Dance & Movement Class for Kids – Exploring Transport

Kids love anything to do with trains, trucks, aeroplanes and helicopters so it is no wonder that these creative dance lessons I have developed around this theme have been so popular.

I have two lessons so far in the series based on transportation and if you click here I also have a lesson about travelling to and in space! If you skip down further on the page, you will find a list of educational connections that can be made from these lessons which is a great resource not only for parents but also home schoolers and teachers in the classroom to see how these lessons can be used to compliment learning.

Dance is also a subject in itself that needs to be covered in many school curriculums so I have also supplied some educational outcomes to show how participating in these lessons can help to meet educational curriculums as well!

LESSON 1: CARS, TRAINS & AEROPLANES

The first creatively explores moving in ways that represent a car, train, and plane and uses music carefully selected to help ignite the imagination and provide a beat and rhythm to dance to.

LESSON 2: TRUCKS, HELICOPTERS, BOATS

The second lesson invites kids to come along for a ride as we drive trucks and bounce to the beat of the music, spin and twirl like helicopters and sway and swing like boats on the ocean. My kids Sydney and Xavier helped me film this video and I am grateful the extra movement ideas that they contribute especially their break dance-like moves during the helicopter portion of the video. I really hope it inspires more movement ideas and choices in your kids too!

Click here to go straight to a playlist on Youtube of dance classes by Dance Parent 101. Don’t forget to subscribe to get notifications as so you know when the next lesson is available!

LINKS TO THE CURRICULUM

As a teacher in Australia with a Bachelor of Education (Primary), I am always looking at ways to creatively teach children and regularly used dance and movement in my classroom to enforce learning of concepts and material we were learning about in different areas of the school curriculum.

The following are some links and connections that can be made from this movement lesson to various other areas of learning!

Mathematics and Arithmetic

Count cars or trucks driving up and down a street or in a parking lot.
Create a graph of the different colored cars you see drive past your street, neighborhood or in a parking lot to see which is the most popular color.
Look at statistics and graphs on the web and interpret these about the number of cars being made today or statistics on road or air safety.
Learn about how speed is measured and use this knowledge to explore addition, subtraction and multiplication problems.
Explore transportation timetables and try to work out how to get from one place to another.

English and Literacy

Create a spelling list full of transportation words.
Develop a list of adjectives and verbs to describe various forms of transport.
Write a recount or retelling about a car ride, train, boat or plane trip you have been on.
Write a fictional story about a magical car, plane, boat or helicopter and about the adventures it takes you on.
Research and then write a report or explanation about your favorite form of transport.
Write an argumentative or persuasive essay regarding transport for example: Why everyone should own an electric car or Why more people should catch public transport instead of driving.

Social Studies

Learn about the history of transport or a particular type of transport.
Discover why we need transport.
Explore the forms of transport you have available to you in your community, suburb, state, country.
Imagine the future transportation system needs of the future.

Science & Technology

Look into the design of a form of transport and how it is manufactured and made.
Design transport of the future.
Design and make a form of transport – a gocart, a wagon, or even make a miniature remote control car or train etc…
Fix or repair a bike
Code and create a game on the computer to do with transport
How is transport such as helicopters and ambulances used to help save lives – what technology is used on these forms of transports compared to others?

Geography (Links to mathematics as well)

Look at road maps and create directions to places from your school or home to the shops, hospitals or local cinema.
Explore train lines on maps – how they are represented, how long they are, the distance between each stop, how many you have locally or in your state.
Create your own maps of your local area and include bus stops or train lines and stations.
Take a look at aeroplane routes and what cities and airports are travelled to around the world.
Can you create a map with the locations of helipads in a city or your state.