Everything You Need To Know About Improvisational Theater For Children

Improvisation theater for children can be an extremely educational and developmental tool. It not only teaches them about theater and acting; the improvisation techniques that they can learn can be a valuable resource when used in everyday life.

Acting and improvisation in the classroom and elsewhere stimulates children’s creativity. It promotes their thinking skills while using the body as a form of expression.

Improvisation is the core of all artistic creations. When this technique is used, children can explore a world of possibilities while learning about their surroundings, their classmates and about themselves.

Improvisation theater is basically about playing a game with specific rules. Through this play, children can immerse themselves in emotions and reality. Improvising is the focus of the present, and therefore it can be seen as an exercise in mindfulness.

Improvisation theater for children

The primary purpose of these improvisation exercises for children is to learn to improvise, but there are other purposes as well. In this article, we are going to look at some other important goals for each exercise.

It is important to remind children that while improvising, it is important to “let go”. This allows them to understand that sometimes it is necessary not to rethink things, but just let them happen.

Group improvisation with music

• Number of children. There must be at least four children in the group.
• Age group. From four years and up.
• Recommended duration. Five minutes. If there are more children in the group, more time is needed.

• Improvisation purposes. To develop body expression through music. To recreate and explore musical rhythms with the body. To get carried away by the music. To observe others and focus.

Put on a lively song and form a circle with the children. Start by encouraging them to follow your movements. Make simple and repeated movements to the rhythm of the music, and have the children copy you.

Next, the children must take turns performing a movement (also to the rhythm of the music), and the others must imitate it. You must guide during the entire exercise and point out the child who is to lead.

If they get stuck, remind them that the important thing is to improvise, that you should not think so much, and that you should be carried away by the music.

Improvisation theater for children: Explore the area

Number of children. There must be at least four or five children in the group.

Age group. From six years and up.

Recommended duration. 10 minutes. If there are more children in the group, more time is needed.

Improvisation purposes. To be aware of one’s own physical and emotional state. To connect with others. To express one’s own feelings while discovering the feelings of others.

Have the children walk around the whole stage / area, with some basic rules. They should try to fill the whole area. There must be an equal distance between the children, which means that there must not be large spaces between them, but they must also not stand too close together.

As they walk around the area, tell them what to do. Here are some ideas:

• Walk around in silence ; just look at yourself and observe how you feel while being aware that you are not bumping into your peers.

• Keep going and start making eye contact with others. Think about how you feel and what provokes our eye contact with others.
• When the children hear a clap, they should greet the friend who is closest to them. Start with a short greeting, and time and time again this greeting will become more lively.
• Add emotional situations such as walking while happy, sad, angry or scared.

The static scene

• Number of children. There must be at least four children in the group.
• Age group. From six years and up.
• Recommended duration. Between 15 and 20 minutes. If there are more children in the group, more time is needed.

• Improvisation purposes. To work in silence. Create your own characters and a group scene. To learn to observe. Working with body expression.

Divide the children into groups. If several children participate in the activity, you can form more than two groups.

This activity consists of working in groups to create a static scene – a bit like a 3D image. While one group creates its image, the other children must be completely still while sitting with their backs to. Once the picture is completed, the other children should turn around and observe in silence.

To create the static scene, the group must decide who is to play what character, what kind of story they want to portray, and what action they should each perform in the picture.

Once the other children have been observing the picture for a while, they have to raise their hand to bid on what it is they are seeing. They can guess what it is for some characters, the other children have to imagine what they are doing and what is going on on stage in general.

Finally, give the children on stage signs that they can bring the image to life by starting to move. They can then explain what was going on on stage, etc.

Conclusion

It is important to remember that in improvisational theater for children, it is essential to emphasize mindfulness and the importance of thinking about the other classmates.

Students must also learn to be as generous to themselves as they are to others. One should not judge. The goal is ultimately to get carried away by these new sensations.