The Toys Dance When the Lights Go Out

Children are toys in a toy shop: when the teacher turns off the light, they come to life and dance like their toy; when the light comes on, they freeze back on the shelf. It works on dancing characters, stillness and self-control.

How to play

1. Seated, the teacher introduces the shop's toys: the wooden soldier, the rag doll, the spinning top, the teddy bear and the rocking horse; everyone tries how each one moves (3 min).
2. Each child picks a toy and stands still on the "shelf" (the wall or a bench) in a toy pose (1 min).
3. The lights go off and the music plays: the toys come to life and dance around the room as their character; when the light comes on, they freeze right where they are (4 min).
4. Toy party: the teacher calls one kind of toy ("Teddy bears!") and only those dance while the others watch from their spot (3 min).
5. All the toys dance one last dance together, and at dawn (lights coming on slowly) they go back to the shelf and fall asleep (4 min).

Rules

• Lights off, I dance; lights on, I freeze.
• I move like my toy.
• When other toys dance, I wait my turn.
• In the dark I move slowly and carefully.

Variations

Adaptations

• Limited mobility: the child picks a toy that moves with the arms (a puppet, a jack-in-the-box) and dances from the chair.
• Visual impairment: instead of turning off the light, the signal is the music starting and stopping.
• Autism: don't turn the lights fully off and give a heads-up before each change; the child can stay in a quiet corner of the shelf.

Learning goals

• Act out characters with the body.
• Switch between moving and stillness on a signal.
• Respect each group's turn to dance.

Equipment for a class of 25

• Music

Teacher tip

Don't make the room completely dark; lowering blinds or leaving a dim light is enough so nobody trips. Remind them that when the light comes on they freeze where they are rather than running back.

More activities like this

More main activities for Elementary