From the 1stDecember, the Christmas spirit starts to creep into our everyday lives; the shops play non-stop Christmas tracks, festive floats parade through towns, the lights go up, and high streets everywhere are a flurry of gifts and tinsel and wrapping paper.
The primary school classroom is no exception, and often gets swept up in the nativity performing, carol singing, card-making festivity. It’s a wonderful time of year to engage children in new activities, encouraging generosity and kindness.
However, we are all guilty of forgetting one fairly important thing: in amongst the Christmas-themed classes, physical activity can often fall by the wayside.
Of course, this is often about time; or, more importantly, the lack of it. Time gets swallowed up with Christmas-related learning, and doesn’t tend to focus on physical activities. Finding a whole hour for PE can become difficult, but that doesn’t mean classes have to miss out on movement breaks, active learning, and physical education.
That’s why we’ve come up with a few hints and tips to keep your class moving this Christmas. In between nativity or show rehearsals, why not get the class to stand up in their seats and dance non-stop for a minute or two? Pick a fan-favourite Christmassy tune to get the little ones moving, while keeping them in panto mode.
At the start and end of each day, invite the class to take part in a quick movement break to keep them active and engaged. Even if the activities for the day focus on crafts and carols, movements breaks are an ideal way to start off the day with a quick, creative burst.
The all-important Christmas party can provide an ideal time to keep your class active; old-school classics like musical bumps or musical chairs will engage their competitive side, whereas dance breaks to Christmas classics will get the whole class moving.
Group activities can also incorporate physical literacy, as children can work in groups to act out scenes from the Christmas show, teach each other dances with digital teaching tools, or learn from educational dance videos as a class. Our new product ‘Street Dance Superstars’ is adaptable to any age group, class size, or space in which to learn. All you need is a screen to play the videos, and your class can keep moving through to the New Year!
With our new teaching tool ‘Street Dance Superstars’, we aim to engage all children in physical activity through interactive, digital dance classes. Find out more here.