Easy Hula Dance For Kids - Pearly Shells

Visiting Hawaii is a mind-blowing experience. Not only is the scenery amazing, the culture is warm and inviting. The hula dance is a big part of the charm of Hawaii. Not many of us are able to make a trip to Hawaii to experience this in person but to get a feel for the Hawaiian experience doing a simple little hula dance will give the impression of being there. This easy hula dance is called, "Pearly Shells" and is great fun for kids to learn.

The hula dance tells a story and the movements of the body convey the message. "Pearly Shells" is a simple little song that is popular today in Hawaii. Both girls and boys can perform this simple hula and have fun. Each line of the song has motions with the hands and the feet that explain the words to the song.

The first line is describing the pearly shells that come from the ocean, the sun that is shinning and that covers the shore. The hand movements are to pretend you reach down to the beach and grab shells, then raise your hands holding the palms facing up but keep them closed as if holding the shells. That is 'Pearly shells', then 'from the ocean' with open hands move them in a gentle waving motion as if they are floating on waves. For 'shinning in the sun', move your arms over your head making a big circle like the sun and then for covering the shore lower your hands to waist level and move them slowly side to side like you would if you were moving them over the beach sand.

The second line of the song tells about how the hear will fell when seeing the shells and that the person will feel more love for you than they could ever feel for any amount of shells the see. The movement for 'When I see them' is to extend your right hand raised straight out and up and the left hand up to your eye.

For the phrase about the heart speaking of love, the movement is simply over the heart cross the hands. Then for the phrase that no amount of shells that are pearly will have more value, the movement is again picking shells off the beach.

The third line of the song says that the person has kisses for every single grain of sand and then even more kisses then there are stars that shine in the sky. Then the phrase talking about the shore and all its sand, the action is pretending to gather up tiny grains of sand off the beach. And then to describe all the kisses they have to give, simply pretend to throw a kiss.

The last part of the phrase, describing the endless kisses that are more in number than every star, the action is raising the hands over the head reaching for the stars in the sky.

Using the Kaholo step, keep moving two steps to one side and two steps to the other side while doing all the hand movements. Once you have completed the all the hand movements at the end of the third line of the song, keep repeating the movements for the three lines to the end of the song. 

by Hula Jack - 

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