– by Dawn Pedersen, M.eD.
This Labor Day weekend (United States) marked my 19th year as an artist in a local chalk art festival. During the festival, the park is filled with people, vendors, art, and music. I took a couple of hours to tour the festival with my 3-year-old son after I completed my artwork. He took me everywhere throughout the park, often moving to the music on stage.
As I collect and review these photos of my son thoroughly enjoying the music and his body’s ability to dance, I am struck. Will he always feel this inclined to express himself through movement in public? Or will the familiar social pressures kick in and make him more inhibited?
What can we do to protect our children from the forces that seek to compel our children to conformity?
How can we help our kids keep dancing in the park?
Model it!
You have to do it too. đ
I do some of that. Guess I should do it even more!
Definitely modeling and keep exposing him to those experiences!
If you have any inhibitions about it, then work through it so you can do it without hesitation or feeling self-conscious.
I agree with everyone here! Dance in the park, in the rain, in the grocery store!