Current #ConfettiMOOD: Preppy & Prepared

by on Sep 21 '17

Even though we seem to start school earlier and earlier each year here in the South, September still feels like the official back-to-school (or dance!) month. And, with that title comes the promise of fall fashion and shiny new notebooks! That’s why our September #ConfettiMOOD is Preppy & Prepared! But to us, being Preppy & Prepared means a lot more than argyle sweaters, flipped collars and freshly sharpened pencils (although we do love a super cute pencil!). Instead, it inspires us to be poised and on the ready for any challenge that comes our way. And, to approach that challenge with fun and flair!

Preppy & Prepared for Class

The Name Game: Sometimes we all need a little help in the area of remembering names! Here’s a fun name game you can play in class to help: Have students go around and say their names but add an adjective and a dance step or movement to their name that begins with the same letter. For example, “Arabesque Addie” can do an arabesque when she says her name or “Leaping Leah” could do a grand jeté. You could also have the other students think of motions and adjectives for each person’s name to get everyone involved.

First Position Fun: A fun dance activity to kick off class for preschoolers is to trace their feet in first position onto a blank piece of paper.  They will love the process, and it will help them remember the position! Plus, they will have a keepsake to take home to mom and dad!

Supplied for Success: Being prepared means having a dance room stocked with all the items you might need during class…brightly colored Sharpies to write kids’ names in their shoes, a big box of fun Band-Aids by your stereo, and plenty of WOW Cards and fun stickers (like our Stick to Fun sticker pad) to motivate! Stocking these items in each studio will prevent you or your assistant from needing to leave the room during class.

Appropriately Preppy for Class: Sometimes, even the cutest, preppiest outfits aren’t appropriate for dance class. To keep your dancers and their parents on track with your dress code, create a notepad to help alert them when they are outside the dress code guidelines for class. Ours is bright yellow and includes pre-printed text for each style that the teacher can circle to indicate what the dancer did not wear (like missing jazz shoes) or did not do (like putting her hair in a bun for ballet).

Preppy & Prepared Beyond Class

As dance teachers, we of course all know we must be prepared for class each week. Sometimes, we become so busy preparing that we forget to think about the big picture. What are our ultimate goals for our class, our dancers, ourselves? Our creative planner for fun dance teachers – spark*source – is the perfect tool for planning! You can use it to set your goals, find inspiration, plot your progress and stay focused! Your spark*source includes a calendar but it’s a dateless calendar so it’s never too late to get started! So, order your spark*source today!

Preppy & Prepared Playlist

It takes a lot of time to decide which music to use for class, that’s why it is key to prepare your playlists ahead of time. There are lots of tools you can use to manage your music. We love to use Spotify for creating and organizing our playlists. You can create a separate playlist for each class, and they are so easy to share. Also, check out our recent blog post with ideas for finding great music for class!

Speaking of playlists, it wouldn’t be a #ConfettiMOOD post without our always-anticipated, fun Spotify Playlist! We put together a fun list of music that we hope will help you get and stay prepared!

Note: If you don’t already have a Spotify account, you will be asked to create one in order to access our list, but it’s FREE and EASY, and only takes a quick sec. Do it! While you are there, you can check out the playlists from all our previous ConfettiMOOD playlists, too!

#ConfettiMOOD Pinterest Boards

Need more inspiration?! Check out our #ConfettiMOOD Preppy & Prepared Pinterest Board (and all our Pinterest Boards) for even more fun ideas!

Also, be sure to check out all our previous #ConfettiMOOD posts, playlists and Pinterest Boards. There’s lots of inspiration to be found, no matter your mood!

ConfettiMOOD: FRESH

ConfettiMOOD: PINK

ConfettiMOOD: LUCKY

ConfettiMOOD: SUNNY

ConfettiMOOD: PARTY

ConfettiMOOD: ZEN

ConfettiMOOD: STAR SPANGLED

ConfettiMOOD: AMBITIOUS


5 Comments

  • I just can’t tell you enough how awesome your blog posts are! *Have you thought about making the “Spark Source” a downloadable product that we could print out ourselves? (I love having my big binder – and would love a spark source in that size) 😀 Thank you for all you guys do!

    • Hi Mandy! Thanks so much for reading our blog! And for the great suggestion! We’ve gotten so much positive feedback from spark*source, so we will at least continue with a printed version, but we may consider another version in a downloadable format in the future as well. Thanks again!!

  • Love the Dress Code notepad idea. I think you have your next product! Offer one to sell and maybe one to download and print ourselves. Thanks for all the great ideas and inspiring posts!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

like what you just read?

sign up for our email list!