourage children to communicate, take turns making decisions, and consider what their classmates are doing.

Even learning a simple group dance can provide opportunities to practice cooperation, particularly when students need to remember where their classmates are positioned, travel together, or perform movements with a partner.

But I think it's worth distinguishing between children simply performing the same movements at the same time and children actually working together. Both experiences can be valuable, but cooperative play involves a greater degree of shared interaction and purpose.

And remember that younger preschoolers may not yet be ready for elaborate partner activities or complicated group choreography. We can begin with simple opportunities for interaction and gradually introduce more cooperative activities as children develop.

Supporting Social and Emotional Development Through Dance

I think one of the wonderful things about preschool dance is that we can teach so much more than movement skills without turning our classes into something other than dance.

When we include free dance, we're giving children opportunities to make decisions and explore movement independently. When we use stories and role play, we're encouraging imagination and emotional expression. Physical activities give children opportunities to practice controlling their movements, while sensory experiences and cooperative activities help them explore their surroundings and interact with others.

And all of those experiences can take place while we're introducing dance steps, musicality, coordination, and other foundational movement concepts.

Of course, we shouldn't expect every activity to produce a particular developmental result. Children develop at different rates, and their experiences outside the dance classroom are important, too. But when we understand a little about how young children learn through play, we can make more thoughtful decisions about the activities we include in our classes.

This is one reason I've always felt so strongly about using imaginative, developmentally appropriate activities when teaching toddlers and preschoolers. Play isn't something we add to class simply to keep children entertained. It's one of the ways young children learn.

And when we combine that understanding with thoughtful dance instruction, we can give our students opportunities to develop movement skills while also supporting their social and emotional growth.

Pretty wonderful, isn't it? :-)