Watching your little one skip and prance around a church hall wearing a sweet ballet skirt and pretty little ballet shoes is undeniably cute. However, why should we bother introducing ballet or any kind of dance into the lives of pre-schoolers?

• Ballet is fun: The children's dance routines and exercises are made to be fun.  So they all enjoy the dance and stories that are told by the ballet teacher.
• Exercise: It is great exercise!
• Musicality: Listening to and dancing in time with music helps withtheir musicality.  If they may learn an instrument one day, being aware of music and timing when dancing will be fo great help.
• Strength: It is physically demanding so therefore a great way to build strength and fitness and indeed flexibility.
• Posture: They learn how to stand and walk correctly, which is a great lesson to learn early with regards posture and avoiding back pains from poor posture.  They also learn co-ordination and how to use their bodies.
• Balance: They learn all about balance and how to correct themselves when unbalanced.  This is a great skill to have for dance but also for other sports and physical activities.
• Mentally challenged: Those who find school difficult often excel in ballet because they feel they can express themselves more freely and easily when moving than when sitting still in class.  They are mentally challenged in a ballet class, but in a different way.
• Social Skills: Ballet is a great chance to make new friends and to have fun with other children in a like minded environment.  They communicate about different things and work together as a team.
• When to start?: Children can start as soon as they want to  and if there are classes available from as young as three, then enrol them!  They may not display much balletic prowess at this age, but they will begin to watch and learn from others.

Choose a class that is fun focused and that it is an accredited school either the Royal Academy of Dancing (RAD) or Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing (ISTD).

Getting active with the children is not always as easy as it sounds: how can you fit any more activity time in an already busy day? Here are some simple ways to increase the activity levels in your family. Remember, every little bit counts, so keep a note of all these activities and work out your daily total of minutes spent being active.

• Music Time - turn on some groovy music and have a good old dance together!
• Encourage your toddler to walk up the stairs or to the car rather than being carried.  For older children, encourage them to tidy up after themselves or put away toys or washing at the end of the day.
• Walk to the shops and post box rather than take the car.
• Get the little ones involved with household chores: digging in the garden, sweeping the floor, washing down the garden shed.
• Go for a walk as a family - find somewhere with woods and climb up the trees or balance along fallen tree trunks.
• Have a time limit on TV watching.
• Think about some old fashioned games that are fun to play outside: hop skotch, skipping, chase, hide and seek, hoolahoop, flying a kite.

Children should do about an hour of physical activity each day.  See how close you are and praise them each time they want to do something physical.  It is so good for them to start out actively as children, because then they are more likely to stay active as they grow older.

Nursery rhymes have their place, but don't forget to also introduce your children to the music you like to listen to!  If your thing is classical music, then get them listening to Mozart.  If you prefer ABBA, then have a dance to Mamma Mia!  Get up and have a boogy too -  especially if no one is looking!

Music can have a calming effect.  Babies respond to music in the womb, even before they are born and even more so when they are newborn.  Play something soothing and sit comfortably to listen together.  When baby is trying to sleep, some nice quiet music can help to set the mood.

And, if your little ones get to like the music you like, it means when you're on a long journey you'll be able to listen to your musical choices and not endure endless hours of "Old McDonald Had A Farm", "Wheels On The Bus" and other classic, but nonetheless tiresome, nursery rhymes as you drive.  Instead, you'll be singing along to music you all like!