The Patty Cake Polka is an American folk dance. Place students into pairs. For the first four beats, each dancer touches the heel of one foot to the floor, then the toe of the same foot, and repeat. Partners move in the same direction; therefore, if one person uses the left foot first, the partner would use the right foot. After two heel-toe moves, partners slide three times in the same direction as the foot they were using. Then they perform the same pattern using the other foot. After two heel-toes and three slides on the opposite side, partners tap right hands three times quickly, tap left hands three times quickly, tap both hands three times quickly, and then tap their own thighs three times. Following this sequence, each pair interlaces opposite elbows and turns in a small circle for four beats.
At this point, you can have the children switch partners or stay with the same partner and begin the dance all over again.
The Chicken Dance is a song of Swiss origin that is fun for all ages and yet simple enough for the very young.
The song has two sections. For the first four beats of the song, have the children snap their thumbs and fingers together (like a mouth talking) four times. Next instruct them to bend their elbows and tuck their hands in near their armpits to form "wings." The children will flap these wings four times for the next four beats. During the following four beats, have the kids hold their bent arms at waist level and twist at the waist four times. The last four beats of this first section are marked with four claps.
This pattern should be repeated four times. Then, for the second section of the dance, dancers quickly find a partner, link opposite elbows and skip around in a circle until the music changes back to the first section again.
La Raspa is a Mexican folk dance that also involves partner dancing. Pair the children. Have them place their hands on their hips and stick out their right feet with their toes pointed upward and their heels on the floor. By using lively hops, the children will switch from right heel to left heel and back to right heel for the first three beats. Have them rest on the fourth beat and then repeat the pattern, but start with the left foot this time. Repeat this section four times.
After this, have the partners link opposite elbows and turn in one direction for eight counts and then in the other direction for eight counts. Follow this section by returning to the first sequence of heel-hops.