Fun Hip-Hop Games for Kids
25 January 2023
Hip-Hop is all about rhythm, movement and dance and this makes it a perfect basis for putting together some fun games for children. Most of these revolve around dancing or being able to mimic a specific movement made by the person before you. This can be great for helping children realise the full range of movements that they are able to make and to encourage them to develop their flexibility.
Some of the specific games that are based around Hip-Hop are listed below so you can get a flavour of what to expect. Just be prepared for your kids coming to you enthused about their new game and asking you to play along with them or to do it for their TikTok channel!
Pass on the Movement
This is a really fun one, the children stand in a circle and the first person makes a movement, which must then be mimicked or copied by the next person, who then does their own gesture or movement and passes it on to the next person. This continues until each of the children has copied and passed on a movement or gesture and it has made its way all around the circle to the beginning again.
These games can sometimes go on to become more and more elaborate, as the children get better at the game and figure out what movement they want to use to express themselves with.
Acting Up
This is a game that focuses on being able to express an emotion nonverbally and this can really help young people begin to understand how to make a physical representation of an emotion.
The game focuses on showing a big, dramatic version of an emotion but it is a way to unlock the knowledge of how body language works and the nuances that can change meanings. The other children will have to guess what emotion is being displayed and feedback on what could be done to express it more clearly.
This can really help children with communication issues who feel misunderstood in their everyday life and it can build their confidence when they see that others are able to understand and feel empathy toward the emotion that they are portraying. It is also a good way to do some easy team building.
Choreographed Handshakes
Have the children pair up and choreograph a series of movements based on a handshake. The move should be around 8 beats long, so it can incorporate 8 different movements. This can come to resemble a dance between the pair, depending on how complicated they have made the handshake.
It can also be a fun interaction and a good ice breaker if the children haven’t gotten to know each other yet. They can begin to understand a little about the personality of the other child through that interaction and it is a good way to foster teamwork and cooperation as they will show and perform the handshakes in front of the rest of the group.
Looking for more fun dance games for kids? Or fun ballet games?
Do you have questions about hip-hop dance for kids? Check out our frequently asked questions page.