Children's Creative Movement Activities

Creative movement lessons and activities allow children to express themselves freely, show emotion, relieve tension and much more. Children can learn about themselves, what they are good at, what they are comfortable with and what they are not, as well as discover self-confidence. Uninhibited, creative movement can improve mood as well as energize children for further education in other areas.

Animal Play

• Animal play teaches children about animals and creative expression.

  In this activity, the children act as if they are specific animals. The teacher writes an animal on the blackboard, giving a brief definition of the animal. The students pretend they are the animal by using sound, movement and expression. The students can interact with each other and feed off each others' creativity, creating a non-competitive learning experience. The teacher should give his interpretation of an animal at the beginning of the activity to create a comfortable atmosphere.

Interpretive Dance

• Exposing children to music and dance may inflluence a life-long appreciation for the arts.

  Interpretive dance gives children the opportunity to let their creative juices flow freely. Have available several types of music---classical, tribal, jazz, country, popular, opera, blues and more. Play each track for 30 or more seconds, allowing the children to express and interpret, through movement, what they believe the music is "saying" to them. If there are more than 10 children, separate them into groups to keep chaos from erupting.

Children's Charades

• Children's charades improve quick thinking skills as well as creativity.

  If there is a large number of children, break them up into groups of three or four and pass out several easy charade topics---such as cleaning, cooking and swimming---to each of the students. The children will act out the topic, as the group members have a minute or two to guess the topic. To reduce noise and misbehaving, have one group participate at a time, while the other classmates watch or are occupied in another manner. Provide positive feedback, encouragement and acting ideas for specific topics to each student.