Let's Dance!

Whether you’ve got two left feet, or can spin like a ballerina, dance is for everyone!  

As members of the Together Coalition, we’re proud to be supporting Let’s Dance, a national campaign to get the nation dancing together, regardless of age, fitness or experience.  

Dance has so many benefits, from combating loneliness, to being a great way to exercise, to just being fun!  

So, if you’ve got a high energy unit who often need a quick dance break in between activities, or like to blow off some steam and get their wiggles out, here’s a few dance activities you can easily fit into your next unit meeting.  

Activities from the programme

We include dance in our programme by focusing on how it can help girls and young women develop confidence, teamwork, and creative expression.  

Interest badges with a dance element include:  

• Dancing Interest badge (Brownies).  
• Performing interest badge (Brownies).   
• Fitness Interest badge (Guides).   
• Breaking (break dancing) as an activity on the adventure for girls pages that can earn girls their Sport badge – note: this is an adventure badge, not core programme.  

There's also a dance element in lots of our unit meeting activities and skills builders. For example: 

• ‘Dancing in the rain’ for Brownies in UMA pack 9. 
• 'Prop-er dancer' for Guides in UMA pack 7.
• ‘Flash mob’ -  a Girlguiding magazine UMA for Guides.  
• ‘Dance challenge’ in our ‘Lead’ skills builder, stage 2.

Dance games and activities

1) Mirror, mirror 

Split into pairs or small groups. Decide who’s going to be the leader first.  

The group face the leader, who starts to move, making up their own dance. The other people in the group have to copy what the leader is doing, as if they were their mirror reflection.  

Try it out with different kinds of music, and then swap who gets to lead. You could even try it as a whole unit! 

2) Dance your feelings! 

Make a playlist with all kinds of songs – fast, slow, happy, or super chill! When the music starts, move in a way that expresses the mood of the song. Is the song making you feel like jumping for joy, or is it slow and gentle? Dance the emotions you feel in the song. 

3) Guess the animal 

Split into groups and pick an animal to dance like. Now here's the twist - the only rule is you can’t make any noise! Can you hop like a bunny, slither like a snake, or stomp like an elephant? Everyone else has to guess what animal you're pretending to be. Get ready for some wild, creative moves! 

Check out dance events near you

Sunday 2 March is a national day of dance, and there’s lots of ways to find events happening in your local area. You can use Eventbrite for or local Facebook groups to search for upcoming events. Check out the Let’s Dance website to get involved and give dance a go.