Getting Started With BrainDance in Preschool Dance Classes

If you've been teaching preschool dance or creative movement for very long, you've probably come across the term BrainDance. But what exactly is it? And how can we incorporate it into our classes, particularly when we're teaching toddlers and preschoolers?

BrainDance is a movement warm-up developed by dance educator Anne Green Gilbert. It's based on movement patterns that emerge during early human development and can be adapted for dancers of all ages, from very young children to adults.

One of the things I love about BrainDance is that it encourages us to think beyond simply warming up the muscles before dance class. We're also helping students explore how different parts of their bodies move, developing body awareness, and introducing movement patterns that they'll continue using as their dance training progresses.

And if you're already teaching a preschool warm-up that includes stretching, curling and uncurling, moving different parts of the body, and exploring balance, you may discover that you're incorporating some of these patterns already!

What Is BrainDance?

BrainDance was developed by Anne Green Gilbert, founder of the Creative Dance Center in Seattle and author of Brain-Compatible Dance Education and Creative Dance for All Ages. Her work has had a significant influence on creative dance education, and I think both of those books are wonderful resources for teachers interested in learning more about how children learn through movement.

Gilbert developed BrainDance as a short, adaptable warm-up that moves through eight fundamental movement patterns. These patterns are based on movements associated with early development, particularly the ways babies begin exploring and coordinating their bodies during their first year of life.

The eight patterns are breath, tactile, core-distal, head-tail, upper-lower, body-side, cross-lateral, and vestibular.

The sequence was designed to help dancers explore different ways of moving while preparing their bodies and minds for the activities that follow. And although the framework is based on early developmental movements, it isn't limited to babies or young children. BrainDance can be adapted for older students and adults, too.

For preschool dance teachers, I think it's a particularly interesting way to approach warm-ups because young children are still developing so many of the coordination and body awareness skills involved in these movement patterns.

Let's take a look at each one and how we might introduce it to toddlers and preschoolers.

The Eight BrainDance Movement Patterns

1. Breath

BrainDance begins with breathing. Of course, breathing is something we do all day without thinking about it, but we can also use simple breathing activities to help children become more aware of how their bodies move as they breathe in and out.

For toddlers and preschoolers, I like to incorporate imagery rather than asking them to concentrate on breathing mechanics. We might pretend to smell a beautiful flower and then gently blow its petals away. Or perhaps we're blowing out birthday candles, making a soft breeze, or filling an imaginary balloon with air.

You can ask students to place their hands on their bellies and notice how their bodies move as they breathe. For older preschoolers, you might also introduce the difference between taking a comfortable, slow breath and breathing quickly after an energetic activity.

The purpose isn't to have children take enormous breaths or hold their breath for long periods. Instead, we're giving them an opportunity to notice their breathing and explore moving with a little more awareness.

I particularly like using a brief breathing activity at the beginning of class because it provides a simple transition into the warm-up. But you could also incorporate one near the end of class after more energetic movement activities.

2. Tactile

The tactile pattern involves touch. We can use gentle tapping, brushing, patting, rubbing, or squeezing movements to help students explore different sensations and become more aware of their bodies.

For example, you might ask students to pretend they're waking up different parts of their bodies. First, they gently tap their arms, then their legs, shoulders, and feet. You could also have them pretend they're brushing away imaginary snowflakes, raindrops, or sand from their arms and legs.

I particularly like this pattern for helping young children recognize and name different body parts. Toddlers and preschoolers are still developing their body awareness, and they're learning how different parts of their bodies relate to one another. A simple activity that asks students to find their elbows, knees, shoulders, or ankles can be useful while also introducing different kinds of touch.

This also provides an opportunity to explore sensory experiences. Some children may enjoy firm pats or squeezes, while others prefer very gentle touch. I would let students explore the movements on their own bodies rather than requiring them to touch one another, and I'd be mindful that children may have different sensory preferences.

3. Core-Distal

The core-distal pattern involves movement between the center of the body and the outer limbs. Think about curling into a small ball and then stretching your arms and legs as far away from your body as possible.

This is one of my favorite patterns to incorporate into preschool dance because it lends itself so easily to imaginative activities.

For example, students might pretend they're tiny seeds curled up in the ground. As the sun begins to shine, they slowly grow into tall flowers, stretching their arms and legs outward. Or perhaps they're little stars that begin very small and then stretch into enormous stars with points reaching in every direction.

You can also use a familiar game like hide-and-seek. Students curl up as small as they can to hide, then stretch out their arms and legs when they're found.

These activities encourage children to explore the difference between making their bodies small and large. They also introduce movement away from and toward the center of the body, which is something dancers use in many different ways.

And because the imagery is so simple, even very young children can begin exploring the pattern.

4. Head-Tail

The head-tail pattern focuses on movement through the spine, particularly the relationship between the head and pelvis. It introduces bending, curling, extending, and other ways the spine can move.

One of my favorite exercises for this pattern is what I call "Happy Cat, Scared Cat."

Students begin on their hands and knees and pretend they're happy cats stretching their backs. Then they become scared cats, rounding their spines as they curl upward. You can alternate between the two movements, encouraging children to notice how their backs change shape.

You could also ask students to pretend they're cats looking over their shoulders or animals moving their heads and tails in different directions. With older preschoolers, you might begin introducing gentle side-bending or other movements that encourage them to explore how their spines move.

The spine plays an important role in dance, and even young children can begin developing awareness of how it moves. We don't need to introduce complicated anatomical explanations, but we can give them opportunities to explore different spinal movements through familiar images and stories.

5. Upper-Lower

The upper-lower pattern focuses on moving the upper and lower halves of the body separately and then coordinating them together.

For example, students might sit on the floor and move their arms while keeping their legs relatively still. Then they can place their hands on the floor for support and explore moving their legs. Finally, they can stand and use their arms and legs together.

I like using imaginative prompts for this pattern. Perhaps students are trees with branches blowing in the wind while their trunks remain still. Or maybe they're marching robots who begin by moving only their legs and then add their arms.

This can be an interesting challenge for young children because they're still developing the ability to control different parts of their bodies independently. You may find that when you ask students to move their arms, their legs want to join in, too!

And that's perfectly fine. We're simply giving them opportunities to explore how the upper and lower halves of their bodies can move separately and together.

As students become more coordinated, we can build on these experiences with more complicated movements that require the arms and legs to work together.

6. Body-Side

The body-side pattern involves moving one side of the body and then the other. It's another opportunity to help children become more aware of how their bodies are organized and how they can move different parts independently.

For example, you might ask students to stretch one arm and leg outward while keeping the other side of the body relatively still. Then they can switch sides.

You could pretend that one side of the body is waking up while the other side is still sleeping. Perhaps the right arm and right leg stretch toward the sunshine, then the left arm and left leg take their turn.

For toddlers and younger preschoolers, I wouldn't worry too much about whether they can identify their right and left sides correctly. Understanding right and left develops gradually, and it can take children quite a while to use those labels consistently.

Instead, I would demonstrate the movement and encourage students to imitate what they see. They can begin exploring the difference between moving one side of the body and the other without needing to name each side accurately.

As children grow older, you can gradually introduce right and left terminology while continuing to reinforce the movement pattern.

7. Cross-Lateral

The cross-lateral pattern involves movements that cross the body's midline or coordinate opposite sides of the body. For example, a student might reach her right hand toward her left knee, then switch and reach her left hand toward her right knee.

This can be a challenging movement pattern for young children, particularly when they're asked to coordinate several body parts at once.

One simple activity is to have students pretend they're reaching across their bodies to pick apples from trees on opposite sides of a path. You could also have them reach one hand toward the opposite knee while marching in place.

For older preschoolers and early elementary students, you might introduce movements that involve more complicated coordination between the arms and legs. Marching with natural opposite arm swings is one example, and skipping eventually involves alternating and coordinating movements on the two sides of the body.

But remember that skipping is a more complex locomotor skill that many children aren't developmentally ready to perform until around age five or later. We don't need to introduce it to toddlers simply because we're exploring cross-lateral movements.

Younger children can begin with much simpler activities, and we can gradually build on those experiences as their coordination develops.

Cross-lateral movements provide opportunities to practice coordinating different parts of the body, but I would be careful about claiming that they automatically improve higher-order thinking or create particular neurological changes. For our purposes as dance teachers, their value is in helping students explore movement patterns and develop greater coordination.

8. Vestibular

The final BrainDance pattern is vestibular, which involves balance and the body's sense of movement and position.

Our vestibular system, located in the inner ear, helps us detect head movement and changes in position. It works with our visual and other sensory systems to help us maintain balance and understand how we're moving through space.

In dance class, we can introduce vestibular experiences through activities involving rises, falls, tilting, balancing, and turning.

For example, students might pretend they're trees swaying gently in the wind, boats rocking on ocean waves, or airplanes tilting from side to side. They could practice balancing on one foot, rising onto demi-pointe, or making gentle turns.

Of course, this is one pattern where I would be particularly mindful of students' ages, abilities, and comfort levels. Some children love spinning and turning, while others may become dizzy or uncomfortable very quickly.

I wouldn't encourage preschoolers to spin repeatedly or move so quickly that they lose control. Instead, offer a variety of gentle movement experiences and give children opportunities to explore balance at their own pace.

And remember that vestibular activities don't have to involve spinning at all. Even simple tilting, rocking, or balancing movements can introduce children to different sensations associated with movement and balance.

How to Adapt BrainDance for Toddlers and Preschoolers

One of the things I appreciate about BrainDance is that the movement patterns can be adapted to different ages and abilities. A BrainDance for a class of two-year-olds doesn't need to look exactly like one designed for five-year-olds or adults.

With toddlers, I would keep the activities simple, use plenty of demonstration, and incorporate familiar images. You might spend just a short time pretending to smell flowers, gently patting different body parts, curling into little balls, and stretching tall like trees.

For older preschoolers, you can introduce more detailed movement explorations. Students may be ready to move the upper and lower body separately, explore different sides of the body, or experiment with simple cross-lateral movements.

And don't feel that every BrainDance needs to look exactly the same. You can change the imagery, music, and movement activities while still working through the same patterns.

For example, during a garden-themed lesson, children might begin by smelling flowers, brush imaginary dirt from their arms and legs, grow from seeds into flowers, and explore how different parts of their bodies move like plants in the wind.

During an ocean-themed lesson, they might take gentle breaths as they prepare to dive underwater, brush away imaginary bubbles, curl up like seashells, and sway from side to side like seaweed.

You can continue adapting the imagery for the remaining movement patterns until you've worked through the complete sequence.

This is one of the reasons I love using stories and themes in preschool dance. We can introduce the same movement concepts in different ways, giving students repeated opportunities to practice while keeping the activities interesting.

You Don't Have to Change Your Entire Warm-Up

If you're interested in incorporating BrainDance into your preschool classes, I wouldn't suggest throwing out your current warm-up and starting from scratch.

Instead, take a look at the activities you're already teaching. You may discover that some of them naturally incorporate BrainDance movement patterns.

Perhaps you already include gentle breathing, patting different body parts, curling and stretching, or exercises that explore movement through the spine. If so, you may be able to build on those activities rather than introducing something entirely unfamiliar.

You could begin by learning the breath and tactile patterns, then gradually become familiar with core-distal and head-tail. Once you understand those, continue studying and practicing the remaining patterns until you feel comfortable teaching the complete sequence.

I would distinguish between incorporating individual BrainDance-inspired movements into your existing warm-up and teaching the full BrainDance itself. If you're planning to use the complete framework, it's worth learning the original sequence and understanding the purpose of each pattern.

But there's no reason you can't begin exploring those movement ideas while you're learning.

And as always, consider the students you're teaching. A BrainDance designed for older children may need to be simplified considerably for toddlers, while a group of five-year-olds may be ready for more challenging variations.

Does BrainDance Really Help Brain Development?

Since BrainDance was developed around early movement patterns and the relationship between movement and the nervous system, you may come across some fairly strong claims about its effects on the brain.

The original BrainDance framework draws on developmental movement theory and the idea that revisiting early movement patterns can support coordination and the organization of movement.

And there's certainly good reason to include varied movement experiences in children's lives. Physical activity is important for healthy development, and young children benefit from opportunities to explore balance, coordination, body awareness, and different ways of moving.

But I think it's important to distinguish those general benefits from claims about what BrainDance itself has been scientifically shown to accomplish.

I wouldn't tell parents that completing a BrainDance will produce new brain cells, correct neurological developmental gaps, or guarantee improvements in memory or attention. Those are much stronger claims than we can confidently make about a particular warm-up sequence.

What I do think we can say is that BrainDance provides a structured way to explore different movement patterns and prepare students for the activities that follow. It encourages us to consider how the whole body moves rather than focusing only on individual dance steps.

And for preschool dance teachers, I think that's valuable in itself.

Bringing BrainDance Into Your Preschool Dance Classes

If you've never used BrainDance before, I'd encourage you to learn a little more about Anne Green Gilbert's work and experiment with incorporating the movement patterns into your own practice.

Her books, Brain-Compatible Dance Education and Creative Dance for All Ages, are wonderful resources for teachers interested in creative movement and developmentally appropriate dance education. The Creative Dance Center also offers information and training specifically related to BrainDance.

For toddlers and preschoolers, I think the key is keeping the activities simple and imaginative. Use familiar images, demonstrate the movements, and give children opportunities to explore what their bodies can do without expecting technical precision.

And remember that a warm-up doesn't need to be complicated to be effective. Sometimes a few minutes of carefully chosen movement activities can introduce body awareness, coordination, balance, and movement concepts that students will continue exploring throughout the rest of class.

Whether you decide to incorporate a complete BrainDance or begin by exploring individual movement patterns, I think understanding the framework can give you another useful way to think about the warm-up activities you choose for your youngest dancers.