Moving to music

• I can listen to the music
• I can move to match the music
• I can freeze when it stops

• Expressive Arts and Design: perform songs, rhymes and move in time with music
• Physical Development: progress towards a more fluent style of moving, with developing control and grace
• Gross Motor Skills ELG: move energetically, such as running, jumping, dancing, hopping, skipping and climbing

1. Shake hands, shoulders, knees, feet to an upbeat song.
2. Freeze when the music stops.

Play short clips of gentle, bouncy and marching music. Ask: how does this music make you want to move?

Organisation: 7 minutes. Whole class, each child in an individual space across the hall. No groups or queues. Teacher stands at the music player with a clear view of everyone; any additional adult models from the opposite edge. Use the three contrasting tracks; no handheld equipment.

1. Ask children to find their own space and show a floating cloud, a bouncy spring and a marching explorer; children try each movement on the spot.
2. Play the gentle track and say, 'Float like a cloud'; children move softly, choosing small steps or gentle swaying.
3. Play the bouncy track, then the marching track; children try knee bends or little bounces, then march with swinging arms.
4. Stop the music and say, 'Freeze'; children hold their movement still until the music returns.
5. Repeat the tracks in a different order; children listen and choose a matching movement, freezing at each stop.

Organisation: 7 minutes. Up to 15 pairs, with one scarf per pair and a generous shared dancing space for each pair. Both children move throughout; nobody waits for a turn. For an odd number, use one trio with two mirror dancers and rotate roles. Teacher models beside the music player; any additional adult moves around the outer edge to support safe swaps.

1. Place children in pairs with one scarf per pair. Say, 'One scarf dancer, one mirror dancer'; the mirror dancer copies using empty hands.
2. Play the gentle track and demonstrate a slow swirl; scarf dancers swirl and float their scarves while partners mirror their movements.
3. Say, 'Swap jobs'; stop the music briefly for partners to pass the scarf hand to hand, then restart so both keep dancing.
4. Play the bouncy track and demonstrate small wrist flicks in front of the body; both partners make lively movements to match.
5. Return to gentle music and say, 'High sky, low grass'; partners explore high and low scarf movements, swapping roles again so everyone tries both.

Organisation: 7 minutes. Whole class in individual spaces, with scarves collected outside the dancing area. Teacher operates the music from the edge and models shapes where everyone can see; any additional adult stands on the opposite edge. Use the music player and contrasting tracks.

1. Collect the scarves at the edge of the hall. Ask children to spread out and show a still shape with both feet planted.
2. Play a track and say, 'Make your own dance'; children choose movements that fit the music.
3. Stop the music and say, 'Freeze'; children hold their chosen shape for a brief count of three.
4. Name a shape before restarting: 'Next time, make a tall tree'; children dance, then freeze in their own tall tree shape when the music stops.
5. Repeat with 'small seed' and 'wide star', changing tracks between rounds; finish with children choosing their favourite shape. Everyone stays in the game.

1. Gentle music: float like feathers to the floor.
2. Lie still and breathe.

• Volume at a comfortable level
• Space to move without bumping
• During Scarf dancing, keep scarves away from faces and never wrap them around necks or other body parts; pass them hand to hand rather than throwing.
• Before Freeze dance, collect all scarves outside the movement area so loose fabric cannot slip under feet.
• For low freezes, model bending knees or making a shallow crouch rather than dropping suddenly onto knees; keep freezes brief.