How to Teach Drama to Preschoolers
EDITORIAL TEAM
CLASS
How to Teach Drama to Preschoolers. Drama allows preschoolers to express themselves through movement and storytelling. It can be an enchanting way for preschoolers to interact in a group and learn about individual roles. Language, math, art and physical education will be taught when preschoolers learn through dramatic play. To teach drama requires planning and creativity but the results are worth the efforts.
- Hats
- Costumes
- Music
- Cardboard boxes
- Craft materials
- Puppets
- Books
- Clown noses
- Paper Masks
- Costume jewelry
1 Gather and divide materials
Gather and divide materials into the number of sessions for the drama class. It is important to understand that each class needs to be about the experience and not necessarily have a result.
2 Determine the time for each session
Determine the time for each session, keeping in mind that preschoolers work best in activities that range between 30 to 45 minutes.
3 Guidelines for both the preschoolers and parents
Set guidelines for both the preschoolers and parents to encourage respect within the class. Ask parents if there are any children that require assistance and suggest parents take their preschoolers to the toilet before class.
Play music at the beginning of each class. This will allow the preschoolers to get out some energy. The key is to keep the pace moving; at this age, boredom or lack of involvement can lead to rough play or issues amongst the children.
Entertain the children with your area of expertise. If you are a juggler, this is your time to shine and build the day around it. This could be "circus day" and you can have them pretend to be different people and animals in the circus. You could have them pretend to walk a tight rope and play circus type music to set the mood.
Read a storybook and have the children act out parts of the book. This is especially good for those times when the class is active and you need to calm things down. Preschoolers love to listen to stories as it draws their attention back.
Make puppets and have preschoolers give the puppet a voice. It is important on this day to have the arts and crafts table laid out into an assembly line. Give the children an allotted time to make the puppets and make sure everyone has one to play with at the end.
Choose activities, books and themes that has your interest as this will lead to exciting ideas and themes to enhance the dramatic play.
- Keep class size to under 10 preschoolers to ensure effectiveness
- Make sure you have appropriate insurance and licensing
- Be flexible, preschoolers can be unpredictable and you may need to change to original plan of the day to suit the immediate needs of the moment.
- Get another adult to assist with clean up, especially on the craft making day.
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