Hello! I teach ballet to 10-15 year olds at a large studio and the director asked me to sub for one of the creative movement teachers this weekend. She teaches one class with 3-4 year olds and the other is for 5 year olds. They are each 45 minutes long. I have never tought this age group and I feel really nervous about it.

I asked the director for some guidance but she was really no help and the other teacher has already gone away for the week. I could REALLY, REALLY use some guidance in planning the classes and where I can find music and props. Thank you so much for your help, if you ever need help with classes for 10-15 year olds I'll be happy to return the favor!
Thanks,
Meg

Kids this age, especially the 3s, are just there to move. Keep it very simple, but very ACTIVE! They won't sit still for long. As soon as you are done one thing, get started right away on another!

Also, they have very short attention spans. For a 45 minute class, I'd try to plan at least 15 small class segments that you can teach. That way you are always ready to do something new if things aren't going well.

Some activities my kids like:
- butterfly runs
- marches (we pretend to squish bugs with our feet)
- bunny hops
- skips
^^those are all done across the floor one by one, it helps to have an assistant who can tap them on the head to let them know it's their turn
- freeze dance
- duck duck dance
- ANYTHING with props - scarves, wands, bean bags, ribbons, etc. they go nuts for this
- greg & steve's 'listen and move' is a good one for kids this age. mine also like the hokey pokey and the chicken dance!

Thank you so much, that's a big help! I can't believe how nervous I am about teaching another age group. I tutored kindergartners back when I was in college and I loved it, but that was a long time ago now and I feel like you need to work a lot harder when you're teaching this age group. Thank you for helping to guide me in the right direction!
Meg