DOLANAN DANCE FOR CHARACTER EDUCATION IN EARLY CHILDREN

ABSTRACT: Today, early childhood development is threatened by the negative impact of advances in communication technology (devices). Advances in communication technology that are very easy to reach by children have an unfavorable impact on the development of children’s psychology. This causes children to be passive, and tends to not care about important things in the formation of personality, such as socializing with the surrounding environment, playing, and communicating directly with their peers. This fact is a big problem for the formation of personality in early childhood. The formation of personality in early childhood among them can be done through character education. Regarding today‟s conditions, the character education for early childhood is urgent. On the other hand, the limited reach of thought and reasoning in early childhood becomes an obstacle in the delivery of moral values through words or speech. Therefore, it is necessary to design a model of character education activities for early childhood. Character education in early childhood will be easier to do  through analogies, including through movement or action than only through oral statements. Character education in early childhood will be more effectively carried out through physical activities that actively involve children by playing and dancing. Dolanan (playing) dance is a creative design from the results of exploration of playing activities based on movements that contain elements of character values to be introduced, understood, and internalized in early childhood.
KEYWORDS: dolanan dance, education, character, early childhood