Minute Masterclass Episode 225

Welcome to your one-minute masterclass. I’m Andrea Trench. If you enjoy our minute masterclasses, consider continuing your professional development as a student in our Foundations Course for Early Childhood Dance Educators and as a member of our DiscoverDance Experience online community. You can learn more about both of these opportunities at DiscoverDance.com.

Let’s talk about best practices for cleaning up props.

 Collecting props is a class transition. These moments in class can be engaging and educational when executed properly. When we fail to plan these transitions, we can easily lose our dancers resulting in off-track behavior which will then need to be corralled back in. Here are some options for class clean up to help keep the flow from one activity to another smooth and quick. Perform a creative prop clean up. Say, “dancers, put your scarf on your head and tiptoe it back to the bin.” Or, “put your poly spot on your hand like a tray and march your poly spot to me. Continue marching back to your spot.” Giving them a job while they clean up helps keep them engaged and focused. Be sure to direct them to the next activity as soon as they clean up to keep the flow of class going. Another option would be to continue the exploration/song from the previous activity. Once the music ends, continue singing the tune of the song, but change the words to direct them. For example, we just finished “Take That Bean Bag” by The Learning Station. When it’s time to put our bean bags away, I’ll sing “take that bean bag, put it in the bin and put it in the bin then go stand on your spot.” I’ll keep repeating just that until all the bean bags are away and everyone is on their spot.  The more you make up songs, the easier it gets to spontaneously start singing instructions. They don’t even have to make sense for the kids to know what to do.

 For more information, to enroll in the Foundations Course, or to join the DiscoverDance Experience, visit DiscoverDance.com.