 Whenever I see a penguin, my mind automatically goes to Mumble, the tap dancing penguin from the animated movie, Happy Feet! Using penguins as a theme in my preschool & early elementary age tap classes is something I look forward to every year. I usually do this theme in the winter, but it could easily be used at any time of year. When I am able to, I show my students a quick clip from the movie at the top of class -- this is my favorite one to show since it is short, sweet, and features tap dance as the hero: Happy Feet Trailer If you would like to show your dancers a little bit of behind-the-scenes footage of how the animators created Mumble, based on Savion Glover, these two clips are great! Happy Feet Behind The Scenes Savion Glover & Mumble After that, we're inspired and ready to start tapping like a penguin! In the link below, I've listed some of the tap activities that I use for my preschool age tappers as well as for my early elementary age tap dancers. I hope that these are a launching point for all of the penguin ideas that you can come up with! Click here to get a printable version of my full Penguin tap lesson plan for ages 4-5 and 6-8, with activity sheets & personal penguins too! Adding a fun theme, like penguins, to my classes helps my students to happily review and reframe steps they already know as well as make connections on new steps. You can start your class with a simple question -- "Who can tell me something about a penguin?". Your students' hands will quickly shoot into the air! By adding their ideas, they will feel included and a part of the lesson! Here's some additional tap resources you will like! Crack The Ice Tap Game for ages 6-9 Snowflake Tap Terms & Choreography Game for ages 10 & up Tap Dance Chocolates, a tap sound & step matching game Tap Spell-A-Dance Game for review & warm-up for ages 8 & up Audio Haunted House Halloween Tap Game for ages 8 & up BOO! Rhythm Activity for preschool & early elementary Tap Tally Checklist for Tap Skills for ages 2-7 Join my TAP LIST to receive personalized tap tricks & tips direct to your email inbox. Visit my shop for more dance resources that support a creative, positive, and imaginative dance classroom. Keep in touch by signing up for my weekly newsletter, and join me on Facebook at dance dance HOORAY!
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