Toddler Dance
Our Toddler Dance Sessions
Celebrate your child’s developing movement skills with Toddler Dance as we explore body awareness, cooperation, and movement preferences, all accompanied by exciting music.
Our Toddler Dance sessions are crafted for parents and their young walkers, toddlers, and under 5s. We delve into the fundamentals of dance, focusing on body control, highlighting different body parts, spatial awareness, and group collaboration. The aim is to provide toddlers with a space to expand their experiences and try new movements, while fostering a playful connection between parent and child.
In our sessions, we explore various movement qualities through dance games and structured improvisations. We emphasise connecting with ourselves (our own body and preferences), our family member, and the group. The expansive space allows for exhilarating, child-led play and individual responses. The atmosphere is relaxed and social.
Benefits of Toddler Dance
- For Parents: Provides a creative outlet to dance together, supports bonding through attunement and playfulness
- For Toddlers: Encourages trying and enjoying new movements, self-expression and collaboration with others
- For Both: Spend quality time together, which fosters a deeper connection that can help alleviate temper tantrums (it’s true!).
Toddler Dance Curriculum
Our curriculum is based on Rudolf Laban’s BESS system:
- Body: What part of the body is moving? Leading the dance with different body parts.
- Effort: How is the body moving? We explore moving fast and slow, with great effort or ease, through curves and bends or in straight lines.
- Shape: What shapes can we make with our body, with others, and as a group?
- Space: Where are we moving? We explore personal space, taking up a lot or a little space around us, and different ways to use the space as a group.
Each session will have a key theme: body parts, fast and slow, stop and start, shapes, big and small, close and far, bringing it all together in an end of term season special.
What to Expect in a Session
- Check-In: Begin with a group check-in
- Warm-Up: A gentle warm-up exercise to build routine and memory
- Parent and Child Dance: Engage in dance games like making tunnels, shapes and letting the child lead the dance where parents copy their movements
- Group Dance: Participate in dance games for the whole group such as musical statues, follow the leader, and grandma’s footsteps
- Cuddle Dance: A calm dance for just you and your child
- Check-Out: Reflect on the session and share experiences
See FAQs for more info.
Book the term for a discounted price, or buy drop-in classes. Read when and where below.
When And Where
Wednesdays 12:00 to 1:00pm
Limited Event: Dec 4th only (if you have a baby too come for our baby dance class at 11:00 to 12:00am for no extra charge)
The Old Court Artspace
59 St. Leonards Rd, Windsor SL4 3BL (https://oldcourt.org)
Thursdays 10:00 to 11:00am
If you have a baby too stay for our baby dance class at 11:00 to 12:00 for no extra charge
The Green Nunhead Community Centre
5 Nunhead Green, Nunhead, SE15 3QQ (https://thegreennunhead.org)
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I join with more than one child?
Yes, as long as you feel comfortable.
We aim to provide creche facilities for siblings, so that you can focus your attention on one child in the class. Please enquire beforehand whether a creche is available, at hello@meandbaby.dance
What type of dance is it?
We try a mixture and not one particular style. We work on general dance skills, such as stopping and starting, balancing, moving big or small and free or controlled. These skills are useful as a basis for all dance styles they might want to try later on.
My child is atypical, can we join?
Yes, please do. All children are different and add value to the group. Parent and child participate together, so there’s many duos forming the group. This allows your child to interact with the group at their pace – staying with you or going to the other children as they wish. We play as group, and work on collaboration and social skills together. If you or your child has additional physical needs, these can be catered to.
For any questions, please get in touch on hello@meandbaby.dance
What else we offer:
Baby Dance
