Little Ladybugs Activity for Preschool Dance Class!

Every little dancer LOVES a themed dance class! And we happen to know that preschool dance teachers love them, too! It’s so much fun to watch how excited, engaged and immersed the dancers become in the theme!

You can approach a themed class as simple or as elaborate as you would like. Need to go basic? Simply incorporate scarves and dots into your curriculum. Or you can go full out and decorate the studio, encourage the dancers to wear red and black ladybug colors, prepare a craft or coloring page, and send them home with something fun (even if it’s just a sticker) to remember how much fun they had in their themed class that day!

This themed activity can be used during a regular weekly class or as a special event at your studio that you would charge for…on a Saturday
afternoon or a weekday morning when you do not already have classes. If you hold a special class for it, the dancers can dress in the theme, make a craft around the theme, and then complete the themed activities. There are so many options with themes!

This fun preschool activity is inspired by Lola the Ladybug, the super sweet children’s book written by Sarah Brinson. (You can also check out our fun Confetti Conversation blog post with Sarah from last year!) This book has a great message…it is all about embracing what makes you different! If you haven’t read it, order it now and it can be a motivating lesson for your dancers of all ages! Now, grab your ladybug wings and get ready for a super fun-themed class! Fun Fact: A group of ladybugs is called a loveliness. How sweet is that!?

Pin the Spot on the Ladybug Activity
Hang a large print-out of this ladybug image on the mirror or wall. Have your dancers (loveliness!) sit in a semi-circle center floor. While wearing ladybug wings, one dancer at a time can fly or do ballet skips to the lady bug. Once there, cover the dancer’s eyes, spin a couple times and give them a sticky black dot to pin on the ladybug. Depending on where the dot lands, they will demonstrate that step. Then the entire class will stand up and demonstrate the step. If the black dot lands on a wing, the whole class can stand up to do a ladybug boogie parade around the room holding a light-up wand. At the end, they will see a lovely ladybug full of black spots hanging on the wall!

Ladybug Spots & Dancing Dots Activities
Utilize your dance dots in several different ways! For this activity, it would be extra cute if they were all black, white, and/or red, but different colors are great too (no one is judging)!

Hopping Ladybugs: Start with laying the dance dots in a straight line across the floor and just have the dancer hop from one to the next. You can also place them in a zig-zag so they are jumping side to side. To work harder on coordination skills, you can set the dots up in a hopscotch pattern so the dancers can work on not only jumping, but also shifting their weight from one foot to two feet.

Adventurous Ladybugs: Set up an obstacle course and do repetitive steps every time they get to a dot. Maybe add a note to the bottom of each dot that has a dance step written on it. Each time they approach a dot, they’ll have to flip it over to see which dance step they should demonstrate. Or, each time they complete a step or finish an obstacle course, you can award them with a “spot” that they can turn in at the end of class for a prize. The spots can be paper, foam, pom pom balls, felt dots – be creative!

There is so much you can do with these dots, but remember for all these specific activities…they are ladybugs, and it’s your job to convince them of that throughout the class!

DIY Ladybug Wings
Materials:

• Red felt fabric (approximately 1 yard for each set of wings)
• Black felt pieces – we used sparkly felt sheets
• Red or Ladybug-print ribbon, approximately 2 feet per set of wings
• Hot glue gun
• Sharp scissors

Note: We bought all of our supplies at Hobby Lobby

Instructions:

1. Cut out two large “D” shapes in the red felt
2. Hot glue the two top corners along the straight side together to attach the wings. You can glue a few round pieces of felt/decorative fabric to conceal where the corners are attached.
3. Glue a long piece of ribbon from each of the other two corners to loosely secure the wings around their neck
4. Cut out a few round dots from the black felt pieces and glue them onto the red wings as the ladybug spots

Not crafty or no time to craft? Purchase these!

Bonus Prop Fun & Ideas:

• Red and black pom pom balls – spread them around the room and have the dancers try to collect as many as they can with their toes (barefoot activity)
• Red and black scarves – fly around the room with them demonstrating different traveling steps. Or…just for fun!
• Ladybug Tent – use in an obstacle course
• Red balloons with black painted dots – tie to ponytail holders and put on their wrists for an activity or just to take home for fun.
• Read Sarah Brinson’s Lola the Ladybug book to the class before your Lovely Ladybug activities for a fun intro and a great message!

Music Suggestions:

• Hey Ladybug by Pinkfong
• Lady Bug, Ladybug by Little Baby Bum Nursery Rhyme Friends
• Ladybug Hello by Ladybug Music
• Ladybugs by Suzi Shelton
• Ladybug by Rabbit
• Ladybug Picnic by Elizabeth Mitchell
• Lucky Ladybug by Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons

Alternative: If you have boys, they can be a bumble bee and use yellow dots or stripes!

Take these fun activities and ideas and make them your own! Go as full-out or simplified as you want or need to. Either way, your tiny tots are going to have a super fun dance class as a Loveliness of Little Ladybugs!