Encouraging positive social interactions between children with dance movement activities

Socializacija in plesna umetnost sta področji, ki ju lahko smiselno povežemo, za gojenje odnosov v skupini otrok ali odraslih. Plesna umetnost lahko skupino povezuje, saj nam ponuja veliko razsežnost ustvarjanja in povezovanja. Diplomsko delo zajema področje socialnega razvoja otrok v povezavi s plesno umetnostjo. V teoretičnem delu pozornost namenjam opisovanju socializacije in čustvenega razvoja predšolskih otrok. Znotraj socializacije se posvetim interakcijam in odnosom v predšolskem obdobju, navajam in opisujem postopen razvoj medosebnih odnosov. V nadaljevanju se navežem na plesno umetnost v predšolskem obdobju, kjer pišem o vplivu plesa na otroke in o vidikih vpliva plesa, ki so razdeljeni na biološko-fiziološki, psihološki, umski (kognitivni), sociološki in umetniški vidik. Ples in povezovanje skupine je naslednje podpoglavje, v katerem razložim, kaj lahko s plesno umetnostjo dosegamo in razvijamo pri posamezniku in skupini. Zelo pomemben element plesno-gibalnih dejavnosti, preko katerih želimo vplivati na medosebne odnose v skupini, je dotik, s katerim neverbalno komuniciramo in predstavlja velik del komunikacije z osebami, ki so nam blizu. V empiričnem delu je predstavljenih 13 plesno-gibalnih dejavnosti, katerih glavna nit je sodelovanje, povezovanje, čutenje in sproščanje. Zapisane so priprave, izvedbe in analize dejavnosti, opremljene s fotografijami. Izvedene so bile s skupino predšolskih otrok. Opažanja so strnjena in zapisana v poglavju interpretacija rezultatov, kjer odgovorim na zastavljena raziskovalna vprašanja. Ključna ugotovitev mojega diplomskega dela je, da lahko z izvajanjem plesno-gibalnih dejavnosti, katerih glavna cilja sta povezovanje skupine in razvijanje dobrih medsebojnih odnosov, pozitivno vplivamo na počutje otrok, medsebojne odnose in ozračje v skupini.Socialization and the art of dancing are two very different fields which we can easily pair together and implement them into group activities. The art of dancing is a successful way of connecting pupils and bringing children to socialize. It is also a unique way of expressing emotions and interlacing all of the activities between each other. In the diploma thesis I mainly focused on social development of children in relation with the art of dancing. It consists of theoretical and empirical parts. In the theoretical part I focused on two terms: socialization of preschool kids and their emotional growth. Beside the term socialization I also describe stages of relationships and interactions between preschool children. With that I defined four prospects of the art of dancing (psychological, cognitive, physical and social). The most important part of dancing activities is physical touch. It represents a no verbal communication between the teacher and the child and it\u27s a great bonding technique. In the empirical part of my diploma thesis, I present 13 activities that include dancing and physical exercise. Their main goal is to bring the children to participate in a group activity and teach them how to socially interact with different people while also making them feel relaxed in their environment. The second part consists of pre-planned activities, instructions on how to execute them and evaluations with pictures. I combined all of my notes while working with preschool kids and wrote an interpretation of the results. The key outcome of this diploma thesis is that with the two main goals of the art of dancing (bringing the children to participate in a group activity and teaching them how to socially interact with each other) we can positively affect children’s mood and create an overall beneficial social connection of the whole group