The Book of Movement Exploration

Written by leading early childhood pedagogue John Feierabend, The Book of Movement Exploration is an indispensable collection of traditional activities that present many possibilities for children's movement. Through engaging in these activities, children will develop a movement vocabulary as they develop their gross motor skills and enhance their creative movement ideas. These activities bring out the strong movement impulses as well as the gentle ones. Some activities explore fast or slow, sudden or sustained, heavy or light movements. Other activities explore the possibilities of moving in response to a partner or a group of other children.

Children can enjoy these activities silently or with accompanying music - activities are presented with and without suggested accompanying music and should be thought of as recipes in a cookbook. The activities are organized according to 10 movement themes that are inspired by the work of Rudolf von Laban, a Hungarian-born dancer who studied human movement and inspired several generations of dancers and educators.

For Pre-K to Grade 2, ages 3 - 7

Contents

Introduction
Foreword
Movement Themes Checklist
The Five-Course Meal for Movement Classes

Theme 1 - Awareness of Body Parts & Whole

• Whole Body Movement
• Are You Moving or Not
• Stop and Go Dance
• The End Is Near
• Listen and Move
• Paper Plate Balancing
• Shake and Freeze
• Whirl and Stop
• Isolated Body Parts
• Put It Somewhere
• Read My Mind
• John's Knee
• The Most Important Part
• Duet for 2 Body Parts
• Glue Dancing
• Leading with a Part
• Elf Ride
• Going Fishing
• Roller Coaster
• Initiating with a Part
• Making Circles

Theme 2 - Awareness of Time

• Quick and Slow Movement
• Fast Land Slow Land
• Big Bubble
• Butterfly Hands
• Clock Time
• How Long Is a Minute
• I'll Count to 10
• Different Parts Different Times
• Being Bigger and Smaller

Theme 3 - Awareness of Space

• Personal Space and General Space
• Inside the Bubble
• Couple Dance
• Direct/Indirect Pathway (Straight/Twisted)
• Here and There
• Here and Indirectly There
• We All Stand Up
• We Raise Our Twisting Hands
• Crossing the Circle
• Shape Gossip
• Finger Drawing
• Walk My Walk
• Walk This Way
• Home Decorating
• Inward Movement (Narrow)
• The Shrinking Bubble
• Cave of Spider Webs
• Inner Tube Squeeze
• Subway Squeeze
• Shrinking Room
• Outward Movement (Wide)
• Expanding Bubble
• Balloon
• Fireworks
• Sewer Pipe
• Finding Your Way
• Growing Apart
• Direction of Movement
• Mass Move
• Looking Up, Looking Down
• Facing the Wall Direction Dance
• Distance of Movement
• Measure the Distance
• Walk How Far
• With These 2 Parts I Show
• Loud Is Big Soft Is Small

Theme 4 - Awareness of Levels

• High/Middle/Low
• Sit Down
• Refrigerator Box
• Counting Shapes
• Group Shapes
• Elevator Ride
• Parts on the Floor
• Not My Level
• Vertical Twister
• Trio Statues

Theme 5 - Awareness of Weight

• Heavy/Light
• Push the Refrigerator
• Building a Snowman
• Strong/Gentle
• Break the Balloon
• Tap the Bubble
• Eggshell Floor/Imaginary Drums
• Tense/Relaxed
• Trust Your Partner
• Resist Your Partner

Theme 6 - Awareness of Locomotion

• Do as I Do
• Move When I Stop
• Don't Move Like Me
• Word Cards
• Skipping Dance

Theme 7 - Awareness of Flow

• Sudden/Sustained
• Statues
• Paint the Room
• Breathe and Flow
• Sequential/Simultaneous
• Wave
• Who's the Leader
• Marionette
• Bound/Free
• Room of Jell-O
• Magic Gloves
• Rusty Tin Man

Theme 8 - Awareness of Shape

• Becoming Shapes
• Shape Cards
• General Shapes
• Object Shapes
• Letter Shapes
• Spelling Dance
• Pass the Space Ball
• Space Ball Dance
• Make My Shape
• Shape Chain

Theme 9 - Awareness of Others

• Partners
• Mirrors
• Traveling Mirror- Close and Far Apart
• Distorted Mirrors
• Gumby
• Tap and Flow
• Magic Fingers
• Finger Follow
• Complement a Shape
• Same and Different
• Echo Motions and Shapes
• Movement Conversations
• Connected to You
• GroupUnderline (Ctrl+U)s
• Mob Move
• Group Shapes
• Balloons
• Bigger and Smaller
• Group Sculpture
• Group Sculpture on the Move
• Changing Group Sculpture

Theme 10 - Student Created Movement

• Representative Movement
• Machine
• Star Dance
• Space Ball Dance
• Halloween Dance
• Bubble Dance
• Ceiling Dance
• The Looveroos and the Hop’n Pops (a story)
• Non-Representative Movement
• Sometimes Free
• Dancing with Form
• Dance with the Music