I made a mistake in my class and a parent is angry

I am fairly new to teaching dance (only 3-4 years experience). I connect easily with older kids, but this is my first season teaching classes of younger kids.

I teach a small, recreational class of 9-10 year olds. At the beginning of the season, I kept my classes very structured, with a focus on technique. Naturally, my personality is very “business-like.” I am nice to the kids, but I don’t come across as warm or nurturing like other teachers. After a while, I started to feel like the kids were bored in my class and saw me as unapproachable. So, over the last few weeks, I’ve explored different strategies to keep them engaged. One way I’ve done this is by playing games.

Admittedly, I find it tricky to know what games to play with 9-10 year olds, since they’ve outgrown certain games. I decided to hold a relay race competition with the kids and a pirouette balance competition. The winners of the competition received a candy (which, in hindsight, I should NOT have introduced). In the class, there was a kid who didn’t “win” any of the competitions, but I still praised their effort and gave them a candy after class. Honestly, I thought the kids were having fun and I didn’t sense that anything was awry.

Later that afternoon, my studio owner called me to let me know she’d received a VERY angry email from a parent. My student was discouraged about the competition(s), and the parent called it “cruel and disgusting.” She said she would “never think to single someone out like that.” They also let the owner know they want to drop my class. My studio owner acknowledged that I’d come from a place of good intentions but the activity might not have been suitable for that age group quite yet. When I got home, I tried calling the parent. There was no answer, so I left a voicemail asking if the parent wanted to have a conversation. I haven’t heard back since.

I feel shocked and guilty. I truly had no intention of singling any child out - I just wanted to introduce more fun activities into my class. I am crushed knowing my student was discouraged and feel mortified knowing that I accidentally sent the “wrong message” to students. I feel like such a bad teacher :(

What would you do if you were in my shoes? Additionally, do you have recommendations for activities with that age group?