This giveaway is now closed. Winners have been contacted!
The holidays are coming and I’ve got a gift for you!
‘Tis the season for giving, and giving big. So this time I’m bundling four great giveaway items. Each one presents a unique strategy for inspiring children to investigate different movement forms, including ballet, creative dance, and yoga. Great for families OR teachers, these products encourage creative ways for kids and adults to explore movement together and are sure to spark a child’s interest in the physical practice, art, and delight of moving.
TWO lucky readers will win the “Let’s Get Moving!” package which includes the four products featured below. Parents, teachers, all are invited to participate. All that is required for entry into the contest is a comment on this blog post. Scroll down for additional details.
Up, Down, and All Around
Up, Down, & All Around is structured like a creative movement class and feels very much as if creator Stacey Pepper Schwartz is leading a class in your living room. Over a period of about 30 minutes, Stacey directs her participants and viewers through warm-up, fundamental skill practice and movement exploration. She provides time for students to slow down with some yoga-inspired breathing and balancing, allowing the movers to refocus while building head-tail awareness in the spine and length in the body. The movement in the DVD is accessible to all experience levels. There is nothing pretentious about the material, the environment, or the contributors. There is even a bonus, create-a-dance activity which demonstrates choreography building through chance as the children pick out a random sequence of movements which are then performed and practiced to spirited accompaniment. Read the full review!
Creative Yoga Games for Kids
“Flash cards” for yoga and pilates are not new. However creator, Edna Reinhardt from Over the Moon Yoga & Dance Studio in Victoria, Australia, has created a unique educational kit, pulling the best from both yoga and creative dance practices to allow children to explore and create movement. The colorful set of 48 cards are big and bright with pictures of adorable children doing the described poses. Four of the cards offer activities to try, but Reinhardt has also packed a wealth of information and games into the accompanying booklet. She blends creative movement ideas with yoga in ways I never would have considered, yet they make a perfect pairing. Parents and kids will love the challenge and long-term benefits of combining yoga and dance in such a creative way. Teachers will love the clear instruction on incorporating these into their lesson plans.
My First Ballet Collection
My First Ballet Collection is a great choice for those wishing to nurture enthusiasm for ballet among children of all ages. Younger children will enjoy being introduced to colorful characters and beautiful dancing. Older children will benefit from the opportunity to sample a mélange of ballet specimens. Twenty-six ballet excerpts are introduced with a caption indicating the ballet’s title, music composer, and excerpt heading. The DVD also conveniently offers the option to view by chapter for easy navigation among the selections. The excerpts are highly accessible and are well-chosen to stand alone. Read the full review!
My Mama Had a Dancing Heart
This book is a personal favorite. I haven’t been asked to review it but I am happy to share it with you. I particularly love the earthy toned images of Raúl Colón’s etched watercolor illustrations. They dance on the pages to the musical “tip-tapping, song-singing, finger-snapping” text. The author, the late Libba Moore Gray, is a respected poet, actress, dancer, and high school teacher from Knoxville, TN. A mama herself, Gray’s children and grandchildren are accomplished dancers who continue to make their mark in Eastern Tennessee. In My Mama Had a Dancing Heart, a young ballerina fondly recalls how her mother’s unique energy and outlook has inspired her dancing. However, this frolic through the seasons feels universal in its celebration of the bond between a parent and child. A poignant reminder that we experience life through movement as much as any of our other senses, the lilting rhythms of Gray’s verse honor the everyday moments which shape and give meaning to our lives.
How to Enter & Contest Details
- Leave a comment on this post and tell me how you or your family get moving (It doesn’t have to be dance-related. Just describe what gets you up and active. If you are not as active as you’d like to be, you can talk about that too!)
- Be sure your comment is linked to a valid e-mail address (very important if you want to win!) – Your email will NOT be stored except for the purposes of this giveaway. It will be seen only by the site administrator and you will not be contacted unless you are a winner (no need to place your address in the comment itself, just put it in the mail field when you leave your comment!
- You have until Monday, December 7 at Midnight (Eastern Standard Time – U.S.) to enter.
- I’ll do a random drawing, contact the winner, and make an announcement here on Dance Advantage on Tuesday afternoon, December 8.
- I’m afraid I must limit winners to those within the U.S. My sincerest apologies to loyal readers beyond!
Dance parents, teachers and students, if you are new to Dance Advantage, I encourage you to look around. The posts found here are great starting points or just use the navigation bar at the top to find articles of particular interest to you. Contact me if you have any thoughts or questions and subscribe via RSS feed or email!
Giveaway Disclosure: Leaping Legs, Inc. Edna Reinhardt, and Naxo USA sponsored this giveaway by providing their product for myself as well as two additional products to give away to randomly selected winners. I did not receive any other compensation from any of the above for review of their products. My review is my honest opinion, and has not been reviewed or edited by the entities mentioned above. For more information on how reviews and giveaways are conducted at Dance Advantage, please read my disclosure policy.
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Nichelle Suzanne is a writer specializing in dance and online content. She is also a dance instructor with over 20 years experience teaching in dance studios, community programs, and colleges. She began Dance Advantage in 2008, equipped with a passion for movement education and an intuitive sense that a blog could bring dancers together. As a Houston-based dance writer, Nichelle covers dance performance for Dance Source Houston, Arts+Culture Texas, and other publications. She is a leader in social media within the dance community and has presented on blogging for dance organizations, including Dance/USA. Nichelle provides web consulting and writing services for dancers, dance schools and studios, and those beyond the dance world. Read Nichelle’s posts.
My grandsons and I do ‘Silly Walks’. We take turns leading and walk, hop, run, jump, dance all over the house doing ‘silly walks’. Everyone trys to copy the leader and come up with the silliest walk when it’s their turn to lead. I’m a lot more worn out than they are when we finally quit!
joahsgrandma(at)yahoo(dot)com
We have three large dogs that all need to be walked multiple times a day … they provide a workout for the whole family.
jrice1214(at)yahoo(dot)com
Our neighbors have an outdoor trampoline that my son just loves so for winter we bought him an indoor trampoline and it’s amazing how much excercise he gets on that thing!
rel1006 at yahoo dot com
Me…I get up and go to work teaching dance and school. Like jrice121 we also have a puppy who needs to be walked and his energy is pretty contagious!
What a great giveaway! I teach dance everyday and to stay active for myself I go to the gym and take dance classes during the week. I can’t wait to see who wins! My students would love this stuff! Good Luck to everyone!
My family puts on some Israel Houghton, or LaCrae and we move all the toys out of the way and push the couches back and dance until we fall down! I just wish we had time to do it more! Life is sooo busy these days, we are only able to do this one or 2 times a week.
Dana Matson
My son is 11 and daughter is 8. They teach me the lastest moves Ex: The JErk, stinky leg etc.. I learn the dances and we all perform together.!! We also wrestle all the time. Thanks for the giveaway !!
My kids and I used to love to go outside and play! We recently sold our house and are now in an apartment. It is hard to get outside and active when there are apartment buildings everywhere. So, I think this would be something fun and active that my kids and I can do in the apartment! Thanks so much for your site! I just found it a few days ago and I love it!
kayla_du_bois@yahoo.com
I love to take my kids to the YMCA there is stuff for our whole family to do. I have to admit we should go more oftenbut with 4 kids under the age of 5 sometimes its hard to get out
With three kids ages 9, 5, and 2 it’s hard to find things that all the kids will enjoy at the same time! We love playing at the park but it’s now too cold to go do that! We would love to receive these items and would enjoy dancing as a family…
Right now since it is winter we all like to sing and dance with Rock Band or get moving with some Wii Fit.
Thank You!
Rachel
After having my precious Daughter 7 and half weeks ago, I decided I need to get moving. I want to be healthy, and I want her to lead a healthy life. So far we get out and walk everyday and every morning I play nursery rhymes for her and dance around with her. She seems to love doing both of those things, so hopefully she will continue to stay active threw life.
Music always gets my daughter and i moving.My daughter has been in dance for years and there is nothing better then listening to some great music and getting our groove on!
We usually dance when a song we really like comes on. Occasionally we get out the Wii and ‘run’ together
We walk, ride bikes, and play Wii Fit.
I workout doing spinning classes and boot camps in the wee hours of the morning, but just started seeing how much I DON’T do at home with my kids. I would love to start doing some new creative ACTIVE things with my kiddos. I also watch another toddler during the day, so it would be good for all of us to get the wiggles out! 😉
We love to dance to songs and go to a music class at the rec center. Plus, we play chase games.
Here in New England we get a little house bound in the winter. My daughter takes dance classes, and the younger children and I enjoy silly dancing to music in the house. We try to get out and walk in the neighborhood every day as well. On the weekends we like to get out and hike when the weather is warm. This winter my twins are old enough to try sledding for the first time as well.
I teach ballet which keeps me on my toes! At home, my husband and I walk the dogs together. When my sons were younger, all I had to do to get them moving was to turn on music — Steve Winwood’s “Higher Love” & Michael Jackson’s “You Wanna Be Starting Something” were two of their favorites.
we love to dance in my house. we crank up the music and dance like crazy all over the living room. before i know it, i have a sweat and we are all very happy girls. my oldest just turned three, and my baby is 15 months. my oldest loves to dance, esp. ballet
We are definately not as active as we need to be but because my daughter is so young we have fun sing/dance time every night. We (my husband and I) sing and dance around with her. She loves it and it gives us some physical activity! She is too young to take out in the cold for very long but she loves the outdoors! So we walk the neighborhood when we can but another activity would be wonderful for us…especially since she loves music and dancing so much!
We try to stay moving as much as we can! We teach the kids proper ways to squat, push ups, etc. Theylove running around and being healthy!
Our family loves to get out and go do fun things to get moving! We’re heading to the zoo today!
My kids get moving a lot more than my husband and I do! We need to start taking walks, going to the playground, etc.
My twins are very active…it is me that is not so much.
I would love to get something to exercise with them.
We don’t do much physical activity as a family during the week because by the time I get home and make dinner my wife is giving the baby a bath and then putting her to bed. We try to do more on the weekends but with it getting so cold (its 25 degress here in Oklahoma currently!!) it is hard to get out and do anything. My daughter loves to dance to my singing and this would be great for our family!
We love to turn the music up and all 3 of my little girls boogie and jump and spin to the music.
My family loves to dance and bike!
we walk to the bus stop.
It is funny that music always make the kids dance!! So even with out a structured exercise video the kid will automatically get to moving. Even my grandkids, our granddaughter even makes up her own dances and tells us to turn on the music and she will show us, then asks us to participate! Thanks for the chance to enter your contest!