Emotion Freeze Dance
Students dance freely, and when the music stops they freeze as statues showing the emotion the teacher calls out: happy, scared, angry, surprised or sad. Students practice expressing emotions, listening and body control.
How to play
- Gather the class and show five emotions with your face and body; everyone copies them together (2 min).
- Play music and have everyone dance freely around the space without touching (1 min).
- Stop the music and call an emotion: everyone freezes as a statue showing it for 5 seconds (4 min of rounds).
- Change the dance style with each song: dance happy, dance scared, dance super tired (4 min).
- In the last rounds, a student picks the emotion and the class guesses the teacher's statue (3 min).
- Wrap up by asking which emotion was hardest to show and when they feel it at recess (1 min).
Rules
- Nobody is out: if you move, just freeze again.
- Dance without bumping into others and look where you are going.
- Statues do not touch classmates or make fun of other statues.
Variations
Easier
Use just two very different emotions, happy and sad, with picture cards.
Standard
Rotate through five basic emotions in statues and dance styles.
Harder
Make partner statues that show two related emotions, such as angry and scared.
Adaptations
- Limited mobility: the student dances with arms and torso and shows the statue with face and hands.
- Hearing impairment: pair each music stop with a raised red card and a picture of the emotion.
- Autism: provide emotion face cards the student can copy, and give a heads-up about volume.
Learning goals
- Recognize and express basic emotions with the face and body.
- Respond to the music stopping by controlling movement.
- Connect emotions from the game to everyday situations.
Equipment for a class of 25
- music
- speakers: 1
Teacher tip
Exaggerate the emotions yourself at first to give everyone permission to be silly. Keep it a no-elimination game: nobody sits out for moving.
PatioLab has "Emotion Freeze Dance" and 1299 more activities ready to drag into your lesson and run from your phone in the gym.
More activities like this
More main activities for Elementary
3v3 Mini-Volleyball with Set Passes
Small-sided 3v3 mini-volleyball on small courts, with a bonus for building the play with a set.
4v3 Soccer Counterattack Game
Four attackers try to score on a goal guarded by three defenders, who counterattack toward two small cone goals if they win the ball.
Accuracy Circuit with Cloth Targets
Accuracy stations with cloth targets on the floor and on the wall, where students toss bean bags and score points by ring.
Adapted Beach Handball
An adapted beach handball game with a soft ball: no dribbling, three steps with the ball, and double points for spectacular goals such as jump or spin shots.
Adapted Gaelic Football
A school version of Irish Gaelic football that blends hands and feet: players may run with the ball, hand-pass it with a fist, and kick for goal.
Adapted Speedball
Speedball is an American invasion game that blends soccer and team handball: a ball on the ground is played with the feet, and a ball lifted by the foot into the hands…