Free and Fun Online Video Game Themed Ballet & Dance Lesson for Kids


My kids like most others love video games and so I thought why not integrate the fun and challenge of a video game and cross that with – you guessed it – a ballet lesson. Some might call me crazy, but my kids absolutely loved the idea, and when they saw the final product with all the retro gaming graphics integrated into the video they were blown away!

In this free and fun online video game themed ballet lesson, I combine beginner ballet steps such as plies and sautes in a video game format where we focus on developing our turn out and first position in a stop and go ballet walk style game, then we duck, bend and plie as pixelated birds fly above our heads and finally jump or saute over clucky chickens, whilst building the game energy bar and earning high scores for our efforts!

This class is great for anyone who likes playing video games, but also dancing in general and is great for both young toddlers as well as older kids. The music has been specifically selected in this video to not only provide a gaming feel to the video but also to help children develop musicality and the ability to count and dance on beat.

Click here to go straight to a playlist on Youtube of dance classes by Move Dance Learn. Don’t forget to subscribe to get notifications as the library is growing every week!

Or you can check out these other ballet creative movement dance classes!

CRAFT and ART ACTIVITIES

LINKS TO THE CURRICULUM

As I have a Bachelor of Education and have taught in primary schools in Australia, I am always looking at ways to creatively teach children and regularly used dance and movement in my classroom to enforce learning of concepts and material we were learning about in different areas of the school curriculum.

The following are some links and connections that can be made from this movement lesson to various other areas of learning!

Mathematics

  • Count ballet walks, plies, and sautes (jumps).
  • Use apps such as Prodigy or Mathletics (my kids have used both of these through school and enjoy them) that use the video game medium to teach math skills to kids.
  • Investigate how mathematics and algorithms are used to code video games.
  • Collect data about video games. Ask family and friends what their favorite video games are, create a questionnaire to do this or a tally. Collate the information into charts or a graph. Analyze and make assumptions about the likes and dislikes of your participants based on the information you have collected.

English or Literacy

  • Video Game based spelling list.
  • Create a list of adjectives to describe video games, screens, and technology.
  • Create and draw your own video game character. What would they look like? Do they have powers or a special vehicle? Then label your creation using as many adjectives and verbs as you can to describe its features and how it moves.
  • Write a narrative or fictional story about a video game adventure or what it might be like to be inside a video game.
  • Create your own video game and write an explanation to tell people everything they need to know about how to play your video game.
  • Research and then write a report or explanation about your favorite video game. Include information about who developed the game and how it was created. Any changes or upgrades that have been made over the years.
  • Write an argumentative or persuasive essay on why children and teenagers should or shouldn’t be allowed to freely play video games whenever they want.

Social Studies and History

  • Investigate the history of the video game and how their invention and .
  • Research and develop a project based on the life of an explorer, astronomers, astrophysicist or scientist who made discoveries about space. How hard was it for the early pioneers to prove their theories when they could not actually go up into space?

Science & Technology

  • Investigate how video games are made.
  • Learn to code and create your own simple video game.
  • Explore and investigate questions such as – What is the future of the video game? How will we be playing them in the future?

Geography

  • Are video games played all around the world? Are there countries where they are banned?
  • What are the various and different environments and worlds created for video games? How are they different or the same from our Earth?

Samantha Bellerose

Samantha trained and worked professionally as a dancer and has a Diploma in Dance as well as a Bachelor's Degree in Education. She currently runs Dance Parent 101 as well as Move Dance Learn whilst caring for her four children and enjoying life with her Husband.

Recent Posts