Pinwheel Dancing - Preschool Movement Activity

by Kelly Pfeiffer

Pinwheels are a fun dance prop for preschoolers to explore movement, wind and motion while getting physical exercise. Fun for birthday parties, holiday parties, rainy days or any day, pinwheel dancing is great physical fitness activity for indoors or outdoors.

Preschoolers will dance for fitness as they turn, spin and run to make their pinwheel spin. Plan a pinwheel dance activities for windy March, breezy spring, Fourth of July or winter holidays.

Make Your Own Pinwheel Decorating Tip

1. Cut out a pinwheel template for each preschooler.

2. Before assembling pinwheels, preschoolers can decorate their personal pinwheel with crayons, colored markers or stickers.

Decorate Store Bought Pinwheels Decorating Tip

1. Purchase mylar (shiny) pinwheels.

2. Give preschoolers stickers to decorate their pinwheels.

1. Hand pinwheels to preschoolers and provide an open space for them to move around and explore with the pinwheels.

2. Allow preschoolers to explore pinwheel dancing on their own for a few minutes.

Movement Exploration with Pinwheels

Turn pinwheel dancing in to a movement exploration activity by giving preschoolers simple instructions to follow while dancing with their pinwheels.

Add any type music if you like. Vary the speed of the music to offer preschoolers different tempos of music for pinwheel dancing. You can also choose music to correspond with preschool themes, holiday themes or party themes.

July Fourth – Use red, white and blue pinwheels. Play patriotic music.

Christmas – Red and green pinwheels are fun to move to holiday music.

New Years – Make or buy silver and gold pinwheels for preschoolers to dance on New Year’s Eve.

Valentines Day – Let preschoolers decorate red pinwheels with heart stickers and dance to love songs.