Under the Sea

I love to dance under the sea!  The animal movements are so different and unique.  Here’s a creative movement class based on under the sea animals!

I usually start with a warm-up and across the floor section.  Usually I’ll include a movement rhyme as well.  Then it’s time for our theme of the day: Under the Sea! (This could also be part of a larger unit in conjunction with The Rainbow Fish lesson plan).

Place pictures of under the sea animals throughout the room (Printable here).

Everyone loves a clown fish, thanks to Finding Nemo!  Clown fish have a special adaptation to where they live.  Clown fish can swim among the tentacles of a sea anemone without getting hurt.  Other fish are poisoned by the sea anemone.  This helps to keep clown fish safe from predators.  This square on the floor is our sea anemone.  All of you are clown fish and I am a much bigger fish.  Only clown fish can go inside of the square.  When the music starts, begin swimming (or galloping, bourre walks, turning, kick walks, skips, saute arabesque, etc.) around the square.  If the music stops, run to the inside of the square where you are safe from the bigger fish!

Watch out for the scary shark!  Sharks are in this song: Late Last Night.  Dance the Late Last Night (details in this post) song and dance together.

OR, Play an adapted version of sharks and minnows.  When I turn on the music, freeze in a balancing shape (or on one leg, in 1st position, etc.).  I am the shark, I’ll dance around all the balancing shapes.  When the music stops, the shark will figure out you are not statues, you’re fish!  Run and touch the chair/wall/mirror/etc. before I tag you and eat you for lunch!  Take turns being the shark and dancing through the frozen shapes!

For younger students: sea horses swim.  How do horses on land move?  They gallop!  Let’s go galloping!

For older students: Sea horses can camouflage or blend in to adapt to its environment.  Pick four students to be “sea horses.”  The rest of the class will be the coral reef.  While the sea horses close their eyes, demonstrate a frozen, balancing shape for the rest of the class.  They will copy that shape and freeze.  When I say go, sea horses turn around and run over to your classmates.  You must copy their shape so that you blend in to your environment.  If you don’t blend in before I, the predator, tag you, then you have to be a predator with me.

Turtles on land are pretty slow, but sea turtles are fast!  Try walking (skipping, galloping, kicking, etc.) as slow as you can.  Can you walk faster?  Super speed?

OR, Do slowland and fastland.  Set up a line down the middle of your classroom.  On one side of the line move as slowly as you can.  Kick slowly, balance slowly, roll slowly, etc.  To cross the line, do a pas de chat (or leap, glissade, skip, or any other step you’re working on).  On the other side of the line is fastland.  Move as quickly as you can.  Can you jump super speed?  Roll and crawl quickly?  Change sides whenever you’d like, as many times as you’d like!  (This idea is from Anne Greene Gilbert’s Creative Dance for All Ages).

A sail fish loves to jump up out of the water and “fly” before diving back down.  Let’s go “flying” over these cones/mats/spots.  Practice leaping, star jumps, tuck jumps, etc. as you fly all around the room.

A puffer fish can blow up like a balloon when it tries to scare away other fish.  Let’s play The Balloon Game!

An octopus has eight legs!  How many legs do you have?  Everyone grab a ribbon to give you an extra leg to dance with.  Try drawing a circle with your ribbon.  Can your ribbon fly behind you when you run?  Can you toss and catch?  Can you spin with your ribbon?

Jelly fish will sting you if you get too close!  Let’s practice our saute arabesques (or whatever step you are working on), but when the music stops, freeze, so the jelly fish (the teacher) can swim by without stinging you!

Dolphins jump up out of the water and dive back in.  Let’s practice dive rolls over a mat.

OR, instead of dive rolls, you can jump up tall, then dive down to touch the floor with your hands.

I hope you have fun with this under the sea lesson!!!

Also, grab these coloring pages for a quiet time activity at home or school.

And if you missed the link earlier, visual aid printables are here!