Using creative and performative methods is central to engaging children in fun and inspiring learning. This hands-on guide provides activities, quick tips and advice for developing performance and creative skills to support delivery of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). Each chapter focuses on a particular method, including storytelling,…

Grounded in best practices and current research, this hands-on resource connects the dots that link brain activity, motor and sensory development, movement, and early learning. The expert authors unveil the Kinetic Scale: a visual map of the active learning needs of infants, toddlers, preschoolers, and primary graders that fits each child's…

Motif writing is a system of movement notation which gaves the outline of a movement without describing in detail how the actions are to be formed. (MM)

The author argues that children's physical fitness is a pervasive social issue and that skillful moving must be the central goal of children's physical education. The next three articles are introduced as a thematic approach to the development of skillful moving. (MT)

Lists the ways that children benefit from movement and dance activities and presents a lesson plan. (SJL)

In this "Seventeenth Delphine Hanna Commemorative Lecture," Boyce draws on the legacy of Delphine Hanna's work in science-based curriculum to address the need for today's educators to balance both professional mission and disciplinary knowledge. In the mid 1960s, Franklin Henry proposed the notion that the foundation of physical…

Highlights of the historical development of structured and creative/free dance experiences for children within the curriculum of early childhood education in the 20th century are sketched. Although some educators dissented with the practice, in the 1920s most dance activities for young children were structured. The following decade was…

The barani (front somersault with one-half twist) and the back somersault with one twist are basic foundation skills necessary for more advanced twisting maneuvers. Descriptions of these movements on a trampoline surface are offered. (DF)

Gymnastics builds increasingly complex body management and control skills which are the basis for later learning. The demands for strength, speed, and agility help develop the overall physical capacity of children at this crucial stage. Themes for different age groups are offered. (MT)

Most children at a young age appear to enjoy creative movement and have some sense of rhythm. There is a need to implement a sound, theory-based, practical program in elementary schools. This article proposes such a program. (MT)

While the trampoline reached its peak of popularity in the 1950s and 1960s, the frequency of accidental injuries prompted physical education departments to discontinue its use in student athletic activities. Safety guidelines are provided for reinstating the trampoline in recreational programs. (JN)

Presents a series of improvisational dance exercises designed to heighten elementary students' awareness of their bodies in space. (SJL)

Rudolph Laban's theories of movement can be adapted to various skill development activities for elementary school children. (LH)

This volume introduces an experimental method for teaching creative movement and choreography. The method requires both a framework of conceptual structure, and freedom to explore ideas and imaginative transformation of experience through movement and external form. An opening discussion of creativity explains how dance performance has been…