Remote work setups have proven to be a blessing for parents all over the country. Instead of seeing your children early morning and in the evening, you can now have lunch with them, go on afternoon walks, and overall, spend more time with them. However, being stuck at home has undoubtedly made children feel more restless, making them act out at times.

If you have budding ballerinas in your hands and their beginner ballet classes are a few days away, why not give them an early start by doing some workouts with them? These are simple, easy-to-do kids ballet workouts at home that will help your kids expend their energy while keeping you in shape. Be sure to dress them in their favorite leotard to make the activities feel even more special.

Here are a few ballet workouts at home your children can do:

1.   Warm-Up

To get started, pretend to jump rope on both feet, then one foot at a time. How many hops can you do on each foot? This challenges balance while building strength and stamina.

Wake up the body and brain by exploring non-locomotor elements of movement like bending, twisting, reaching, swinging, and swaying, etc. Allow this exercise to grow and grow.

Example: Bending

How can you make the arms bend, then the legs? Now, let’s make the entire body bend! Add additional instruction like bending side to side or forward and backward to develop a sense of direction. Explore size by bending small then big or experiment with energy by bending sharp then smooth. Inspire their inner ballet dancer by teaching them to say the french ballet word for bend, Plié! 

2. Butterfly and Seal

Butterfly – Sit on the floor and pretend to spread some imaginary glue on the bottoms of your feet. Now stick your feet together and sit with a very tall, straight dancer back. Keeping your back tall, press your knees to the floor. Now, try to touch our nose to our toes. Finish with a tall dancer back.

Seal – Lay on your belly, bend your elbows and put your hands right under your shoulders. Now, push up like a seal stretching out of the ocean. Can you stay up long enough to balance a ball on your nose? Now bend your knees and try to touch your toes to your head.

3. Problem Solving and Strength Building: Create a Shape!

Challenge your child’s problem-solving skills and develop their strength and use of imagination by asking them to create shapes with their bodies in various directions. Some examples include:

Make a shape with two feet and one hand touching the floor; one hand and two feet touching the floor; one hand and one foot touching the floor.

Create a shape up high then down low.

Create a small shape then a big shape.

Encourage them to hold their creations without any wiggles.

4. Sequencing: Pattern and Obstacle Course

Pattern – Work together to build a pattern your little dancer can repeat and eventually remember on their own for a wonderful sense of accomplishment! For example, clap 4 times, bounce 4 times, jump 4 times then spin around.

Obstacle Course – Create a dance obstacle course with household items. Stiff knee tiptoe walk to the basket, skip around the chair, balance on the paper, spin with the fabric and jump over the ribbon.

5. Music and Movement

Choose a piece of classical music and learn about the composer together. Discuss the feeling or tone of the music. Identify instruments they hear. Find words to describe the music like sharp/smooth, loud/soft, fast/slow. Then, encourage your child to dance and create movement that matches the music and the concepts you discussed. 

Ready to Try These Ballet Workouts at Home?

Children need ample opportunity to exhaust their overflowing energy, which can be challenging to do when they’re stuck at home. By trying out these ballet workouts at home, they’ll feel like they’ve had a scheduled ballet class while helping you squeeze a few minutes of exercise into your workday!

Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet is a ballet academy offering ballet programs of all types, such as classical ballet training, youth ballet classes, and more. We are renowned for providing the finest in classical ballet training with our exceptional faculty, individual attention, and nurturing environment. Sign your children up for a class today!