By Samantha Bellerose, B.Ed, Dip.Dance (Performing Arts)
It is Summertime, and you have kids who love everything and anything that is about ballet or dance. So why not combine their passion for dance with a Summer themed craft or activity to spice up those long summer days!
Finding crafts and activities that are summer-themed for dance or ballet sounds simple but it actually took quite a bit of time and research – none of which you have to do because we scoured the web and found the best Summer Craft, Art, DIY, and activities out there for your budding ballerina, tween hip-hopper or avid tap dancer.
If you are after more craft activities for your dancers check out our other dance craft articles here.
And also please note, that most links on this page will take you to the people who created the activity, and others are affiliate links which means if you make a purchase, we receive a small commission which helps Dance Parent 101 continue to make wonderful free content for you just like this!
Lets get onto our list…
Summer Dance & Ballet Craft activities for kids
1. Butterfly Wings You can Dance With
What I love about this craft from SkipToMyLou.com is that your child can really be involved in the creative process!
Once the template has been cut from muslin fabric, your child can trace a design and color it in!
Cindy decided to use elmers painters and sharpies for this project, but you could use any medium to color the muslin material in.
As the wings are made from material, your child can then flutter and float and dance around with them on!
You can check out all the instructions here!
2. Dancing Sun Paper craft
Ria Cheripuram has made this cute dancing sun on her website Crafts By Ria.
She started with a white plate so this craft gives your child the opportunity to do some painting and can then help you to assemble all the different parts that make this dancing sun.
For the instructions and video check out her website here!
3. Mermaid Wand
Have you been to beach during your summer holidays and collected shells and now don’t know what to do with them all??
WellAngela Sellari from About A Mom has the instructions for this adorable mermaid wand on her website!
Sticking on all the sequins would be a great fine motor activity for you child during the summer break to help strengthen their fingers for writing!
Once made, put on some music and let your child spin and twirl and dance around the room with the wand they can proudly say they made!
Click here for the instructions for this craft!
4. Seashell Ballerina Puppets
This is another craft to help use those shells you collected at the beach during the summer – making seashell ballerina puppets!
Stacey Gibbon from Glued To My Crafts has all the instructions on her website so you too with your dance kids can make these cute beach inspired ballerinas!
Click here to go to the site.
5. Rocking Summer Watermelon’s
Watermelon and summer are synonmous and so this simple paper plate watermelon is a great craft you can do with your dancer.
So how is this dance related? Well if you place the finished watermelon on it’s curve you can rock and dance with your watermelon!
For the instructions for this craft head to No Time For Flash Cards
6. Summer Dancing Jellyfish
Ocean crafts are always fun to do over the summer and these windsock jellyfish can inspire alot of different dance and movement from your dancer!
Hang them up when finished and watch them move in the wind and then get your dancer to try and move like the jelly fish. This isn’t just an activity for young children, older dancers can choreograph whole movement sequences based on the inspiration they can gain from ther observations.
To get the instructions for this craft head to Kids Craft Room.
7. Summer Fruit Fans
There are many dances and routines that require a dancer to move holding a prop such as a fan.
So why not make a cute summer themed fan that your dancer can not only use practically to cool themselves but can also use to dance around with as well!
To check out the instructions for these cute Summer Fruit Fans head to A Girl and a Glue Gun here!
8. Dancing Spinners
Create a spinner and watch the colors dance and change as it spins round and round!
This is such a greate craft that also teaches about patterns and how movement can change patterns and color which are all important concepts for dancers to know!
You can check out how Kimbo from A Girl and a Glue Gun made this craft in a guest post she did for Make and Takes!
9. Shadow Sidewalk Chalk Art
Get you dancer outside in the summer morning or afternoon sun when the shadows are best and get them to do their best dance pose and trace around their bodies.
Then leave them to color the outlines in with sidewalk chalk.
Nell at Rhythms of Play has a great recipe for sidewalk chalk paint which you can make following her instructions here!
10. Seashell Frame for Your Summer Dance Photos
If your dance kids are like mine, then you probably take a stack of photos of them during summer doing leaps on the beach, splits in the park and more!
Now sticking shells onto a frame doesn’t need to much instruction, but Stacey at Glued to my Crafts has come up the idea to use watercolor paints first on her shells to give them a unique look.
You can visit her site and see how she did her frame here!
11. Make a DIY Ballet Barre
The summer holidays are the perfect time to make a DIY ballet barre!
This one here is made from PVC pipes, but I also have instructions on how to make them from galvanised steel and with wood!
You can check out the DIY Ballet Barre homepage here so you can choose the perfect DIY Ballet Barre project for you!
