Want to run your own summer drama program? Learn how to run a 1-week summer drama camp and all the questions around it. If you’ve ever thought about running your own program and getting kids excited about Shakespeare and drama, this page is for you! First of all, YES, yes you can do it. It’s…
Tag: drama for kids
Part 8 of the 12 part series: Why Drama is so important in School. – EMPATHY EMPATHY defined: the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. Empathy is something that we as parents and educators try to instill in our kids from a very early age. Understanding what another person is going through or feeling can…
This is a short post about an activity you can do with your kids as you get ready for the show. As many of us directors know, there are an endless number of things you can do to prepare for the performance. IN NO WAY, am I suggesting that you need to do a lot…
This is a quick post about a couple ideas that are awesome, and all credit goes to an amazing homeschool mom, Amy. Recently Amy directed her small homeschool co-op in one of our plays, The Tempest for Kids. In doing so, she decided to perform it in their backyard, inspired by our own Backyard Shakespeare.…
Over the years, I have taught EVERY single one of our plays, most of them multiple times, and some of them at least 20 times…. (Hamlet, Midsummer, R&J, Caesar, Macbeth…). But, one of the best tools for me to use is the Character Line Quantities spreadsheet to help me with casting. A teacher asked me recently,…
Backyard Shakespeare. What is that, you may ask. Well, it’s a very ingenious and creative way to engage homeschooled kids with Shakespeare, education, language arts, drama, and most importantly, fun! I recently had the privilege to teach a group of 7 kids Playing With Plays The Tempest for Kids and we had a BLAST!…
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Shakespeare Festivals
Traveling soon and have kids? Well then, there is no better time to stop by a Shakespeare Festival. Family trips can be mundane and boring on the road, However, there are great ways to mix this up. You can play road games, you can stop by random bizarre sites along the way like a giant…
So, I teach Shakespeare for Kids classes all over the place, and most venues I teach at do not come with stages. I’ve performed in gyms, dance rooms, dojos, boyscout meeting areas, and classrooms. One thing is consistent, I need a place for the actors to go “off-stage”. That is why I created easy-to-assemble sides,…
So, I always have fun and do my best to work the laughs for the audience in my melodramatic Shakespeare for Kids plays. That’s certainly true with my performance of Julius Caesar for Kids! I used one specific prop to get some laughs. The Magic 8 Ball! (find it here on Amazon) That’s right, the soothsayer came out…
So, I recently did the play, Treasure Island for Kids, and it was an absolute blast. However, when it came to costumes, those were relatively easy, until… Long John Silver. How do I show a wooden leg on a kid, on stage? I can’t have him hoping around the entire time, bound to cause tripping issues. I can’t…