Silhouette Dancers

Children are natural dancers and artists with their friends. This 'moving' activity keeps kids fit and develops important interpersonal and spatial skills.

1. Choose some really lively music for dancing. Consider jazz, or African or Native American drums. Ask a friend to take turns with you to turn the music on and off or to dance.

2. Hang a large sheet of paper on a wall with masking tape (newspaper will do in a pinch). Move to the music in front of a light that casts your shadow on the paper. To do this outdoors, use a portable music source and the sun.

3. Your partner stops the music (musical-chairs style) and you freeze in position.

4. Hold still while you partner draws your silhouette with Crayola® Washable Markers or Crayons. Then it's your partner's turn to dance, and your turn to stop the music and draw.

5. Cut out your outlines with Crayola Scissors. Decorate your silhouette dancers with colors and patterns inspired by the music using Crayola Washable Markers or Crayons.

Adult supervision is required for any arts & crafts project.

Small Parts— WARNING: CHOKING HAZARD—Small parts. Not for children under 3 years.

Scissors—ATTENTION: The cutting edges of scissors are sharp and care should be taken whenever cutting or handling. Blunt-tip scissors should be used only by children 4 years and older. Pointed-tip scissors should be used only by children 6 years and older.

Leopard-Spot Doll Chair

Rainbow Refrigerator Reminders

Tyrannosaurus Thriller

Crafts

crayola supplies

• Crayons
• Markers
• Blunt-Tip Scissors
• Giant Floor Pad

household supplies

• masking tape
• light from a lamp
• music

"The kids were racing around when they asked to hear some music. Their action-artwork silhouette dancers still hang on their bedroom doors."
Tom N., teenage babysitter of kids age 4, 6, and 8.

"At our first meeting, we try to help the scouts get to know each other. Dancing is a great ice breaker. As the girls decorate their silhouette dancers, they share their interests with each other."
Marilena P., scout leader.

Howard Gardner, a leading educational theorist, has identified visual-spatial capacities; graphic arts, bodily-kinesthetic awareness (movement), and musical abilities as three of eight different types of human intelligences. We use these intelligences to create meaning out of the world around us. When the visual arts, dance, and music are combined, children can learn in several dimensions at once.