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A few weeks ago my husband and I were trying to figure out how to watusi, so we turned to this video on YouTube. It turns out Michael Ivy is a dedicated dance instructor who has a whole list of instructional dance videos. We eyed the list, deduced that playing it in its entirety would take about 20 minutes, and asked our four-year-old if he wanted to dance with us.
The idea of learning dance moves to songs he’d never heard of seemed to entertain our kid, so we decided to take 20-30 minutes from our day and give it a go. Here are a few of my favorites, along with tips to keep your kiddo(s) entertained:
Mississippi Slide
This dance is one of my all-time faaaaaaaaaves, and it’s awesome to have the video to brush up on it! It’s a lot of fun!
Gorilla (part 1, 2, and 3)
The Gorilla is our family favorite — we find ourselves singing the song randomly, and the moves are literal. You can follow up the above part 1 with part 2 and part 3.
The Funky Chicken
Yes yes to The Funky Chicken — just start it up.
There’s a 10 second pause between each video, and we decided to take turns tossing our kid up into the air. This way our arms were moving, and one of us could take a break while the other kept our son actively engaged. This idea might not work for you depending on your partner/kid ratio, but it’s worth a shot! You can play the entire list here.
Does your family exercise together? What do you guys like to do?
This reminds me of high school when my friend and I would exercise by dancing to ska music. Skanking is a good workout!
This still comprises of about 75% of my daily movement. In the car! In my library! In my kitchen!
I love this idea! We told our kids that every 10-minutes, when the last number on the clock is a 9, it’s “crazy time”. They run in circles, jump, laugh, everything for a minute no matter what they’ve been doing. I can’t explain how much energy it takes for me to do those one-minutes with them, too– just try going all out with your kids for one minute every ten minutes, it will keep your heart pumping!
Consequently, when the last number turns to a “0”, it’s “quiet time” and my kids are super strict enforcers of having that quiet minute after “crazy time.”
We play Dance Central on the Kinect, and my 2 1/2 year old LOVES it! Often time he doesn’t want us to dance with him though, and will literally push me away. I think it’s just that “I can do this without you.” stage. It’s really cute watching little kids dance and imitate the moves!
I love this! We have those fun cable music channels on our TV, so we occasionally have impromtu dance parties at our house with our 1-year-old.
No kids yet, but the Mississippi Slide video has, as of today, become how I teach “left” and “right” to adult English learners. Thanks for pointing the way to an awesome resource!