This month’s Partner Praise features “To The Stage”, a theater and acting studio located in Oceanside. Founded in 2012, their mission is to expose students of all ages to musical theater performance and learn the fundamentals to succeed as a young performer. Students learn to sing, act, and dance, while gaining confidence in themselves, in a supportive, fun environment. The ultimate goal is to build a student’s self esteem and public speaking skills, while fostering creativity and group dynamics. At “To The Stage”, each child feels as though he/she is a star, as an individual and in a group!
Rolling River has worked with “To The Stage” for years! Their instructors have partnered with us to supervise our popular Theater Program. In addition to coordinating live performances, “To The Stage” instructors also run small group classes where they teach acting and drama games. “To The Stage” founder Courtney has shared some of her favorite games that you can do at home with kids (see below!)
If your child is interested in acting and theater, we would highly recommend joining “To The Stage”! Registration is now open for their Spring Semester and classes begin February 1st. Learn more on their website at 2thestage.com.
“I know this is a hat . . . but we could also use it as a mixing bowl!” Choose an object from around the house, such as a hat or a scarf. Ask your child to show you what it’s used for. Then ask them to show you what else they could use it for and mime demonstrating that use. After your child comes up with an alternate use, it’s your turn! Keep playing until no one can think of another use. If playing with an older child, you can make it trickier by giving them 15 seconds to name and demonstrate as many alternate uses for one object as they can.Expert
Your child: the expert! Choose a niche topic for your child to specialize in, then pretend you’re on a morning talk show and interview them about it! Favorite topics include: toothpaste, birthday parties, kangaroos, and the sky.
Continuing Story
Once upon a time . . . Ask your child to begin telling a story. Set a timer for 30 seconds. When the timer runs out, you have to take over for the next 30 seconds. Continue until the story is done. This is also a great game to get the whole family involved in!
Transformers:
“I’m the toast.” Pick a basic machine or appliance, such as a toaster, a washing machine, or a bicycle. Everyone must work together to recreate that object, using just their bodies. Every person must be a part and all feet must stay on the ground at all times! Make sure to make your machine run once you’ve built it!
Welcome to my party! Pick one person to be a host of your party. Everyone else is the guest. Each guest must come up with an usual quirk in their personality (some ideas: germophobe, thinks they’re famous, insomniac). Have each guest enter the party, one by one, and see how long it takes the host to guess their quirk!
