One reason that kids have so much energy is that they’re getting more oxygen than adults. But, if they can’t find a way to express that energy, it can just build up inside.

Dance classes are a great solution. Hip-hop dance classes for kids especially provide an opportunity for expression, growth, and development. The music and the choreography are high-energy and upbeat. Kids are sure to stay engaged and entertained.

There is a whole range of different dance classes your child could try. They all have their benefits, but hip-hop dancing might be the answer for a particularly high-energy child. Here are our top 3 benefits of hip-hop dance.

1. Hip-Hop Dance is an Effective Outlet for Energy

After sitting in a classroom or front of a screen for lessons all day, children can have a lot of pent-up energy by the time the afternoon rolls around. This can become even more pronounced in the winter months or rainy seasons when it’s harder for kids to get outside.

Children need somewhere for all that energy to go. Dance classes provide an appropriate environment for kids to let all that energy run loose. They’re effective at tiring kids out.

Hip-hop particularly is a high-energy style of dance with its fast beats and full-body movements. It’s a great way for kids to not only burn some of their extra energy but to learn how to focus it, too. They have to work on specific moves and routines and learn how to use their energy productively.

Hip-hop dance is also a great form of exercise. Because it’s so high-energy, it’s a solid and dependable aerobic activity. That means that getting the heart rate up can help improve cardiovascular health. 

Dancing promotes a healthy lifestyle for kids and helps them build strength, increase flexibility, balance, and coordination. One study showed that after-school dance classes helped decrease cardiovascular health risks in elementary school kids. 

Dance not only helps improve stamina and spatial awareness. It’s also an all-encompassing physical activity. Fabio Comana, an exercise physiologist, notes that dance targets all components of fitness: cardiovascular endurance, flexibility, muscular endurance, body composition, and muscular strength. 

Plus, at the end of the day, your children will be so tired out they’ll be ready to just fall into bed, ensuring a good night’s sleep for both them and you.

2. Hip-Hop Dance Classes Promote Creativity and Confidence

Creativity makes a huge difference for kids’ mental health and development. Since childhood is the best period for the growth of creativity and creative problem-solving, it’s the perfect time to promote that in hip-hop dance classes.

Hip-hop dancing has a particular emphasis on creativity and freestyling. Young dancers are encouraged to feel the beat of the music, improvise, and let the music move them. They can create their dance combinations and express themselves through movement and music. 

The choreography in hip-hop dance classes for kids can also be creative, even when the kids aren’t coming up with the routine themselves. And working on these creative, challenging moves, helps children feel fulfilled. When they’ve been putting in a lot of hard work and then they can show their friends and family, it can do wonders for their confidence.

These opportunities to perform can also help kids who tend to be on the shyer side break out of their shells a bit. They can slowly build their confidence in the face of something nerve-wracking like a performance. This can help them prepare for possible unfamiliar social settings in the future.

3. Children’s Dance Classes Help Emotional, Cognitive & Social Development

The benefits of dance classes aren’t just physical. They can be emotional. As an outlet for energy and creative expression, children’s dance classes can be a time when kids learn how to express emotions they don’t know how to put into words. This can be especially important for children who find it difficult to express themselves. 

Not only can movement and music help children find these ways to express themselves, but those new forms of expression can also help improve mood overall. One study showed that dance helped lessen symptoms of depression in university students.

Hip-hop dance classes can help with cognitive development, too. Hip-hop moves can be complicated, intricate, and fast. This helps children develop attention to detail. They have to pay attention to each move to put them all together and learn the choreography. Then, they have to practice and repeat, establishing new cognitive patterns.

This sort of practice and rehearsal also helps kids learn about self-discipline. Learning and practicing a hip-hop routine involves a lot of things at once. Young dancers need to focus on their technique, listen to the beat of the music, count the steps, and commit it all to memory.

Dance classes for kids also provide a great environment for children to start developing social skills at an early age. Because dance is such an inclusive activity; anybody can participate and start building relationships with both their instructors and their peers.

The social environment of a hip-hop class helps children learn patience as well as how to interact with others, be polite, and work with a team. Hip-hop routines are group activities and help kids learn about team building. Young dancers work side by side to learn and perfect challenging routines. 

Hip-hop dance can also help children develop and enhance their communication skills. Dance and movement help grow nonverbal communication, which makes up the majority of all communication. Through hip-hop dance, children can begin to understand their body language better as well as other people’s.

Discover the Benefits of Hip-Hop Dance Classes

Dance classes for kids are a great option for after-school activities to keep them occupied and engaged. And hip-hop dance offers its benefits.

It promotes a healthy lifestyle for kids by boosting cardiovascular health with its high-energy moves. It helps kids learn how to express themselves and communicate in new ways, and it can give children a sense of community where they can develop their confidence and new relationships.

Check out the hip-hop classes we offer to see if they’d be right for your child.