Games have a unique and important place in dance classes, regardless of student’s age. My adult students enjoy games as much as my 3 year olds do. In the older age group, I use less games but it doesn’t make them any less of an important teaching tool. Games like freeze dance are great but I do find students outgrow this popular game. Here are 3 unique game ideas that I use in my classes.
MEMORY BALLS
Minimum students: 4 plus teacher participation
Age Range: 6+
Equipment needed: 3 different coloured balls (handball sized is perfect but any size could be used).
How to play: Students sit in a circle. The teacher picks a coloured ball (eg. red) and explains that “we are going to create a pattern by rolling the red ball. It must start and finish with me and you must roll it to someone who has not had it before. You need to remember who you rolled the red ball to as it will be the same person every time”. The teacher then rolls the ball to student who then rolls it to someone else. Once everyone has received the ball, it comes back to the teacher. Practice the red ball pattern numerous times until everyone is confident with the pattern. Introduce the next coloured ball (eg. Yellow). This ball starts and finished with someone else (eg. Jimmy). The teacher then says “now we are going to make a Yellow ball pattern. The yellow ball starts and finished with Jimmy. Remember it needs to go to someone that hasn’t had it before and everyone needs to have a turn. You also need to roll it to a different person then the red ball.” Make the Yellow pattern and repeat it a few times. Then revisit the red ball pattern. Once the students are confident with both patterns tell them “now we are going to try both patterns at the same time. Make sure you remember who you sent the Red ball to and who you sent the Yellow ball to. You might end up with 2 balls at the same time, make sure you sent the right one to the right person”. Then try rolling the Red pattern at the same time as the Yellow one. Once students have mastered this, add in the third ball using the same process. Make sure that you revisit each coloured pattern separately multiple times before trying them all together. It is important to refer to the patterns by the ball colour rather than first, second, third in order for students to be able to differentiate and recall them. Make sure you use lots of praise/celebration for success and encourage trying again in the case of mistakes.
Extensions of Rules: You can add as many balls as you like. To date, I have never been able to get a group above 5. It is much easier with a small group vs a larger group.
What it teaches: Memory is an integral part of dance training. I always follow this game up with a discussion of why memory is important and what sort of things we need to remember in dance (eg. dance moves, timing, placement, partners, feedback, technical aspects, travel pathways etc). This game also encouraged teamwork as sometimes other students will help out another one to remember who they sent the ball to. It also requires students to be attentive to each other (not send the ball to someone until they are ready). It is great for teaching multitasking. I have also used this game in situation where one or two students are a little bit on the outside of the group socially as it is a game where it is impossible to exclude someone (even accidentally).
THE BOX GAME
Minimum students: 4 plus teacher participation
Age Range: 8+
Equipment needed: Masking tape (or anything else to mark places – I have also used placement dots)
How to play: Set up the game by drawing boxes on the floor with masking tape (appox. 30cm in size). You need to space them out evenly in a circle pattern and ensure there is space between them (ideally 2 metre or so but see extension of rules if your space does not allow this). You need to have 1 less box then the amount of people playing. For example, if 5 people are playing, draw 4 boxes. Player then choose a box to stand in, with one player in the middle of the circle without a box. I always play this game with students the first few times and I start in the middle. Once the students are familiar with the game, there is often a volunteer to start in the middle. The aim of the game is to gain points. You get points by making ‘swaps’. You can never lose points, you can only get points or not get points. If 2 people next to each other swap places successfully, they both get 1 point. If 2 people opposite each other (ie. Across the circle) make a swap, they both get 2 points. If the person in the middle gets in one of the boxes during a swap, they get 1 point. The person in the middle is trying to stop the swaps by getting into a box of one of the people who has left it during a swap. The person without a box then becomes the new person in the middle. On average I find that approximately 3 swaps take place before the middle person changes. We want the game to keep moving and swaps to be frequent. This can be encouraged by the teacher but also happens naturally with practice. See extension below for additional ideas to keep the game moving. Students need to plan swaps with each other using non-verbal cues (eg. eye contact, gestures). If someone leaves a box, they can return to it (but won’t receive a point). I also always remain students that they cannot push someone out of a box. Students need to keep track of their own scores. I suggest they hold up fingers every time they make a swap if they struggle with this.
Extensions of rules: particularly for older age groups, I add a rule in which if the game stops for too long (eg. no one makes a swap for 10 seconds) the person in the middle can yell “swap” and everyone has to make a swap. This encourages the game to remain fast moving. I also often pause the game half way to do a ‘point check’ and ask students how many points they are currently on. This allows students to plan for the remainder of the game. If you have a small space or a lot of students and there is not much space between the boxes, I would recommend adding a rule in which student cannot swap with the box directly next to them. I have also added the rule that you can’t swap with the same person twice in a row to keep the game moving and inclusive.
What it teaches: This game is an excellent cardio warm up. It teaches students to be aware of non-verbal communication cues (eg. to decide they are going to swap with someone without tipping off the middle person). It teaches them to have better special awareness and judge distances. It is also the perfect combination of teamwork and personal goals. The game obviously also develops mathematical skills and recall.
THE AROUND THE ROOM GAME
Minimum students: 1
Age Range: 2.5+
Equipment needed: 4 different coloured cones (or 4 different object to identify places in the room)
How to play: Place the 4 cones around the room (I often use 4 corners). Start all the students lined up at one cone (eg. Red). Pick a traveling movement (eg. skips) in which students will perform to the next cone (eg. Yellow). Pick the next movement (eg. backwards kangaroo jumps) to the next cone (eg. Blue). Pick the third movement (eg. channe turns) to the third cone (eg. Green). Pick a movement to return to the end of the line (Red cone – I usually allow a free choice movement here in which I encourage students to be creative). Remind student which movement is to each cone and what order they are in. For example, “Which cone do we go to first? Yellow. How do we get to the Yellow cone? Skips.” Etc. Students then complete the movement and traveling pattern one at a time. You can remain student of which cone or movement as needed but encourage them to remember. If they forget I will often ask the class “who can help Jessica? How do we get to the blue one?” to keep the students working together and engaged with the activity.
This game works well in every dance style, just use travelling steps relevant to the style (eg tap steps for tap, jazz steps for jazz). It also works well for all ages. You could give a travel combination to older/more advanced students.
Extensions of Rules: I have also incorporated a chance aspect to this game at times. I have dice which are blank on the sides in which I can write dance movements on. I then give students a turn ar rolling the dice to determine which movement we do to which cone. You could also use paper to draw out of a hat or anything else in which determines movements by chance. I always ask for student suggestions for which movements to put in the draw. When students are familiar with this game, I will often have multiple students completing the sequence at the same time. This means that they need to be aware of each other as well as focusing on with movement they need to do (which will be different to their peers).
What it teaches: This game is great to practice travelling steps. It also develops memory, independence, turn-taking and waiting skills. If you add a ‘free choice’ option, it also allows free expression for students.
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