At Drama Kids International, we are continually seeing the benefits drama classes can have for children. You may not know it, but our fun, fast-paced, developmental curriculum consists of more than 450 unique lesson plans – which feature various activities that aid your child in very specific ways.
From class plays, scene starters and mini-snippets (just to name a few), rest assured that each activity is helping your child continually work on speech development and communication skills, creative movement, self-confidence and other important life skills. Our favorite activities at DKI are those that focus on improvisation. After all, what better way is there to encourage creativity and imagination than by doing improv exercises?
You’ll be happy to know that there are many benefits of improv for children, and not just in the creative realm, but in the academic world, too! Improv is most commonly found on college campuses, but some high schools have picked up on the benefits it can provide students. At Drama Kids, we’ve long acknowledged the impact improv can present. Think of it as helping boost the four C’s: creativity, critical thinking, collaboration and communication.
There’s no right or wrong answer in improv, which goes along with creativity, but you surely have to be able to think quick on your feet (critical thinking). Also, with improv, the children must work together to make things flow (collaboration) and then clearly communicate their ideas and antics.
Improv can help children learn in many different ways, including having a mutual respect for others and their ideas and building confidence that will pay dividends in the educational classroom. Improv can also be used by instructors to learn their students’ various strengths and weaknesses! For those children who are on the autism spectrum, improv can be an excellent way for them to learn how to better read body language and pick up on others’ emotions.
There is even a place for improv in your very own home! We know this may seem less than ideal, after all there are just some things that shouldn’t be improvised on. It’s more the “yes, and” aspect that applies. By utilizing this one improv rule, you can become an agreeable and active participant in your child’s life – and by listening, you can truly discover what your child wants or the motives behind his or her actions!
If you’d like to know more about the benefits that improv can have in your child’s life, our Drama Kids International team would be happy to discuss them with you! Explore our various programs online and reach out to the Drama Kids location near you – it’s time you found out why the “difference is dramatic” with DKI!