The cover photo shows the original dance party light. I can't even find these to give you more pictures/information than the picture above. They produce the sound of fireworks and pushing the button moves it through 3 different modes. It has two colors (red and green) and the globe distributes them across the room. Movement of the lights was accomplished by moving your hand, wrist, arm, or body.
Budget: $0-30
Our first dance party costs $0. I literally picked up the light when the music was playing and "Dance Party!!!!". Once you have some music your kids like to dance to, look around and ask what can make it special. Don't undersell what you have already. Balloons, flashlights, streamers can elevate it. If the room you are going to be using has a TV, you can have kids dancing videos on youtube as some encouragement/demonstration. This might even be your source of Music for the night if the tracks are done by some of the kid cover groups.
I want this to be as cheap as possible because you don't' know if this is going to be something that interest your kids. A few dollar store glow sticks can add a massive amount of pop if you have a darker room and can feel super impromptu.
The goal of the first dance party is just that your kids want to do it again. That means short and sweet, 2-3 songs that they've danced to in the past on their own and you're pretty sure they will dance to again if given the chance. From the Venn diagram on finding music page, these fit into the overlap of songs your kids like and songs they will dance to.
If they are having a ball after the 2-3 songs, call a stop to the party, and when they ask for more, have 1 extra "Encore" song ready to go. Play that and call it a party. This is where having a reason to end it can be helpful like dinner or preparing for bedtime (Note, avoid dance party to bed directly. have reading, brushing teeth, etc between to give them 10-30 minutes of calming time).
Before your kids make their first move, I want you to look over the space you are going to have them dancing in and think about what could happen in it. Kids need way more space than you expect to dance. They don't have any idea that when you're in a small space, the movement should match. If the space isn't huge, you might try using a flashlight to "Spotlight" the person to dance. Then you can have one person dancing and any other kids cheering them on.
Is there anything that could fall down on the dancers? What doors are going to be opening unexpectedly and need to be kept clear. If you're outside, are their tripping hazards? Take a few minutes and think about it from a safety perspective. Maybe it's as simple as putting away a few fragile things. Time now can hopefully prevent serious injury or damage later.
There should be a minimal amount of setup for this first dance party. For your kids it should feel like a spontaneous event. Minimally planned. It just kind of happens. That puts no pressure on them to love it, they can just have the experience.
Pretty quickly, you're going to realize that this is something your kids are enjoying and adding just a bit more is a good idea or it's not something for your family. Let that feeling guide you on if you want to step up to the Get Organized level or not.
Cover Photo Copyright Kids Dance Club All Rights Reserved