Recommended for lower grades! A collection of ideas for performances 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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Recommended for lower grades! A collection of ideas for performances at school arts and learning presentation events (31–40)
Calligraphy performance
How about doing a calligraphy performance on a large sheet of poster paper, along with words of gratitude to your parents, teachers, and friends? You can use a regular brush, but using a large performance brush lets you write bold, oversized characters that make a strong impact and are easy for a big audience to see.
You can write anything you like on the paper, but consider writing your class or grade’s goals, or a message you want to convey to the audience.
Performing with music playing is also recommended!
Magic
When it comes to classic entertainment or performances, magic is the go-to.
There are many types of magic, so for a classroom setting you might choose card tricks, while for a gymnasium you might pick tricks that look great on stage.
There are plenty of videos online that explain magic tricks, so be sure to use those as references.
Jump Rope Presentation
For lower grades who’ve only been in school for one or two years, jump rope is a great way to show how they’ve been growing! Start with basic forward and backward jumps, then try criss-cross and side swing jumps, and if they can, have them take on double unders too.
It’s also cool to combine different techniques to music, or include performance elements that aren’t just jumping.
Parents who worry whether their kids are doing well at elementary school can feel reassured when they see them working hard and showing what they’ve learned!
Kendama performance
A kendama performance that unleashes a variety of tricks in sync with music.
It’s more challenging than simply performing kendama tricks, making it perfect for upper-grade elementary students who, over their long years in school, have learned to do many things.
Of course, kendama skills are essential, but it’s also important to decide which parts of the music each trick will match.
If there are formation changes, you also need to plan where to move and what to do with the kendama at that moment.
Kids who are good at kendama, kids who excel with music and dance—work together to create a single stage performance.
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!
Recommended for lower grades! A collection of ideas for performances at school arts festivals and learning presentations (41–50)
hula dance
Don’t you think hula dancing is a perfect act for a school performance? With its graceful movements and cheerful music, it brings smiles to both the children and the audience.
As they learn the choreography, they also develop cooperation and concentration, and I’m sure they’ll present themselves confidently on the big day.
It’s also appealing because it gives you a refreshing feeling, like being on a beach in Hawaii.
With creative costumes or some call-and-response, it’ll be even more exciting—no doubt about it! Let’s join our hearts and put on a wonderful hula dance together!
Wotagei glow stick dance
As otaku culture has spread, “wotagei”—fans cheering through choreographed dance moves in sync with idols and other performers—has become popular too! It’s a different style from the dances you’ve done at school sports days, so for fifth- and sixth-graders who’ve learned various things already, it’s a great “advanced” option to perform at events like school arts festivals.
Penlights and glow sticks are inexpensive, so be sure to get some.
Try dancing to songs that actually feature wotagei or to trending tracks, combining choreography unique to wotagei!