In the era of Netflix and YouTube, Broadway is a fantastic way to expose your kids to real, live theatre. Experiencing a live Broadway performance is very different than seeing a movie or television program. Being in the same room as the performers, taking part in the act, and connecting with the crowd is a special experience that can never be replicated by TV screens. Your youngster will cherish this memory for years to come. Here’s how early exposure to the theatre can be a healthy and enriching experience in your child’s early development.
Boost Creativity
Math and science children learn in schools are obviously great for mental growth, but they say reason without imagination is sterile. Engagement in theatre during formative years will provoke and supercharge your kid’s creative development. In contrast with the realism of TV & films and the rationality of school curriculums, theatres provide a spiritual and artistic touch that serves to grow a child’s imagination. Encouraging your kids to flex their creative muscles and explore their imagination through theatre will form them into more complete and layered individuals.
Educational Aspect
Theatres are not just fun and games; some can make you seriously think. More mainstream alternatives like movies and cartoons are usually trivial in nature, barely scratching the surface of knowledge and focusing on raw fun. In contrast, many plays centre around culturally or historically significant aspects, making the experience just as educational as entertaining. I can recall countless times in college when I would hire a writer to do my research paper for me and hit a play with my roommate instead – only for it to end up a far deeper and more memorable learning experience than phoning just another piece of paper.
Build confidence
Children enrolled in theatre clubs grow to be more self-confident and expressive. In addition, they learn effective teamwork and collaboration. Even if this endeavour doesn’t end up maturing into an actual career, your kid will at least make new friends and spend some quality time with their peers.
Hone Time-Management Skills
Through theatre, kids learn to plan their time for a long-term objective. Everyone strives for an opening night, but a lot needs to be accomplished beforehand. Every rehearsal adds up. You start by learning songs and lines. Then commit them to memory. After that, you study the choreography. Add to that props, costumes, sets, lighting, and microphones. To fulfil a final deadline, these duties must be handled and expanded upon progressively.
All this ensures children work up time management and planning skills that will come applicable and useful regardless of their future life choices. Should one fail to develop these skills, though, sweating profusely for their fast-approaching paper deadline and Googling ‘someone write my term paper cheap’, modern writing services will have them covered.
Discover a Passion
So far, we have talked about merely watching a play. But what if your kid falls in love with the theatre and decides to join a theatre club? Parents, in general, should expose their children to as many different spheres of activity as possible to help them explore themselves and find their life’s passion. A simple trip to the theatre can end up uncovering your child’s true calling and future craft.
Quality Bonding Time
Sharing a nice play is a great way to bring families closer together. There are also other yet more immersive and memorable options you can choose to go for, like the now-trending immersive theatre, which involves the audience in the play and is highly popular among modern youth. A theater is a win-win option that you can enjoy along with your child. Not to mention having to sit through usual kid activities is a boring and dreadful experience to parents while a theatre can be dually enjoyable by both. Just make sure you pick the right play. Here are some of the best options for kids:
- CATS!
- Beauty & The Beast
- The Lion King
- Marry Poppins
- West side story
- Wicked
Bottom Line
The fact that the movie industry wasn’t able to crowd out theatres for many decades is a telling sign that there’s something special about them, after all. The unique experience of watching a live play can never be substituted by digital means. Theatres are one of the leading ways of entertainment that stood the test of many centuries for a reason.
Artistic and spiritual development that plays can play a part in is no less important for children than formal education. Don’t rob your kid of simple life’s pleasures and the possibility of discovering a lifelong passion, and before you know it, you can call yourself a proud parent of a broadway superstar!
Diane Sherron is a professional photographer and a blogger. She constantly travels the world to fuel her creativity and charge herself with positive emotions. As others focus solely on natural landscapes and picturesque views, Diane finds a great deal of inspiration in learning about foreign cultures and discovering new ways of life.
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