Move & Groove
Finding Your Rhythm at Eaton Field Park
06.15.23
CLAP-CLAP-CLAP.
SHAKE-SHAKE-SHAKE.
TAP-TAP-TAP
Move and Groove with DPPL got the beat and brought it to Eaton Field Park on the southwest side of Des Plaines.
We used shakers and music to foster rhythm, an important part of child development.
Why is developing rhythm so important?
Children use it to not only sing and dance but also for crawling, walking, jumping and running, as well as mathematical and reading skills.
Rhythm is all about finding a pattern which fits into so many aspects of life.
Besides dancing to Shake My Sillies Out by Sing N Play from the library app Freegal, an app similar to Spotify that you can accessf for free with your library card, we also read two books.
The first book,aimed towards younger readers was I Got the Rhythm by Connie Schofield-Morrison and Frank Morrison.
It is about a young child that notices the beat made by the world around her.
The second book we read was Fly by Brittany J. Thurman and Anna Cunha.
This book is about a young girl who is convinced she will win the Double Dutch contest, even though she has never jump roped before.
The first book emphasizes rhythm as sound and the second book stresses rhythm through movement.
The chalk course we left behind encourages all kinds of movement
RUNNING
And
JUMPING
AND
GALLOPING
And some of the participants even added their own dinosaurs.
Dinosaur with chalk
We sent home an activity bag with ideas to move at home.
You can print out your own activity cube template here and put it together.
For younger children you can put in rice or beans before sealing up the cube to make your own shaker.
Older children can roll the cube and do the activity they land on.
Thanks so much to The Des Plaines Park District for letting us bust a move at your park.