Let’s ‘Play to Learn’
- Read parts of the story / play parts of the narrated story
- Encourage the children to explore moods and feelings using simple movements – for example, Megan walking back to house after the dragon has flown away or Megan walking around with the dragon wriggling and wiggling in her pocket
- Create a short movement phrase using the basic dance actions of travel, turn, jump, gesture and stillness
Safety & Organisation
Ensure:
- the surface is clean and free from obstructions
- children work in ‘gardens’
Opportunities to
- develop movement responses to different stimuli
- begin to explore and express moods and feelings through movement
- move in different ways, create varied body shapes and change direction
Questions
- How do you think the dragon felt when it landed on the wet grass?
- How can you show this in your dance actions?
- How can you show the difference between the dragon punching out of its shell and stretching?
- How can you change the direction and level to make your dance more interesting?
Can you see the child?
- Developing movement responses to different stimuli
- Beginning to explore and express a range of moods and feelings through movement
- Moving in different ways, creating varied body shapes and changing direction
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Most of the time
Encourage the child to:
- use more than one direction
- discuss body shapes and when and how they might be used
- perform their actions for longer
- imagine what happens in between some of the events in the story, and create actions to express these
- discuss the quality of their movements, e.g. how would Megan walk back to the house: quickly, slowly, lightly, heavily, etc?
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Sometimes
Encourage the child to:
- focus on their favourite word
- practise as they develop locomotor skills using the Technical Skills Cards. How could you adapt these actions so they link to the story?
- watch other children to gain ideas. Ask them what do they like? How could they do this differently?
- discuss some of the moods and feelings in the book. How do they feel when they are sad? How did they know Megan was sad from looking at the picture?