Laken Coppinger and the rest of her 4- and 5-year-old classmates dance with heart at Primrose School of East Brainerd, but they actually are dancing for their hearts.
"It gets you strong muscles," she said.
Since the heart is, in fact, a muscle, Laken, 4, is on to something besides "jumping and fun," which she said are the best things about dancing.
Dan Case, franchise owner of the school, said dancing is a part of the minimum of 30 minutes a day of gross motor skill activities children receive as part of their curriculum.
"They just like to get out there and dance and have fun," he said. "It gives them an opportunity to get their heart rate up and keep it up."
According to the American Heart Association, children ages 2 and up should participate in at least 30 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity every day.
On their last school session before Valentine's Day, the children marked Heart Health Awareness Month with a freestyle dance.
In addition, Primrose Schools, which has more than 200 centers in 16 states, in partnership with Children's Miracle Network, is marking the month by sponsoring a family video dance-off competition.
The winning family will receive $5,000 and a $30,000 donation to their local Children's Miracle Network hospital.
"There are already three entries from Chattanooga online," said Mr. Case. "I'd love (for someone local) to win it. I'd love T.C. Thompson (the local Children's Miracle Network hospital) to win."
At the Valentine's dance, the children were just eager to show off their moves. Absent the Hula-Hoops and the Hokey Pokey they might use during daily sessions, they twirled alone, with each other and in circles.
They may use specific songs that are curriculum related on a daily basis, said lead teacher Emily Buffat, but the children have a blast whenever they're dancing.
"They love it," she said.
Keaton Rogers, 5, perhaps the room's most enthusiastic bundle of whirling energy, said he liked "everything" about dancing and every music style.
"It's fun and good," he said.
Mr. Case said exercise is not only good for the children, but it helps when schedules overwhelm busy working parents.
"We provide that for them," he said. "Parents are busy. They get home after work, they're tired and they get the children to bed. It's important to offer with what we do."
SHOW OFF YOUR MOVES
Primrose Schools and the Children's Miracle Network are sponsoring a family video dance-off competition. To enter, parents (who need not have a child in a Primrose School) should submit 30-second home videos of their family's best dance moves to www.FamilyDanceOff.com. They may be submitted through March 19. The grand prize winning family will receive $5,000 and a $30,000 donation to their local Children's Miracle Network hospital. The two runners-up will receive a Wii Fit Bundle, and each weekly winner will receive a Flip Video Camcorder. The weekly winners will be featured on the Web site March 22-26, and the grand prize winner and two runners-up will be announced on March 31.