Move It or Lose It: Joyful Movement Activities That Foster Classroom Community

Movement is a powerful and engaging way to bring music concepts to life in the classroom. This webinar explores how simple movement activities can be used to quickly engage elementary students while reinforcing important musical skills. Participants will learn practical strategies for incorporating movement into the beginning of class to help students internalize musical elements such as tempo, rhythm, and dynamics.

Designed especially for elementary general music teachers, this session demonstrates how movement-based learning supports active participation and helps students physically experience music. In addition to strengthening musical understanding, these activities encourage collaboration through partner and group work, helping to build a strong sense of classroom community.

Attendees will leave with a collection of quick, easy-to-implement movement activities that require little to no preparation and can be used as engaging warm-ups or transitions. These strategies are especially helpful for teachers looking to increase student focus, energy, and participation at the start of a lesson.

April Mattson is an elementary music teacher at Bloomingdale Elementary School near Savannah, Georgia, where she has taught for 17 years. She holds a Master of Music Education from Georgia College & State University and has completed Orff Level I teacher certification. April is passionate about creating joyful, engaging music experiences that help students develop musical understanding through active participation and movement. In 2026, she presented at the Georgia Music Educators Association (GMEA) Conference, sharing practical strategies for engaging young musicians in the classroom. One of her greatest joys as a teacher is watching her students grow musically and personally as they progress from Pre-K through 5th grade.

NAfME presents this live virtual event at no charge to all as a service to the music education profession. To register, you must enter your NAfME member information or create a nonmember account. After registering, check your email for instructions. A recording of this program will be available to all registrants for one week following the live event. Members can also view archived NAfME webinars in the NAfME Academy.

The views expressed are those of the presenter; they do not necessarily reflect the views of NAfME.