Kids Plays
Kids Plays
Kid's Plays-How to Help Kids Put on a Play
Kids love the idea of putting on a play. Finding the right scripts to perform can be a challenge, and not as fulfilling for kids as creating their own show. Below are some great ideas for putting on plays that the kids can cast, rehearse and perform themselves! Kids also create their own costumes and set out of things they already have at home.
The players may also wish to create a "Box Office," and make their own tickets and a VIP section for audience members who show up with cookies.
Twisted Stories-Young actors choose a story they already know and practice by acting the story told the traditional way. Next, the players change the story to make it more entertaining:
Tell the story backward
Change the setting or the time (Three Little Pigs in the Mall, or Cinderella in the Future)
Create a story morph (blend two stories together)
Add in strange props that they must use in the story
Add a guest character-invent a whole new character that must fit in somehow
Add a black cat-act out a series of stories, but they all must now include a black cat
Twist the characters-each actor chooses a quirk such as being a kleptomaniac and adds it to his character
Tip: For the plays to really make sense, you'll want to have a narrator who tells the story as it goes along.
A Book Becomes a Play-You can probably find most of these at the library. The books listed here are perfect for an "ensemble" cast. No big parts or little parts. Kids can choose a narrator based on who is oldest, and then put all of the other characters in a hat. Some characters may be doubled or eliminated depending on the size of the cast, but these books make wonderful plays when you have a group of ten-twenty kids.
Stone Soup by Ann McGovern and Winslow Pinney Pels-Three soldiers teach villagers to work together to make a feast for everyone, starting with some stones boiling in a pot.
The Great Kapok Tree by Lynne Cherry-One at a time, rain forest creatures approach a sleeping woodcutter, convincing her to spare the largest tree in the woods.
The Enormous Potato by Aubrey Davis and Dusan Petricic -When a potato grows too large to harvest, it takes the entire village to get it out of the garden.
The Little Band byKeiko Narahashi-A mysterious little band brightens the lives of the townspeople.
One Monster After Another by Mercer Mayer-A letter changes hands from monster to monster before reaching its final destination, a little girl.
The Mitten by Jan Brett -When a little boy loses his white glove in the snow, all of the forest creatures climb inside to try and stay warm.
Gingerbread Baby by Jan Brett -When a gingerbread boy escapes from the kitchen, the entire town tries to catch him, but it takes the ingenuity of one little boy to capture him.
Too Much Noise by Jan McGovern-An old man thinks his house is too loud until the village wise man suggests he fill it with barnyard animals.
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