Whether the kids are home for a snow day or want to slow down over the weekend or during the upcoming Presidents’ Day break, a pause gives parents, caregivers, and young people time to connect and be together. The experts at Young Audiences have ideas for you and your child to design a weekend to remember, filled with creativity and wonder.
First and foremost, what you know about your child’s personality and disposition is the best lead for designing a meaningful week. For years you have observed how your child approaches life and learning. Take some time to reflect on how their special interests and unique contributions to the world can be used to nurture their curiosities. Talk with your child about the experiences that bring them joy and ask them how those experiences can become a part of each day. Together with your child create a list or draw pictures that can be used as an activity menu throughout the week.
- With your child, fold a piece of paper in half both vertically and horizontally to create four areas.
- Add two additional folds, the first fold will be two inches from the top and the second two inches from the bottom.
- In the top rectangle write “Activity Menu.” In the bottom rectangle write “My favorite activity was…. Because….
Young Audiences arts education experts have some ideas to get you started. The ideas below will support artistic literacy, encourage imagination, prioritize play and foster connection with family and friends.
- Which of these practices aligns with your child’s strengths and interests?
- Which practice can be easily added to your child’s activity menu?
The Drawing Station
Set out a tray or cardboard box that can hold paper, and a variety of crayons, colored pencils, pens, dot markers, chalk, colored masking tape, or dot stickers. Setting up a designated “Drawing Station” allows your child to self-direct as they wish during the day or invite a friend or family member to join them. This setup and these materials are great examples that allow for choice and promote imaginary play and personalized expression. The pieces created can be hung on the walls, windows, doors, and, of course, the refrigerator to create an “art gallery” in your home.
Dance and Movement
If your child is always in motion and loves to jump, leap, and twist, consider rearranging the furniture to create an open space for movement. Create a playlist, host a dance party and let your child move freely within the newly designed space. Take your dance to the next level by co-creating a dance that includes movements with different body parts (arm swings, shoulder rolls, side crawls), as well as level and direction changes (slide steps, melt to the floor, spin in place).
1) Brainstorm different ways of moving and write or draw each idea on a piece of paper (arm swings, shoulder rolls, side crawls, jumps, twists).
2) Brainstorm level and directional changes to include in your dance. Write or draw each idea on a piece of paper (on the floor, across the room, move in place, up high with heels off the ground).
3) To strengthen your child’s memory and understanding, use your brainstormed words and/or pictures to create a choreography sequence with a beginning, middle and end.
4) As your child works to remember the sequence, arrange your brainstorm words and/or pictures on the floor or wall for them to read the sequence of the dance.
5) Teach the choreography to other family and friends!
If you’re looking for some new moves, reference the Young Audiences Arts Connection Video Gumboot Dancing created by the Young Audiences performing artist group Soul Steps. This video shares the history of South African Gumboot Dancing and its impact on the creation of the African-American tradition called “stepping.” Throughout history, stepping has served as a dance of social resistance and solidarity, and today creates connection and unity within and across Historically Black Colleges, in African American fraternities and sororities, and school communities. By blending your child’s imagination with the artistic literacy shared by Soul Steps the possibilities are endless.
Plan a ¡Parrandas! Celebration
If your child loves to create music, sing and dance, the Young Audiences performing artist group Segunda Quimbamba will guide you to create a parranda. A parranda is a cultural celebration from Puerto Rico that uses music, song and dance to celebrate our relationship with each other. It’s created when a small group of friends gather together to “sorpresa” or surprise another friend. This tradition invites family and friends to join the parranda as it travels from one home to another. If you’re unable to travel from place to place a mini-parranda in the home can be just as joyful and fun!
1) First gather your “parranderos.” the artists or family members that make up the parranda. Some parranderos create music, while others dance, and all parranderos sing!
2) Next gather some instruments. The instruments typically used include guitarras, panderos, güiro, maracas, or palitos. If you do not have access to these instruments, find objects in your home that make a sound when you shake, scrape or tap them. Consider a jar filled with dried beans or rice, the side of a tin can, or an empty box. Using handheld instruments and your voice, instead of recorded music gives everyone a role to play, and brings more of your creativity to the parranda.
3) To begin your musical surprise, start a rhythmic groove or consider playing along to “Yo Tenía Una Luz, Que Me Alumbraba“, by Puerto Rican singer and guitarist Odilio Gonzalez.
4) Now put your musical surprise into action! Take your parranda all around the house, your neighborhood or anywhere else you want to bring a joyful connection. Be sure to shout “wepa, Wepa, WEPA!”
Quiet Time – Structure Building and Shadow Play
If quiet time is what your child needs, gather some blankets, pillows and cushions and give your child the time and space to build a structure. This activity will encourage problem-solving while giving young designers ownership over how to construct something personal from everyday objects. Young people will be engaged for hours as they discover new ways to transform materials into imaginary spaces. Given this time and space, children daydream, fantasize, tell stories, and imagine possibilities for a better world. Throughout their process, adults will see and hear children engaging with their amazing capacity to create meaningful expressions that reflect the important people and experiences that have shaped their lives.
When the sun goes down, it’s time for shadow play. The Young Audiences Arts Connection resource Discover Chinese Shadow Puppet Resource created by teaching artist Hua Hua Zhang introduces the possibilities of shadow play with everyday objects. Using light and shadow is exciting, and can help develop attention to detail, fine motor and problem-solving skills. The shadows created can become delightful places and characters that engage in imaginary play and interact with each other.
- Gather everyday objects and recycled materials (soft foam, mesh, cardboard tubes, or translucent colored cups), and cardstock to create simple shapes. Use a hole punch or scissors to create a place for the light to shine through.
- Use what you have gathered and an LED flashlight to create shadows. Pick your favorite material to start and gradually add a second and third material. Discover how your hands and body can create a shadow!
- Encourage your child to discover how these materials interact with light. Play with the light from a variety of angles, distances, and directions.
Making this a shared experience will naturally support your child’s collaboration and communication skills. As your child’s ideas begin to take shape, engage with them by asking open-ended questions like, How did you do that? What will you add next? What does it remind you of? or What story wants to be told? Who are the characters? What will they say? What sounds will be included?
Extending Storytelling Engagements
Read-alouds, storytelling, live theatre, and movie time can become meaningful ways to understand other people better and talk about important themes and ideas. Through close listening and affirming your child’s perspective parents and caregivers can support language development, social-emotional learning, and increased bonding.
Young Audiences teaching artist Summer Dawn shares some guiding questions from her Theatre to Learn programming that can be used to connect more deeply to stories we encounter.
- What character was most interesting to you?
- What feelings did you notice?
- How did you feel when ________happened?
- What was the conflict of the story?
- What decisions needed to be made to address the conflict?
- Would you have addressed the conflict differently?
- Whose perspective was missing from the story?
- Should another perspective be included in the story?
- What different ending would you create for the story?
At the end of your break, look at your creativity menu–reflect on your favorite moments together. Regardless of the occasion, the arts education experts at Young Audiences encourage parents and caregivers to make time to explore creativity with children, letting the child lead and guide. Learning more about how they think and process ideas is a pathway towards nurturing their thinking and learning, while also affirming their unique contributions to life and living. Expect your child to shine when you create the space for them to open up and surprise you.
This article was written by Michelle L. Marigliano, Soul Steps, Segunda Quimbamba, Hua Hua Zhang and Summer Dawn.
Michelle L. Marigliano is the Senior Director of Education & Equity at YA whose passions center around the development, coordination, and implementation of student-centered arts-based initiatives. She supports programs such as workshops, residencies, and adult professional learning programs making sure that each program brings experience, understanding, creativity, and connection.
Soul Steps speaks the language of rhythm. Founded in 2005 by dancer/choreographer Maxine Lyle and based in NY/NJ, Soul Steps is dedicated to celebrating the African-American tradition known as “stepping.” They have toured all over the world, bringing step everywhere from Brooklyn to Kosovo.
Segunda Quimbamba is a cultural gem based in Jersey City. Led by Master Drummer Juan Cartagena and Master Dancer Nanette Hernandez, the band performs and teaches Puerto Rican folkloric music La Bomba and La Plena, honoring their ancestors and heritage through practicing this preservation.
Hua Hua Zhang graduated from the Beijing Performing Arts Academy, where she was trained as a performer in the ancient art of Chinese puppetry. She received many awards for excellence in performance and direction and formed her own nonprofit company—Hua Hua’s Visual Expressions—to continue to develop her vision of the performing arts and to develop an art education program to share Chinese culture and puppet art with American audiences and students.
Summer Dawn is an actor, director, writer and theater teaching artist and is also the founder and director of In Full Color, an organization that empowers women of color through education and the arts. Summer is also the co-founder of 68 Productions and the winner of the Permanent Career Award in Literature from the Society of Arts and Letters-NJ and the N.J. Governor’s Award in Arts Education.
The mission of Young Audiences is to inspire young people and expand their learning through the arts. Since our founding in 1973, YA has grown into the region’s largest arts education organization. Early work focused on introducing children to classical music. Today, YA is a valued school partner, providing teaching artist-led programming across all art forms and numerous cultures. We are a proud member of the national network Young Audiences, Inc., comprised of 31 autonomous affiliates.
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