Dance to the Beat

Suggested Grades

K-2

Objective

Students will examine and dance to the beat of a drum. This encourages students to pay attention to the beat of the music while they dance and understand that rhythm is an important aspect to dancing.

Materials

  • a drum, or something that can create beats

Method

  • Play some sort of beat on the drum. Ask students to listen to it carefully. Are the beats strong, soft, fast, slow…?
  • Then ask students to stand and move to the beat, changing their movements each time the beat changes.
  • Ask a student to come up and play a beat on the drum for their classmates to dance to.
  • Continue until all students have had a chance to play on the drum.