Kids of all ages, including moms, dads, and grandparents, will enjoy a family Story Time Drama. First, gather fun dress up clothing–not the box of dress up clothes your daughter has in her closet, but new and different varieties, like Dad’s 1985 ties and Mom’s old costume jewelry and scarves. Some retired Halloween costumes and accessories, as well as scarves, old curtains, hats, and funky shoes will also come in handy.
Next, chose a great short storybook, one your children love to hear over and over and over. Gather the family and assign roles. Make them fun! Let Dad be Goldilocks and little Suzy be the Big Bad Wolf. Maybe Mom is the woodcutter and the grandmother. Each character should dress in costume. Creativity is key here! You may not have a red cape, but do you have a purple sheet? It’ll work–this is make believe, remember? Give the wolf some winter gloves and two pigtails for ears. The wood cutter may carry a potato masher instead of an axe, but it’s all good!
Now, read the story through once to make sure everyone has a feel for their lines (if they don’t already know the story word-for-word by heart). Then, you can read the narrator parts and as the characters are supposed to speak, let them say their own lines to the best of their memory and act out the scenes.
This little game is as fun as you make it. Insecure kids may act shy, but just prompt them or let them do actions while you read their lines. Costumes won’t be perfect, but that’s what imagination is for.
If you want to encourage your kids to really love reading, and to create visual images for words, this is a great exercise, and it’s a really fun game, too. If things go well, maybe you should discuss attending a children’s theatre or city theatre production as a family. My children started writing their own skits when they were about 7 and 8. Who knows…maybe you’re toddler just needs a little inspiration to become the next Shakespeare!