Theater in Preschool
Yvette Zaepfel:
I. Why Theater?
A. Theater develops skills in all areas of preschool development:
1. Physical (running about, moving like animals, body control)
2. Cognitive (sequencing, remembering, reading encouragement)
3. Intrapersonal (creating a character, presenting emotions)
4. Interpersonal (working with others, following directions, listening to others) 5. Creative (by its very existence; it’s theater!)
B. A study by UCLA found students involved in the arts make higher grades on average, and The College Board found they score nearly 100 points better on the SAT.
C. Kids use playacting to work through issues in their home life.
D. Kids take on roles to explore feelings unlike their day to day selves.
E. It’s fun!
II. Easy Ways to Incorporate Theater
- Acting out Fingerplays
1. Designate an area ahead of time which is the pond, bed, etc.
2. Offer the kid a part, and let them say yes or no.
3. For the kids who don’t get roles, stress the importance of the audience. B. Acting as something during transitions
1. Tie the choice into whatever you’ve been discussing that day.
2. Pick quiet animals or animals sneaking up on their prey.
3. Animals on their feet save time!
4. If choosing a kid to pick, you should probably keep a list of who has gone.
C. Add musicals, story line classical compositions, and operas to your music area.
1. Suggestions:Peter and the Wolf, Peer Gynt, Into the Woods, Oliver!,The Sound of Music, Hansel und Gretel, The Wizard of Oz, Fantasia (especially “Sorcerer’s Apprentice”), and Singin’ in the Rain.
2. Review them first to avoid upsetting specific kids. .
D. Puppets
1. Theaters can be a table with a sheet, aspring-loaded curtain rod with a in a doorway, a theater constructed out of large blocks, or a bought theater.
2. The area is contained.
3. Small puppets probably won’t harm anyone or break anything.
4. Ones whose mouths open and close with the hand are easiest to manipulate.
5. Mount photos of the kids on popsicle sticks for acting out class scenarios.
6. Marionettes aren’t easily maintained.
E. Incorporate emotions and books about theater into reading time.
1. Ask kids what they think the characters are feeling.
2. Ask if they’ve ever felt that way or known anyone to feel that way. 3. Ask them to make a face that looks like the feelings in the book.
4. Books about theater include “Amazing Grace” by Mary Hoffman, “Oliver Button is a Sissy” by Tomie de Paola, “Tree of Hope” by Amy Littlesugar, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson, DK Readers: A Trip to the Theatre
F. Charades
1. Kids act out the animal written on a slip of paper until someone guesses.
2. Have a second person to tell the kid what is on their slip and possibly give them an idea of what they should do very quietly.
3. It takes many tries before kids don’t announce what they are.
4. The kid who guesses correctly goes next. Multiple correct guessers pick the next person.
5. Have the animals be silent unless the kids are stuck. Then, the noise canbe the clue.
6. Ask kids what else the animal eats, etc. if they’re only crawling.
7. This game also works with emotions.
G. Facepainting: Have kids paint each other, discussing who they are or wish to be.
III. Slightly More Involved Theatrical Activities
A. Sleeping Animals (“Sleeping, sleeping, all the animals are sleeping. When they wake up, they will be...”, choose a child to pick an animal, have everyone be the animal for a while, then sing again. The animals tend to start sleeping again.)
1. Define your area for the animals.
2. Animals do not fight.
3. Also play and announce what you’re doing if the kids get stuck.
4. You are not the mother animal.
B. Have a child dictate a story, then, at circle, choose the people to do the parts, and tell them what to do.
1. You probably need to read the story out loud.
2. Do this activity after the kids are used to saying yes or no to parts and don’t mind being the audience.
3. Keep copies of the stories in a binder so the kids can re-read past stories. 4. Doing a story once every week or so.
C. Seeing shows if they’re in your area
1. Read the book beforehand to the class.
2. If possible, see a preview.
3. If you can’t see a preview, check the age recommendations. A long attention span preschool group can see a show for kindergarteners. A short attention span group would best start with a one act show. Kids, in general, like musicals.
4. Discuss theater etiquette ahead of time. PLEASE do not bring food into the theater or allow the kids to go onto the stage at intermission. Remind them that if they say things about the show, the actors can hear them, and it might hurt their feelings. Say actors love it when they laugh and applaud. Have extra adults on hand in case a kid needs to leave.
5. If they have a talk back, stay for it so the kids can see that acting is a job.
6. Afterwards, write a letter of thank you to the theater and have the kids say their favorite part.
7. Seattle Children’s Theatre fills up remarkably quickly.
8. Follow up with themes which interest the kids.
D. Using theater in traditionally non-theatrical curriculum:
1. Science (kids sprout from seeds; float like snowflakes; spin around as planets)
2. Math (kids give bones to puppies so it’s fair;count the survivors after a monster meal;,freeze danceinto groups of whatever number you call)
3. History (kids respectfully act out historical events or family stories)
IV. Starting To Get Tricky!
A. The focus for when your class is overrun with princesses and superheroes is to have them proceed beyond repeating the same game over and over again.
1. Have kids dictate a story about the characters with no judgment from you. Take the information and think of ways in which you can challenge what the kids are doing by asking related but expanding questions.
2. Princesses respond best to a quest to get them to stop only being pretty.
a. Sing “Going on a treasure hunt” (instead of “Going on a Bear Hunt”).
b. Put them all under an invisible cloakto work together to avoid danger.
c. Make a key to get through a locked door. Have a person start a motion and make a noise. Have another person connect to them and make a motion and noise, then another, then another until everyone is one machine which can go slowly, speed up, etc.
d. Have them get trapped in a hall of mirrors and play the mirror game.
e. Have everyone sit down with their feet under a sheet. This is the dragon cave. The dragon under the sheet tickles someone’s feet. The rescuing princess drags the victim out of harm’s way.
f. Have the head princess knight everyone for finishing the quest.
3. Superheroesusually need activities other than fighting.
a. Have the kids create their own original superhero. Write down their stories and act them out.
b. Make dittos with frames and speech balloons for kids to create their own comic strips. (They draw, you write their dictation.) Act them out.
c. Encourage the kids to play the superheroes’ secret identities.
d. Join the game with a non-bad guy plot point. Transporting the teacher is interesting and makes them work together.
e. Superheroes generally don’t have guns. If you know superhero history, you can be convincing.
f. Turn sword play into sword choreography.
B. Acting out stories
1. Look at events which happen in the story which lend themselves to being acted out.
2. Act out the story as written.
3. Act out what else could have happened or what happened after the end.
4. Have a child be the director and lead the above activities.
C. The school play
1. Simple is better. So is short.
2. Let kids try different roles before they decide who they wish to be.
3. Adapt the roles to fit your population.
4. Some people might wish to work backstage or run concessions.
5. Have the kids make simple props and costumes or loan them from home.
6. Have kids draw advertising posters and write the program.
7. Ask the kids if they wish to charge money and how to spend it afterwards.
8. Give examples of real life situations to help with motivation.
9. Stress stage combat safety.
10. Read the script as the kids act out what is happening.
11. Have at least one other teacher backstage to help!
12. Hold a dress rehearsal in front of another class.
13. Hold a curtain call where everyone bows together.
14. Send kids’ costume and props plus a copy of the script home with them.
15. Watch the video of the performance.
16. Watch the professional version of the show and discuss similarities and differences.
17. Success is yours!