Reindeer Games: Flamingle Bells Dance Class Activity

by on Dec 2 '19

December is officially here, and so are our Reindeer Games! Last week, we shared the first in our Reindeer Games series: the super fun Frozen Fairies dance class activities. And today, we’re sharing our next one! So, get ready for Flamingle Bells!

This fun, winter-themed activity can be structured in many ways, but the main focus is going to be tap, and we will be flocking, flapping and flamingling all the way through dance class!

Your dancers will love tapping with special Flamingle Bells on their tap shoes. They are super easy to make! Buy some colorful jingle bell charms (we bought ours at Hobby Lobby) and a pink pipe cleaner. Place the charms on the pipe cleaner and attach to your dancer’s tap shoes! If you want to save time and money, you can just create one set of flamingle bells and let dancers take turns wearing them. But it’s also fun to make a set for each dancer (or even just for one foot for each dancer)!

Musical Flamingle Bells Jingle Jam
With the flamingle bells in place on their shoes, make a big circle with your dancers. You will take the lead and have your dancers follow you around the circle doing a traveling step of your choice while playing jingle bells. Some options for the traveling steps are: toe heel drops, dig toe drop, step clap, marching, flap, and so on.

Have your assistant be in charge of the music so that she or he can start/stop the music on cues from you. Continue in the circle until the music stops. When the music stops, everyone will flock into the middle of the circle for a Flamingle Bells Jingle Jam. This can be freestyle party time where everyone shakes their flamingle bells! When the music starts again, everyone must quickly get back in the circle and continue on with a new traveling tap step. When the music stops, jingle jam again, but this time, maybe flock to another area in the room. Down stage right, or up stage left. This is a great way for your dancers to learn their stage directions, while flapping and flamingling all the way.

Flamingle Across the Floor
Using the same theme and concept, you can line your dancers up to travel across the floor and, one at a time, can wear the flamingle bells on their shoes (if you only have one set) and also use the special flamingle bell wand!

You can easily create a flamingle bell wand – we suggest just creating one for the entire class to share. We started with a large pink-striped plastic straw, but you could also use a wooden dowel and spray paint it pink. Cut a circle out of pink felt and cover it with sparkly gems. Glue some pink feathers behind it, then hot glue it to the straw/dowel. Next, string a few jingle bells to a long ribbon and tie it into a big bow, then secure it to the wand. There are no rules with this wand, so make it any way you like, but definitely add some flamingle bells to it!

With wand in hand, they can do traveling steps of your choice across the floor, or you can set up a jingle jam obstacle course for them to travel through. There are so many options, but the best part is carrying the Flamingle Bells theme throughout the activities you do. This is what brings excitement and imagination to the basic steps we are teaching our tiny dancers each week.

Want to add even more fun!? Create our Bonus DIY Flamingo Cane: Purchase a pink plastic yard flamingo and a walking cane with a handle or hook. Drill a hole the diameter of the cane through the top and bottom of the flamingo. Slide the cane through the flamingo, and, for security, tape around the area where the plastic meets the cane. You can use pink tape for a cute look! You can use this cane year-round as a prop in class, but for our flamingle bells activity, you can throw a scarf or bells around his neck to give him some holiday flair! He’s great in an obstacle course, great to use for balance, great to use for coordination, and great as a photo op!

Stay tuned for even more Reindeer Games for dance class this winter! We hope they will add a little jingle to your week!


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!