Is Enrolling My Kids in a Dance Class a Good Idea?

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I remember my mother enrolling me in dance class when I was a young child. My aunt was the dance instructor and not only did I love helping my aunt out in the studio, but I loved learning new dances, meeting new friends, and even though I was nervous, I loved recitals as well. Dance can be a pretty expensive activity for your kids to get involved in but there are more than enough benefits if you decide you can afford it! My mother spent a small fortune on my outfits, shoes, and accessories, but you don't have to. Classes might be costly, but you can save a lot on great dance wear and accessories at Target with you use Target coupon codes from Discountrue.com.

Dance is something that comes completely naturally to even the youngest of children, and starts even before they begin to speak. Movement is normally a way to express emotion that can’t be put into words, and this is especially true for children. When those movements are arranged in set patterns then it becomes dance. It is one of the most effective ways for children to grow and develop normal attributes, and it helps them to mature cognitively, emotionally, socially and physically.

Cognitive Benefits

When children believe that they can achieve something or solve a problem with movement, they will spontaneously create one that gets the result they are aiming for. Movement is the natural cognitive leap between an idea, problem or intent and the outcome or solution. This is directly connected to their ability to function in and understand the world around them as infants, children and eventually as adults. The relationship between movement and intellectual development is a field of study that has only recently begun to be truly explored and is not yet fully understood.

Emotional Benefits

Dancing is a promotion of psychological health and maturity in children because they enjoy having the opportunity to express their emotions. Dancing makes them aware of themselves and others through the use of creative movement. Pre-school age children begin dance lessons with a whole boatload of memories that are often easiest for them to express through dance. Structured movement is an effective outlet for the physical release of those emotions and also raises their awareness and appreciation of themselves and others.

Social Benefits

When they participate in dance classes social encounters, interactions and cooperation are things that occur naturally. Children are taught to communicate their ideas by using body movements that immediately express what they are feeling in a real and physical manner. Working within a group dynamic is something that children have no problem with (most of the time!). Their understanding of how they are connected to those around them grows as they learn about the process of cooperation.

Physical Benefits

Dancing is an activity that uses the entire body and is an amazing exercise that builds total body fitness. Little kids are naturally more active (every exhausted moms in the world can attest to that!) and dance is a way for them to use that natural energy to expand their movement possibilities and skills. It involves a greater range of motion, coordination, strength and endurance than the majority of other physical activities.

Creative Benefits

Dance also promotes the natural creative instinct in children. Because they often don’t have the words to describe how they’re feeling, they have to find other ways to express that. This expression could take the form of a painting, a drawing or even just seemingly random noise. Many believe that creativity can only be expressed through some kind of art form – however this is just an easy way of recognizing creativity. Creativity is simply a way of thinking and being that can be expressed anywhere including science, business, mathematics and cooking.

Academic Benefits

What a child learns through dance can also reinforce what they've learned academically. The patterns and counting used for dance reinforce what they have learned in mathematics. The spatial and bodily awareness children learn from dance reinforces what they've learned in science. When they learn about the dances from other cultures is related to what they learn in social studies while the history of dance and culture reinforces what they may have learned in history.

As I said before the only real disadvantage with dance is the cost and the time involved. Taking your children to their lessons and driving them to competitions can really cut into anything else you try to do, but if you have ever watched any of the Step Up movies, you know the final payoff could be so worth it (this doesn’t mean your little one is guaranteed success – there are many amazing dancers who don’t even make the chorus line).

And the cost of the lessons, the accessories, the costumes, and pretty much everything is not something to be laughed at. But with a lot of smart shopping, and plenty of coupon hunting, maybe a few sewing lessons (or ten) you should be alright!

*Disclosure: This is a sponsored post, which means I may have been compensated in some way.