The Rules of Student Engagement in the Dance Studio

In this episode of the Dance to Learn® Podcast, host Jessica Strong dives deep into one of the most common struggles preschool dance teachers face: keeping young children engaged.

Jessica breaks down:
 ✨ What engagement really means in a preschool dance setting
✨ What it looks like when little dancers are truly focused, curious, and invested
✨ And practical strategies for keeping attention strong from warm-up to goodbyes

You’ll learn:
  ✔️  Why themes make dance concepts meaningful and memorable for little ones — helping their brains build connections through real-world, movement-based experiences.
  ✔️  How multi-sensory teaching brings abstract ideas to life — using her signature Concept Play approach: See it. Say it. Touch it. Move it!
  ✔️ And why props are magic keys in a preschool classroom — turning everyday steps into imaginative adventures that bridge the senses and keep kids excited to participate.

Jessica also shares how to pause and reset when things get off track — and reminds you that engagement isn’t about perfection; it’s about meeting kids where they are and tapping into their natural curiosity and play.

If you’re ready for more focus, more fun, and more connection in your classes — this episode is for you!

📌 Join the conversation: Submit your questions in the Preschool Dance Teacher’s Forum on Facebook — https://www.facebook.com/groups/preschooldanceteachersforum

🏆 Accept the Back to Dance Teacher Challenge (Starting 7/1) — https://library.dancetolearn.co/pages/back-to-dance-challenge

🔓 Unlock your Dance to Learn® Library — https://library.dancetolearn.co/pages/join-us

Transcript

Hello! Welcome back to the Dance to Learn® Podcast - the Preschool Dance Teacher’s Podcast! I’m your host, Jessica Strong! I want to thank Dance Dance Hooray for sponsoring season 6 of the Podcast! Today, we’re tackling one of the biggest challenges I hear from dance teachers every single week:

“How do I keep young kids engaged?”

If you’ve ever felt like you’re losing their attention five minutes into warm-up or you’re struggling to get them back when they’re running around the room, you’re not alone.

Today I’m breaking it down:
 👉 What is engagement?
 👉 What does it actually look like in a preschool dance class?
👉 And my favorite tricks for keeping kids engaged!

Before I leap into this topic today, I want to pause and remind you of my hope for the Podcast. My goal for the Dance to Learn® podcast is to elevate real voices from our dance teaching community — yours! I want to hear your stories, questions, and challenges, and help you feel more confident in your classroom. This is a new layout for the podcast, so it’s going to take me talking about it for the first few episodes to get the word out!

Do You Want to be featured on the show?
 Join the Preschool Dance Teacher’s Forum on Facebook, where you’ll find our weekly Ask the Pod post every Friday. Drop your questions there through Monday evening. Then on Tuesday, I open Pod Talk, a chance for your fellow teachers to chime in with their tips and advice.

If your question is selected, I’ll feature you using your first name and last initial — or you can remain anonymous by emailing me at podcast@dancetolearn.co and I’ll post on your behalf.

Be sure to check the show notes for the link to the Forum. I can't wait to hear from you!

So let’s dive deeper into the topic of Student Engagement - but first, let’s take a short pause to hear from our Season 6 Sponsor - Dance Dance Hooray! 

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Thank you to Corey at Dance Dance Hooray for creating our library of Tap Lesson Plans! She’s created 36 creative tap lessons for children between the ages of 3-7. Only available in the Dance to Learn Library!

Now let’s leap back into today’s topic: Student Engagement! 

Starting with the basics: What is engagement?

In the classroom, engagement means that your students are actively participating — not just physically, but mentally and emotionally too.

When young children are engaged, they’re curious. They’re connected to what’s happening. They’re excited to follow along, try something new, or even repeat something familiar.

In preschool dance, this can look like:

• Eyes on you, the teacher.
  
  
  
• Eager bodies ready to move.
  
  
  
• Voices chiming in when you ask questions.
  
  
  
• Smiles, giggles, even focused silence when they’re deep in listening.
  
  
  

Engagement doesn’t always mean quiet. Sometimes an engaged preschool class is loud and wiggly — but they’re with you. They’re invested in what you’re doing together.

So, what does Engagement really look like in a typical preschool dance class?

Maybe during your warm-up, kids are following along with movements — they’re copying you, watching each other, and moving with the music.

When you introduce a new step, they might get silly — but they come back when you remind them through your teaching cues and redirection.

During creative play, they’re not just running wild — they’re pretending with purpose: if you say, “Let’s tiptoe like sneaky cats!” they’re tiptoeing and meowing like cats.

Engagement also means kids feel safe enough to try, make mistakes, and try again.

So, what is the secret? How do we keep them engaged?

Here are my top three strategies:

1️⃣ Use Themes
 There are several benefits to teaching dance thematically. Themes turn learning into a full brain + body experience through movement and dance thereby creating an even greater opportunity for those developing brains to spark connections! Besides powerful brain connections, here are a few more reasons we believe in Thematic Learning at Dance to Learn: 

First is Experiential learning, or learning from experiences. Experiential learning improves brain connections by actively engaging multiple areas of the brain, leading to stronger synaptic pathways. When children participate in hands-on, movement-based activities, like those in a Dance to Learn® class, they repeatedly use and reinforce specific neural circuits. This process helps strengthen brain connections, enhancing memory, problem-solving, and critical thinking skills. By moving and interacting with their environment, children also engage their senses, which further supports the integration of new information, making it easier to recall and apply later on. The more they experience, the more robust these connections become, supporting Whole-Child development.

Second themes build meaningful connections. In the Dance to Learn® Curriculum, themes help dancers build knowledge and make meaningful connections through real-world experiences. By incorporating thematic learning into our dance classes, children engage in movement that relates directly to the world around them, allowing them to explore dance concepts in a way that enhances both their Whole-Child development.

Thirdly themes promote cohesion. In a Dance to Learn® class, themes provide a unified context for organizing dance activities, allowing children to connect new dance concepts to a central idea. Instead of disjointed exercises, each movement, game, and discussion is tied to the Thematic Dance EdVenture™, creating a cohesive learning experience. This thematic approach helps children build a growing web of knowledge, as they explore dance concepts within the context of the theme. By integrating new dance skills with familiar, real-world experiences, children are better able to understand and retain the information, enriching their Whole Child development through a seamless, meaningful learning journey.

Lastly, Themes are engaging! To ensure that our themes are engaging, Dance to Learn® incorporates a multi-sensory approach to Thematic Dance Education by incorporating stimulating tools and props that spark our students' interest and enhance the learning experience. These tools include concept visuals, story books, multi-sensory props, thematic obstacle courses, engaging music and more!

2️⃣ Teach with Multi-Sensory Strategies
So let’s get deeper into this idea of multi-sensory teaching, because this is truly where the magic happens when it comes to keeping preschool dancers engaged.

I always say: Engagement grows when kids can see it, hear it, feel it, and do it.

When we teach this way, we’re tapping into how young children naturally learn. Their brains light up when multiple senses are involved — and that means they stay more focused, more curious, and more ready to participate.

One of my favorite ways to do this is through what I call Concept Play — this is how we introduce abstract dance concepts in a way that makes sense to a three- or four-year-old.

Here’s how it works:

• See It: We start with our Concept Play Displays — visual aids that show the dance concept we’re about to explore. Maybe it’s Pathways — straight, curvy, zigzag — and we can see those lines on the floor or on our display board.
  
  
  
• Say It: Next, we say it out loud together. Repeating the concept word helps it stick. We might chant, sing, or echo the word — “Straight! Curvy! Zig Zag!”
  
  
  
• Touch It: Then, we touch it. This is where props come in. Maybe we build pathways with our balance beams — arranging them in straight, curvy, or zigzag shapes so kids can walk on them and feel the concept under their feet. Or we use a manipulative like a scarf to “draw” the pathway in the air.
  
  
  
• Move!: Finally, we move our bodies to explore the concept in space. We’re not just talking about pathways — we’re dancing them!
  
  
  

Let’s break it down even further:

✅ Visual Aids: Props like our balance beams double as pathways and shapes through space. Our Concept Play Displays give children a clear image of what they’re about to do — turning an abstract idea into something they can see.

✅ Auditory: We bring in music they love — upbeat, thematic, fun to move to. We use our voices — we change our tone, sing instructions, ask questions, repeat patterns. All of this keeps little ears tuned in.

✅ Tactile: Props are key here — parachutes, stretchy bands, scarves, egg shakers — these props get hands involved. When kids hold, shake, wave, or stretch something, it gives their brains extra input and keeps wandering hands busy in a purposeful way.

✅ Kinesthetic: We can’t forget that dance is movement! Props like bean bags help build proprioception and body awareness. Maybe dancers balance a bean bag on their head to practice stillness or place it on a body part as we call it out — “Put it on your shoulder!” — making them think, feel, and move at the same time.

When you layer all these sensory elements together, you’re not just teaching a step — you’re creating an experience.

And that experience — that combination of seeing, saying, touching, and moving — is what keeps kids hooked. It keeps their bodies moving with purpose, their brains engaged, and their hearts in the dance.

So remember: The next time your class feels distracted or disconnected, come back to the senses.
 Ask yourself:

• Can they see it?
  
  
  
• Can they hear it in a new way?
  
  
  
• Can they touch it?
  
  
  
• Are they moving it through their own bodies?
  
  
  

And if you need ready-to-go visuals, props, or lesson plans that build these layers in for you, come check out the resources inside the Dance to Learn® library.

This is how we make abstract concepts real for our littlest dancers — and how we keep them engaged from warm-up to goodbye stamps at the door.

You’ve got this! Keep dancing, keep learning, and keep making it fun!

3️⃣ Bring in Props
Props are like magic keys in a preschool dance classroom. They unlock imagination, extend focus, and make your teaching come alive in ways that words alone just can’t do.

A simple scarf? It’s not just a piece of fabric — it becomes a butterfly’s wing fluttering through the garden, or a rainbow we wave through the sky. A bean bag? It’s a sleepy animal to balance carefully on your head — or your shoulder, elbow, or foot — building body awareness and control while kids giggle through the challenge.

A parachute? It’s community magic. It brings the whole group together in a circle, teaches cooperation, and creates beautiful big moments of shared joy — we can make popcorn, hide underneath, create big waves or quiet ripples. It’s a tactile, visual, and kinesthetic powerhouse all in one.

Props do so much more than just “keep little hands busy.”
 They make abstract dance ideas real.

If we’re exploring Pathways, we might build them out of balance beams or tape lines on the floor. If we’re exploring Shapes, we can hold our stretchy bands in different ways or create angular or curvy pathways with our bodies and props together.

Props also bridge the senses.
They give kids something to hold, shake, wave, stretch, or dance with — instantly extending their attention span because now they’re doing something concrete with their hands and bodies.

And because preschoolers naturally learn through play, a well-chosen prop turns your entire lesson into an adventure they can see, touch, and remember.

One prop can do multiple jobs:

• Visual: It shows an idea or shape.
  
  
  
• Tactile: It gives hands something to grip and manipulate.
  
  
  
• Kinesthetic: It guides the body through space in a meaningful way.
  
  
  
• Auditory: Some props make sound! Egg shakers, bells, and rhythm sticks bring listening into play too.
  
  
  

So when you’re planning your next class, ask:
 What prop can help bring this concept to life?

A scarf, a bean bag, a parachute, a stretchy band — simple tools, but so powerful for keeping little dancers engaged, on task, and excited to learn.

This is the magic of props — they’re not “extra.” They’re a core part of teaching young children through all the senses — helping you keep your dancers with you every step, skip, and leap along the way!

So the next time you’re feeling like your class is slipping away, pause and ask:

• How can I connect my lesson  to a theme?
  
  
  
• How can I make this multi-sensory? Can we see it, say it, touch it and move? 
  
  
  
• Is there a prop that would make this theme or concept more fun and hands-on?
  
  
  

Remember: Engagement isn’t about perfection. It’s about meeting kids where they are — tapping into their curiosity, their senses, and their love of play.

If you are looking for lesson plan ideas that are packed full of themes, multi-sensory learning and props, I invite you to join me and our community of Dance EdVenturists in the Membership. I’ve shared a link to join in the Show Notes! 

Thank you so much for joining me on today’s episode of the Dance to Learn® Podcast! If you want your questions answered, are seeking solutions to  a problem you’re experiencing in the classroom or need advice on a situation - you can Ask the Pod every Friday through Monday in the Preschool Dance Teacher’s Forum on Facebook! I can’t wait to hear from you! 

Until next time, Happy Dance Edventuring!