How you can help to grow your kids‘ passion for the theatre

Whether you have a kid at home with the potential to become tomorrow’s Broadway star or your family loves going to theaters, plays or musicals, there are ways for you to help grow their passion. for this area. Theatre productions involve many different areas of talents and skills so it is your challenge to help your kids discover where they fit best. Run through our ideas with your kids to see which one tickles their fancy.

1. Run a shadow puppet show
   All those empty cardboard boxes you’ve accumulated in the garage will now come in handy! Pick one that would be big enough for the stage design, grab some tissue papers or red fabric to use as show curtain and a large torch to make your story come to life. Stories with mystical creatures, animals and interesting sceneries make good plots for shadow puppet shows. You and your kids can choose to make the puppets out of felts, sticks and cardboard papers or even make use of your hands to cast interesting shadows.

2. Write an Oscar worthy play
   This one is great for kids with an imaginative mind that have natural flair for making up out of this world characters and interesting plot twists. All that is required to get started are some pens and papers and unlimited supply of ideas. As the saying goes, two brains are better than one so invite the local kids over to form a play writing group. Prepare some snacks and soft drinks to help them get their creative juices flowing.

3. Become a set design guru
   If writing is not your child’s strength then perhaps doing something visual would be more appealing to them. Encourage your kids to volunteer at the next school’s play to create props and outfits for different characters. If working on a school production seems too intimidating for them at the moment, start them off with some craft lessons or craft sessions at home. Start off with small projects to help your kids gain confidence - making binoculars out of paper towel tubes or pirate swords out of cardboards

4. Reinventing classic fairy tales
   Think your kids wouldn’t even give classic fairy tales the time of day? Not if they’ll get a say in whether Prince Charming will get to married the girl of his dreams or what kind of tragic ending awaits the wicked witch. Reinventing classic fairy tales is a fun way for kids to relive their favourite tales and an opportunity to make it even better! Encourage your kids to bring different elements into the story: rap or may be even a dance routine to spice things up. Best of all, they’ll love dressing up in fancy dresses and costumes for the different parts.

5. Learn to tell stories without words
   Here’s one for the kids that are expressive - Pantomime. Pantomime involves telling a story without the use of any words. Your kids will need white make up, a simple costume that is normally all in one colour along with a good choice of engaging background music. Help your children to write a very simple story so that it’ll be easier for them to master their range of facial expressions to tell the story.

6. Join a group or association
   If your kids have developed a growing passion for plays or theatres and neither you and your partner are knowledgeable in this area, encourage them to join a theatre association where they’ll be able to meet like minded kids. Theatre associations are run by professionals who have the expertise and knowledge to guide your kids into the right direction to bring their passion into fruition.

Creating your own plays, theatres and musicals are fun activities for kids with imaginative minds, a desire to work with groups of different people and a love for the arts. Our ActiveActivities directory have many more great story telling ideas for you and your kids to start trying out today.