On Thursday, we are presenting a workshop called “Saying ‘yes!’ to physical and vocal expression with your preschoolers.” No one told us we’d be practicing saying “yes” to all our mistakes before we even got there.
SerahRose left the cord to her laptop at home. Don’t worry, she has the mouse.
Sharon forgot paper. Just to write [...]
My three year old daughter’s ability to create a dramatic story has just taken an exciting leap. I wanted to share what can happen when a child’s innate creative spirit is guided along.
The scene went something like this:
Black Cat: Meow.
Mama: Oh, hello kitty.
Black Cat: I’m a kitten in the water. Meow.
Mama: Oh, little kitten. What [...]
If your child has never been to the theater, I recommend starting with a local children’s theater performed by either adults or children. In fact, theater performed by children can be the best introduction for your young child. You may not enjoy sitting through Alice in Wonderland as interpreted by 8 year olds, [...]
My daughter came with me while I taught. She’s only 14 months old, but she still participated in the movement exercise, Guided Imagery. Here they are being wind together:
The students of ECE: Creative Experiences and I had a lovely time playing last week. We started out with some wiggly warm-ups to loosen everyone up, played some grown-up improv games to get everyone in the story-telling mind-set, played some kids improv games, and then finished up with some Plays.
Here they are as the [...]
One of the things that actors use regularly to place themselves within the context of a play is Guided Imagery or Visualization. It works great with little kids too. Try this with children ages three and up (you can try with two year olds as well, but it may be difficult to accomplish with [...]
Using your face when you act out a story helps share the story with your audience. You can practice using your face, and exploring emotions with your students.
Have everyone sit in a circle. If you like, you can start by reading a picture book about emotions, or just hop right into the game.
Start with [...]
Children already play pretend so it’s easy to include theatre in your everyday routine: Add a costume bin to your classroom or playroom. Put in several (not too many, it can be overwhelming) pieces of cloth and a couple articles of clothing and maybe even some shoes.
Put it out and see what [...]