Implement Theatre in Your Child's Life Now Rather Than Later
Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
by Breann Nicholson, Guest Editorial
My little girl has lots of energy and I mean a LOT. Since she started taking her first steps at 9 months, she has been using her imagination to step into the fun, silly worlds that she creates. I have quickly learned that imaginative play is a form of theatre. My two-year-old shows me more stories in a day than I could possibly read or watch in a day. She is constantly coming up with new stories and playing them out.
As a theatre advocate and graduate with a degree in theatre, I immediately thought about how amazing it is to literally watch my child as she becomes a little actor in her own way.
Of course, at the age of 2, she’s not stepping out on a stage (yet) but I am encouraging the implementation of theatre in her daily play. She is already creating little shows and characters that are filled with depth and detail in her room on a daily basis. Soon an ordinary stuffed bear in her bedroom has become a huge, exciting villain jumping in on Mrs. Rabbit and Mr. Turtle’s tea party.
Implementing theatre in the life of kids teaches them a small list of three very vital things:
1. Theatre teaches children how to express and recognize emotion.
As I encourage my daughter to use her imagination and to pretend, I am seeing her expressing and recognizing new emotions daily. She is learning to mimic and in turn, she is learning to understand when to use certain expressions, tone of voice, and even body language. This is similar to what is taught to actors when taking on a role.
The other day I peeked in her room to see her putting her hands on her hip with a pocketbook hanging off her shoulder and a toy telephone in her hand as she babbled away. Her hand gestures and tone of voice were changing throughout her “scene” and I was completely entertained, as an audience would be. She was sharing a story and she did not even realize it.
2. Theatre teaches children how to communicate.
This is a fact. As I see my daughter pretend more and more, I hear her communicate better and better. Her communication skills have grown as her creative skills have grown. My child tries to communicate more as she plays more.
My husband and I can sit down with her and tell her to say “Hi” over and over with no success, but when she is playing out one of her “scenes” the words come naturally.
3. Theatre teaches children how to recognize and interact with those around them.
I have witnessed my daughter grow to recognize and interact with my husband and me with more compassion and empathy when she is being creative and imaginative. Just like on stage where we learn how to react to the words and actions of other actors, my daughter is learning to react to my words and actions. This happens throughout the day as we engage with one another but it really flourishes when we are pretending together.
She loves to see my reactions to things that she does during pretend play and she enjoys countering the reaction. She loves to learn from this play and I am convinced that it’s easier to understand the emotions and reactions because there is much less pressure during playtime.
As a current stay-at-home mom, I am using my degree in theatre to implement theatre in the lives of my children.
I am teaching my daughter
…how important being creative is.
….how important expressing her emotions are.
…how important reacting and understanding the feelings of others around her are.
I am teaching her that using her imagination is a tool that she will cherish for all of her life.
I am encouraging her to play pretend and make up funny stories with her baby dolls and observe those around her. She is growing up learning what I learned and what was instilled in me within the walls of a theater. It is really neat to watch and I really enjoy using acting techniques to help her grow in creativity.
Creating an atmosphere where children can explore their imaginations is vital for parents to take part in. We, as parents, must take it on as our responsibility to allow and encourage our kids to be creative and use imaginative play.
1. Encourage your child to use their imagination
Sure, kids play but encouraging your child to step out of the logical and practical sense of the world and encouraging them to imagine the unimaginable is freeing, for both the child and the parent. In theatre, specifically improv, we are encouraged to never say “no”. We must take what is thrown at us. Isn’t that so much like life? Teaching children to be free in that sense allows room for creativity and personality.
2. Take time to play pretend with your little ones.
Take the first point a little further. Don’t just encourage your child to use their imagination, but share that imagination with them. Take time in this hectic world to show your child that Mommy or Daddy also has fun and can step into a silly, fun world that allows new experiences and fun excitement in that made-up world.
3. Set up play areas with easy access to creating stories for pretend.
I have noticed that having tons and tons of toys everywhere in a room is hard for kids to be able to use their imagination and play. From experience, I would encourage parents (with the help of the kiddos, of course) to clean up the bedroom or playroom space and divide certain toys into bins and baskets.
For instance, at our home, we have a pretend kitchen basket, a baby doll basket, a building block basket, and so on. When our daughter decides what she wants to play with, we pull out the one basket to play with. This allows a few things. First, it keeps the space tidy so that imagination can be created easily without a mess. Second, it encourages her to focus on one thing and helps her build a story around a specific set of toys so that she is not hindered by tons of distractions. This is a lot like keeping a stage and backstage area tidy so that the scene that is up next can be focused on.
Once she is done playing with one set, we switch to another. I have, personally, seen my daughter pretend a lot more and with more excitement when she can easily find exactly what she wants to play with instead of searching through a mess.
Children can learn so much from theatre and even I am learning something from implementing theatre in the life of my child. Creativity is something that can be easily accessible to children and it is our job to encourage them to step out of the box and go on a journey that only their imagination can take them. As an actor, I was once told to take on the scene a little bit more like a child and just simply play. Isn’t that what we are doing as actors? The connection is there and witnessing it is simply beautiful.
Implement theatre in your child’s life now rather than later. I promise you will enjoy what comes out of it.