Preschool and Toddler Dance Party!

The Library Village decided to dance away our winter blues recently with a Preschool and Toddler Dance Party!  Forty little ones joined us for an hour of dancing and fun!  Can someone say bubble machine?  Oh yes.  We had one of those too. 

We decided to use all prerecorded music for our dance party.  This way we could burn all of the songs to one cd and not have to fumble around between songs.  (By the way, this worked great because we were able to keep the little ones attention throughout the entire program)  We also knew we wanted to use instruments and other fun props so we grouped songs based on the prop with a sprinkling of free dancing in between.  This really helped keep the program moving and allowed us the opportunity to pass out and collect the various props. 

The dance party was divided into two sections, each thirty minutes long.  The first thirty minutes we all danced together to our playlist.  The kids loved all the songs (with the exception of The Fox song.. What!?)  And the ending?  It was magical.  We watched all the little ones sing their hearts out to Let It Go while throwing their scarves into the air.  Wow. 

After all that dancing, we slowed it down for the second half.  We supplied a small snack and juice box to our tiny dancers and offered them the opportunity to make a craft.  We chose paper cup maracas.  They were super simple to make.  Take two paper cups (we had different colored paper cups), fill with some macaroni, and tape together with decorative duct tape.  We also had stickers to add more pizzazz.  Remember I mentioned a bubble machine?  It was the hit of the party!  Poor Miss Kristen was surrounded by little ones, holding the bubble machine, until the cd finally ended.
 

After it was all over, we really couldn't think of how it could've gone any better!  And that is an awesome feeling to have after a program! We are already planning another for in the summer! 

The Playlist:

Clap Your Hands - cd: They Might Be Giants - No!
Shake Your Sillies Out - cd: Raffi - More Singable songs
The Milkshake Song - cd: Songs for Wiggleworms (shakers)
Sugar Ant - cd: Caspar Babypants - Hot Dog! (shakers)
The Freeze - cd: Greg and Steve - Kids in Motion
Bean Bag Rock - cd: Bean Bag Activities and Coordination Skills (bean bags)
Hot Dog! - cd: They Might Be Giants - Here Come the 123s (bean bags)
The Fox (What Does the Fox Say?) - cd: Ylvis
We are the Dinosaurs - cd: The Best of the Laurie Berkner Band (marching)
List of Dances - cd: Jim Gill Makes It Noisy in Boise, Idaho
Thanks A Lot - cd: Raffi - baby Beluga (rainbow scarves)
Let It Go - cd: Frozen Deluxe Edition Soundtrack (rainbow scarves)