Why Should Your Children Take Theater Classes?

The theater is one of the oldest means of communication in the world. It emerged in Greece in the 6th century BC and is a way that writers, screenwriters, directors, actors, dancers and various other artists have to communicate with society. Through theater we can reflect on various subjects, we can work with our emotions and also enable us to become better people! 

Are you curious to know how theater classes can benefit your children? In this article, I will provide you with all the information that you need to know. 

Theater classes, as well as acting are not about just memorizing text or lines, they go far beyond that. This is because the theatrical techniques also involve voice, mind and body. This causes the theater students to develop other skills and new ways of relating to family, friends, the world and themselves.

Theater is for everyone, not just for those extroverted and uninhibited children. On the contrary, the theater can help many children who are shy and have difficulty communicating, and who have difficulty interacting. The theater helps children to develop sociability, to have more self-esteem, confidence and maybe even develop a new talent (and why not?).

The theater is for everyone, for all children, of all ages and with any kind of personality! 

In practice the benefits of the theater are numerous.

Theater classes can for example help to improve social skills because the theater makes us put ourselves in the place of the other and thus helps to develop empathy and a feeling of collectivity. After all, theater is not done alone. Any staging process needs a lot of collaboration and teamwork to make it work.

This helps child to understand the importance of rules as well as schedules. Additionally, they come to understand that others count on them and they need to give it their all in classes and rehearsals. Thus putting forth a real presence.

The theater works with man’s oldest ability: the imagination. Create new characters, new places and situations. You can fly, you can transform. Today you can be the young lady in danger, or the hero and tomorrow be the villain.

It is during childhood that children develop their capacity for imagination and curiosity and they begin to understand the world around them. Exactly because of this, exercising their imagination is very important at this stage

Children learn a lot through imagination. When they portray themselves as heroes, heroines, villains or when they play real-life roles — like father, mother, doctor, teacher — they learn how to interact and relate to others.

By interacting with the stories or by presenting what is read from a script by another person, the children take the content through an imaginative and creative process give it wings which will take their creativity to new heights. In these moments, imagining allows one to know distant worlds or different cultures. Above all, allows one to learn about the language we use to write. These are moments of paying attention to words, expanding the vocabulary, and phrases or expressions that are different from those used for conversation, for example.

Imagination is so fundamental during childhood that it needs to be something nourished by adults, by inviting the children to play, listen to stories, talk about various subjects.

Valuing children’s imagination and making room for it is one of the ways to foster the learning of little ones and to have an impact on their development.

The theater fulfills this role of stimulating the imagination with excellence!

Besides all this, theater classes improve motor coordination, diction and increase body awareness, which is very important for childhood development.

And on the big day, that applause after the play, can truly warm the heart! 

This improves the children’s self-esteem, because after a whole process of rehearsals and classes, the children present a play to a lot of people, they surely think they are capable of much more.

Working on the child’s self-esteem can make all the difference in their adult life. By making them become decisive and firm adults, adults who are not afraid of sporing their opinion with confidence, but who also do not fall into despair when they are wrong or fail for something.

Theater classes still increase the students’ cultural repertoire

This is because the classes cover not only theater, but also music, literature, dance, fashion, photography, makeup, and diverse areas of arts. The world of theater helps young people develop an interest in culture.

Theater certainly brings the habit of reading (which is is amazing), but it also brings constant learning in the most diverse areas.

The tip is: broaden your children’s horizons with a theater class. I’m sure they’ll thank you in the future! See below infographic to recap the benefits of theater and download! 

by Talita Horn 

26/10/2020