Kids are natural players – and this is their time of year to unabashedly dress-up and make-believe. As you prepare for the parades, parties and the night itself, you can have fun as a family – playing and moving and acting in order to learn more about their character on the inside as well as the outside.
Here are some tips on how to use theater games to get into the holiday spirit, inspired by various Halloween classes I’ve led through the years with Child’s Play NY. There are endless variations possible, so just use this as a template to springboard into play!
Move in Your Character’s Dancing Shoes
The best way to make discoveries about character is by doing, not by thinking, or even talking. So get the juices flowing with a dance party. Of course you can turn on Ghostbusters or Monster Mash – and especially do so if your kid’s character is of a ghoulish persuasion. But get even more specific: Customize a soundtrack with them, based on music that fits with their role. A Greek god, a voodoo doll, a cat – they all have their own musical taste. Choose your preferred music streaming/radio station to get inspiration! Switch up the tempos of the songs and stay in character!
Some characters already have a built-in anthem (Elsa, Annie, Aladdin, you get it…), but even if they do, it is fun to think outside their own musical ouvre: what happens when Olaf listens to “I Wont Grow Up”? A great cross-character pollination can happen if you make the playlist with siblings or friends on a play-date and the characters can inspire each other. For older kids who are ready to dig deeper into some character work, they can take the music selection a step further. Ask them to choose songs that their character might listen to on a great day, or when they are having a difficult moment in their life. Once you have the songs – then move, dance and groove in the characters’ costumed shoes!
The Seven Ages of (Bat)Man
Encourage kids to think about their character at different stages of life. Flash forward into the future and backward into their past. In our Halloween classes with many kids, I love to do this exercise just walking around – and re-living the ages in the body, prompting them with questions like a moving-deep-relaxation. There are, of course, lots of other variations that can be fun to bring this game into the home:
- If you have an artistically inclined tyke, they can make a self-portrait (or two or more) of themselves at their favorite age. The portrait can of course come to life. They can also draw the other characters around them who are important to them.
- As an acting game, you can frame this as a talk-show where we get to know this “famous” character and want to know about their life story, (think Actors Studio for a your character!). You can play to host, or take turns with different family members interviewing and being interviewed or asking questions as a “studio audience”!
- Set yourself up as a fortune teller (grab a towel to be your turban) and read their future in their palm or tea leaves! Have them re-live or act out a moment that hasn’t happened yet!
Here are some prompt questions to get the ideas flowing:
Beginning as a baby – how do you cry and for who? What do you eat for baby food?
What are your habits as a toddler? Do you wear diapers? Take naps? Have playdates?
Do you go to school? What kind of student are you?
What are you like as a teenager? How do you show your independence? What is your voice like?
What’s your job? Do you have a family? What makes you feel important and special? What’s hard about being you? What is great?
Just a Day in the Life
Find some relatable things that your child does all the time, and then play it out as a character. The familiar context will help lead them into interesting discoveries and let them really let loose and play. Here are some ideas:
- Perform your character’s entire morning routine – how do they brush their teeth? Wash their face? Do they have any chores to do? A vampire might perform his “morning routine” as the sun is going down. The Tin Man might work on oiling up his joints and avoiding water at all costs! Use the spots in your home in which your child normally does their own rituals and see what it is like to do it now in costume.
- Have a meal entirely in character. This is really fun for the whole family to get involved with – and, while it might be messy (you can of course use imaginary food – or just do this at a snack time to avoid utter chaos!), it is a great way to explore the details of character. What is their favorite meal? Do they use a napkin? Clear their plate?
- My personal favorite…how does your character go to sleep at night? What is their bed like? Their pillow? What is their favorite goodnight story and do they sleep with a lovey, what is it? (Maybe you even get them to sleep like this…if you are one of the lucky ones!)
Jocelyn Greene is a Brooklyn-born actor, director and educator. She founded Child’s Play NY in 2009 and offers dramatic play and creative theater classes, camps and parties throughout NYC. She lives in Clinton Hill with her husband and three-year-old son. CPNY is the after-school theater program at Avenues, Berkeley Carroll, Dillon Child Center, Friends Seminary, Packer Collegiate, Williamsburg Northside and many other schools. Visit childsplayny.com for more info about winter classes.
*Photos for this piece are the work of Spenser Moses