Friday, May 4, 2012

The Many Benefits of Children's Theater

When my first child was one years old, I took her to see a Sesame Street Live show.  She wouldn't stop talking about the characters and her experience at the theater. I decided to take her experience and make it into a book.  First, I drew the characters and wrote her words down. Then she painted the pages with water colors.

This little girl is now 10 years old and has truly enjoyed children's theater throughout the years from Japanese puppetry to Junie B Jones to High School Musical and even Hello, Dolly.

After watching my niece play the lead in her high school play- Footloose, I think my kiddos got the bug!  They were inspired by her ability to memorize so many lines, her singing, and dancing and....to do all of this on stage in front of so many people. 

Recently, Sunshine had her turn on stage and had the opportunity to sing a solo in the children's play..The Little Mermaid. Peanut danced and sang in the show as well (and let me tell you how adorable she looks dressed like a shark!) So proud of them and their hard work!  Little man loved seeing his sisters perform and has been dancing around the house singing the songs for weeks. To hear him sing Ursula- hilarious! What a great way to enhance his language and gross motor skills.

If your thinking that you'd like to take your child to the theater, but it's too expensive for your budget, be sure to explore community theater.  It doesn't have to be a fancy show to enrich a child's life.  International Children's Theater is wonderful for little ones and often feature plays and puppet shows based on popular children's story books. One of my favorites... Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus

Why bring your child to the theater?

1. language development
2. enrich musical intelligence
3. entertainment
4. inspires imaginative play/creativity 
5. family friendly

For more information about the importance of exposing children to the arts and theater, be sure to read Why Children Theater Matters from education.com.

See you at the theatre!

Jen

2 comments:

Brimful Curiosities said...

I took my 3yo to a musical last year and he made it all the way through the production. My daughter saw Cats this year and loved it. We try to include at least one show a year into our get-away planning.

Jen said...

Brimful Curiosities...My little man surprised me as well. Recently he sat through a 2 hr play- he's just mesmerized!

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