[Idea] A roundup of recommended performances for lower grades at school arts festivals and learning presentations
School arts festivals and learning presentations are big events that kids, teachers, and parents can all enjoy together!
The choice of performance really affects how exciting the event feels.
Many teachers may wonder, “Should we go with classic songs or a play?” or “We want to try something different this year, but what would be good?”
Here, we introduce fun performance ideas suitable for lower-grade students.
We recommend choir pieces, simple dances, and short plays.
For this year’s festival, let’s plan performances that make everyone smile and create the best memories!
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[Idea] A roundup of recommended performances for school arts and learning presentations for lower grades (1–10)
Pocky Dance
The “Pocky Dance” that was performed in the Pocky commercials—many of you might find it nostalgic, right? Today’s elementary school kids may not be as familiar with it, but it’s a really fun dance with lively choreography.
These days, many elementary schoolers take dance lessons, and dance performances are common at events.
Dancing is also great for boosting class unity.
If you get the audience to clap along, the whole venue will get energized—how about giving it a try?
Dance with everyone
As expected, it’s truly moving to see the children come alive and express themselves with their whole bodies at the school arts festival.
So how about taking on a dance performance from a slightly different angle than a sports day—adding thoughtful costumes and direction? If you color it with plenty of ideas and inspiration, it will surely help energize the festival! It’s also great to dance to songs the students love or music they feel close to.
If everyone can be involved from the planning and preparation stages, the performance itself will be all the more moving!
Silhouette QuizNEW!
This is a quiz where you look only at a silhouette and answer what it is.
If it’s something with a distinctive shape, like a banana, it’s easier to arrive at the answer.
However, items with simple shapes, like apples or mandarins, tend to be more challenging.
For elementary school students, why not have fun with familiar items they often use at school, such as pencils or pencil cases? If the answer doesn’t come easily, give them a hint.
You can prepare the silhouettes on paper beforehand, or you can create shadows on the day using a white cloth and a light.
[Ideas] A roundup of recommended performances for lower grades at school arts and learning presentations (11–20)
rakugo play
Rakugo is often thought of as a storytelling art performed by a single seated storyteller, but how about turning it into a stage play? Since rakugo stories are already structured like dramas, they’re perfect for events like school plays.
As a part of Japanese culture, they also offer a chance to learn about spoken language and historical context, making them a highly valuable presentation in those respects as well.
Kitchen Beat
Kitchen Beat: making music with items like rice paddles and pots from the kitchen.
Normally you might get scolded for playing with those, but this time we’ll use them as instruments and show off a cool performance! The kitchen tools you need can be everyday items you’d find at home or in a school home-economics room—nothing special required.
Build some rhythm patterns and have fun making music as if you were cooking.
Since you’re using non-instruments, it’s sure to grab viewers’ attention! Give it a try!
Handbell performance
Handbells are a popular performance at all kinds of events, especially Christmas ones.
During the holiday season, Christmas songs are the standard, but at other times you could choose songs kids love—like tunes they learned at school or popular anime songs.
Because everyone creates the sound together, handbells require quite a bit of practice; but that makes the moment you present a polished performance all the more moving.
Let’s bring our hearts together and create beautiful music!
Melodica performance
The school performance is an event that really fires everyone up—teachers, students, and of course, parents.
Many ideas get proposed, but as a presentation of the results of their daily efforts, how about a “pianica performance,” something the children are already familiar with? At first, their fingering was probably so uncertain they could barely play do-re-mi.
However, if the goal is to showcase how they’ve grown little by little, it’s perfect! It’s a timeless classic, but precisely because of that, it brings deep emotion and a strong sense of fulfillment.