DANCE CLASSES FOR KIDS: 5 Benefits, the not so obvious ones!
Dance training has a huge range of benefits for our children. Here we explore some of the health benefits (both physical and mental) of dance.
Parents often ask me about the benefits of dance classes for kids. They know their kids are getting benefits from different types of dance, but they are not sure what or why. The increase in physical activity, gaining better control of your body, improving balance and improving energy levels is clear, but there are many additional benefits to dance.
MAKING NEW FRIENDS & HAVING NEW EXPERIENCES
There’s no doubt that dance classes are fun – but what makes them even more fun is sharing new experiences with other children! Dance is a great way for children to connect with others.
The culture at The Renaissance School of Dance is a fun and safe environment that supports making new friends – even at the first class. And as these dancers grow older, and they share more dancing experiences together, their friendships and bonds grow stronger – creating lifelong friends, improving their overall quality of life.
SUPPORTING MENTAL HEALTH, ANXIETY & RESILIENCE
Being able to think on your feet or quickly recover from mistakes are invaluable skills to have in life. Children in dance classes get lots of opportunities to improve these skills! Committing to a weekly dance class encourages perseverance from week to week to improve and learn something new.
Performing in front of an audience, or even for peers in class, can be a pretty nerve-wracking experience. It takes bravery to let loose and share your passion for dance! The more opportunities your child has to share their love of dance the stronger and more confident they will feel, helping to reduce their stress levels overall.
BUILD CONFIDENCE AND SELF-ESTEEM
Before even getting on stage – in the dance studio, children get the opportunity to work collaboratively through teamwork. This can often mean working with people from different ages or backgrounds.
Children build confidence because they get used to offering creative suggestions and opinions in a safe learning environment. They quickly build a sense of responsibility to work hard and keep the performance going, and entitled to feel proud of the accomplishment. Doing this with a group helps to build their social responsibility and pride.
EMPATHY AND COMPASSION
EMPATHY AND COMPASSIONAnother benefit of the RSD environment is that our dancers are nurtured to develop interpersonal skills like empathy and compassion, caring for their friends.
The creativity they develop through performing can also transfer to their emotional creativity. It becomes necessary for children to step into another person’s shoes, but also because they watch their fellow dancers work just as hard as them to pull off the performance.
MEMORY AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT
As well as social and motor skills, dance can improve cognitive skills too. Learning & practicing dance routines helps children to develop memory and recall, which can contribute to better test results in other, more academic areas of their lives.
Because dance to develop the parts of the brain that controls memory, dancers often have more developed reading comprehension, writing, second languages, and even maths capability! ⭐️
The biggest benefit of dance classes for kids? It just helps them to feel good, physically and mentally. With all these crucial benefits for child development, it’s clear why more and more parents and giving their children the gift of dance, and the opportunity to explore creative movement.
Can you think of any other examples of the effectiveness of dance and how it has benefitted your child? We’d love to know your thoughts! Please send us a message or leave a comment below.
If you would like to enrol your child to try on of our dance programs, sign up for a fee class, here.
