All is Bright — A Gift Guide for Dance Students
The Leap 'N Learn's 2014 Holiday Gift Guide, Part II is here and will give you all the best present ideas for dance students and dancers! Every dance student we know shines for so many extraordinary reasons, so we're focusing on making their merry season extra bright, just like them. These dance student gifts will let creative little ones continue to feed their passions, show off their personality, and develop new talents along the way!
Let's Since & Dance in French! CD, $14.99 — Dance students learn french terms in class, and it's incredible to see how easily they absorb language. Exposing children to French music during these formative years gives them a head start in mastering a language that's so intertwined with ballet. Plus, it makes a wonderful soundtrack for dancing around the house, and it's sweet enough even adults like it.
Wooden Flower Press, $12.49 — We find that dance students can express their artistic abilities in so many other creative ways. We think a kit to make their own wooden flower press would be a delightful dance student Christmas gift. They receive everything to put it together and to paint a custom scene on it. Then when they have performances and get showered in pretty flowers afterwords, they can press and save them to put in a dance scrapbook.
S'well Water Bottle, $35 — Hydration is vital for dance students, yet most of ours forget to bring water and end up buying a plastic bottle at our studio. We really want to see a shift where dance students bring their own reusable water bottle and reduce their environmental impact. As dance teachers, we've accumulated a lot of water bottles over the years, but the only ones we reach for are from S'well. The beautifully designed water bottles actually keep things insulated as promised, and your purchase helps their charity partner, WaterAid.
Children's Guitar, $32 — Dance student gifts that encourage musicality are always a hit. We're especially fond of this tunable wooden guitar, a collaboration between French toy designer Vilac and artist Nathalie Lété. It sounds lovely and comes with extra strings and a pic. It's durable enough for a tot who could continue to play and learn on it for many years. If there was an adult version, we'd consider taking guitar lessons ourselves!
The 52 New Foods Challenge, $20 — Dance students need energy to keep moving, glowing, and growing. That comes from healthy, balanced meals and snacks! This book makes eating well an adventure by introducing a new food each week and providing related activities and recipes for families to do and make together. Even dancers with the pickiest palettes will devour these nutritious dishes, and how great is it that they will learn how to prepare them too?! If you want to make it even more playful, get the author's Crunch a Color healthy eating game.
Yoga Pretzels Card Deck, $14.95 — Dancers practice yoga regularly and receive numerous benefits from doing so, and there's no reason young students can't enjoy it all as well. In fact, the sooner a child starts with yoga and makes it a part of their routine, the better. Yoga provides a wonderful way to keep moving outside of dance class. It increases strength and flexibility, improves concentration and self-esteem, and promotes creativity. Yoga Pretzel cards are a great place to start! Feel free to include a sunny little yoga mat too.
T for Toes Dusting Powder, $6.95 — Bye, bye sweaty, stinky feet! This fun foot powder from Lush Fresh Handmade Cosmetics helps banish these common dance student problems. Sprinkling it in ballet shoes daily keeps dancing feet dry and eliminates any not-so-pleasant smells. Plus, it's clear this company cares about what they do and makes sure they do everything in the best way possible. We believe all their creative concoctions would make great stocking stuffers for dancers — check out their foot care products and go from there. You can even add a snow angel bath bomb for an extra sparkly treat.
Alpha Stitch Pillow Kit, $34 — Knowing how to sew is an important skill for all dancers. Yet when the need for it arises, a lot of our students have no experience with sewing, some are even afraid to try it. This Land of Nod cross stitch pillow is the perfect craft to get them familiar with using a needle. Just imagine the sweet dance dreams they'll have when they get to use their personalized pillow! Best of all, as they advance in their dance classes, they'll be able to stitch their own pointe shoes.
Body Magnet Puzzle, $30 — There's always a point in a child's life when they wonder what's inside their bodies and how it all works. It's especially interesting for dance students to learn about the muscles that help them perform their favorite favorite dance steps. This magnetic puzzle can help them understand more about themselves. This very incredible and educational puzzle is a gift we hope every dance student finds under their tree!
Firebird by Misty Copeland, $17.99 — You can tell we are teachers because we can't have a complete holiday gift guide without a book. Misty Copeland's memoir made it on our dance teacher gift list, and her new picture book was a must for dance students. Many of our dancers look up to this ballerina, and for good reason! This dance book shows them that they too can reach great heights through faith, hard work, and dedication.
What Christmas presents are you giving to little dancers this year? Any of these gift ideas stand out most to you? What would you add to this dance student gift guide?
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