We Invent a Dance for Each Instrument
In small groups, each team gets an instrument, listens to it, and decides what movement fits it; then the whole class dances each group's movement when its instrument plays. Children practice linking sound and movement, creating together, and making choices.
How to play
- In a circle, the teacher plays the four instruments and asks, "Does this sound jump, crawl, wiggle, or float?" (2 min).
- Make four groups and give each one an instrument; children take turns playing it and try out movements with an adult's help (4 min).
- Each group chooses one movement and names it: "the maracas wiggle like jelly," "the rain stick is a wave" (2 min).
- Each group shows its dance while playing its instrument, and the others copy it (4 min).
- Big concert: the teacher plays the instruments one after another, and the whole class dances each group's movement (3 min).
- Finish with the rain stick played very slowly and the wave movement until we lie down (1 min).
Rules
- Everyone in the group takes a turn with the instrument.
- We listen to everyone's ideas and pick one.
- When the instrument stops, the dance stops.
Variations
Easier
Age 3: the teacher offers two movements per instrument and the group chooses one.
Standard
Age 4: each group invents its own movement with an adult's help.
Harder
Age 5: each group creates one movement for loud playing and another for soft playing.
Adaptations
- Limited mobility: the group invents movements everyone can do, including from a chair (arms, head, upper body).
- Autism: offer picture cards of movements (jump, spin, wiggle, wave) to make choosing easier.
- Hearing impairment: each instrument has a colored card the teacher shows while playing; the child can touch the instrument to feel it.
Learning goals
- Match the character of a sound with a movement.
- Create a movement as a group and teach it to others.
- Dance in response to changing instruments.
Equipment for a class of 25
- pandero: 1
- maracas: 2
- triángulo: 1
- palo de lluvia: 1
Teacher tip
You'll want one adult per group during the inventing stage, or rotate from group to group while the others freely explore their instrument. If a group gets stuck, ask how an animal that made that sound would move.
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