Dance at Home Series: Butterfly Stretch

We do this warm-up in class every week and it will be easy to do at home. Turn on some music and try to do this stretch for a whole song.

Sit on the floor with your child facing you. Put the bottoms of your feet together and tell your child to do the same. I always tell the kids to spread peanut butter on one foot and then put jelly on the other.  Then slap them together to make your sandwich. I demonstrate by pretending to spread PB & J on my feet. Then bend down and put your knows to your toes and pretend to eat the sandwich.

Variations:

• Flap your "wings." Pretend your arms are the butterfly wings and reach them high and low pretending to flap your wings.
• Keep the bottoms of your feet together and raise your knees up and down so they are flapping.
• Talk to your child about what kind of butterfly you are--what color (or species if you know that much!)
• Fly fast and slow.
• Sit up very tall and stretch your neck long and pretend to be a giraffe.
• Hold your ankles and rock side to side.