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Before I ask the question, note that spoilers are there ahead.

In the movie IT, there is one scene where one of the kids is captured by the clown Pennywise, and when it lifts the kid, we see three rotating yellowish dots inside his throat after he opens his mouth wide.

So my question is, what is the story behind those dots / the reason for the kids to float?

As far as I know, the clown is a shape-shifter and feeds on the fear of others.

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The floating of kids were not in the book. The director told GameSpot:

"That was, you know, sort of metaphoric in the book. In my mind I suddenly pictured these guys literally floating in the air around that grotesque pile of toys, and it seemed like a great idea".

"[In the book] it's some sort of symbolic depiction of dying, and floating is like, you know, 'Your soul will come into my inter-dimensional realm,'" he continued. "But I didn't want to introduce the macroverse and the inter-dimensional cosmic element into the story, because It, for me, was so much about the Losers and their journey, and I wanted to keep the story as pure and as focused on that point of view as possible."

But there is no explanation as to how Pennywise does the floating. Maybe it will be explained in the sequel.

From reddit, by rdhight:

It exposes them to the Deadlights. We don't know how the process works physically, but that's what we see happen. It opens Its mouth and shows Beverly the Deadlights; her eyes cloud over and she floats. While she floats, she has a vision of the future.

A person who lives in this world is forcibly connected to something from outside it. As a result, she goes partially immune to this world's laws.

by chelseaWDW:

I'm guessing the kids that were floating weren't afraid of IT, as Billie says to Pennywise as he was about to fall down his hibernation well, "That's why you didn't kill Beverly, cause she wasn't afraid, and we aren't either, not anymore, now you're the one who's afraid, cause you're gonna starve".

This just represents the fact that, if the kids that Pennywise captures are no longer afraid he makes them float.

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    I saw this on reddit too, but it doesn't make sense; if the floaters were 'immune' to IT's fear (and thus useless to him), why would he be invoking them to do so when he chants 'You'll float too!', as though he wants them to float?
    – John Smith Optional
    Commented Sep 21, 2017 at 8:54
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    “You’ll float too” just means you’re a target for IT. At least in the book, Pennywise is delightfully amused by Georgie asking "Do they float?" when he's offered a balloon. It replies something like "When you're down here, you'll... float... too!". The phrase tickles It's funnybone and gets reused.
    – J M
    Commented Sep 21, 2017 at 9:01
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Those dots are the deadlights (true form of Pennywise) and the reason why the kids are floating is because Pennywise is an entity outside of time and space and as such has mystical powers.

The following from here:

It apparently originated from an undiscovered void containing and surrounding the entire Universe, a place referred to in the novel as the "Macroverse" (a concept later established as the Todash Darkness of the Dark Tower Novels)

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It's natural form exists in a realm beyond the physical, which It calls the "deadlights" (described as writhing, destructive orange lights). Coming face to face with the deadlights drives any living being instantly insane. Bill comes dangerously close to seeing the deadlights; after looking into It's eyes, he saw the shape behind the shape for a brief moment. He described the sight as an endless, crawling hairy creature made of orange light.

Just a note, that website has a ton of spoilers.

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