The Boston Children's Museum has been the kids' favorite destination this year. It took us weeks and weeks of visiting before we made it through all the different rooms that they offer. The kids went through a long "workshop" stage, then it was a great fascination with the art studio, then the train table in the little kids' room, then the climbing structure. These different favorites have fluxuated for the kids over these past months, but the one thing that continues to be their #1 activity is the KidStage theater.
Most days of the week there are are 2-3 performances of a rotating offering of plays. Our activity schedule at the museum is dictated by the show times. Usually we have time to explore a few different rooms, then head to the theater for the 11:30 show, then break for lunch, back for the 12:30 show and then time to head home for naptime. But sometimes there's also a 10:30 show, which means we don't get much else done around the museum due to all the performances we have to catch.
There's about 4 or 5 different shows that we've seen, but the kids' favorite by far is "The Tale of the Three Little Pigs". For every show there are volunteers from the audience needed, and I (along with one or two accompanying children) have played the "part" of on the of the pig's houses on more then one occasion (They ask for adult volunteers to hold umbrellas to represent each pig's house, which then get "blown down" by the Big Bad Wolf). Beginning a few months ago, Nathan decided that he really wanted to be one of the volunteers picked for the play, but there was only one specific part that he wanted: "Patsy" pig, who built the house of bricks. Week after week he would be disappointed as he was overlooked for the coveted part. After a while, Sarah joined in the angst as she began to have her heart set on the part of... get this... the Big Bad Wolf. But week after week both kids suffered disappointment as others were selected for their parts, though to their credit, it never ruined their enjoyment of the subsequent performance.
This week we were back at the museum again and I was pleased to see that the museum wasn't too crowded (we just never know when its going to be overrun by groups of giant school kids). We spent lots of time playing with the water tables/rivers and the giant blocks, then headed to the art room where our creative process was cut short by the upcoming Kidstage performance. As we hurried downstairs to get a good seat, we found the theater empty. Though none of that day's performances was going to be the favorite Three Little Pigs, I was once again hopeful that the kids would want to volunteer and then would actually get picked for something.
This first play was a new one for us (though I later learned from the actors that its been running since the 90's so I'm surprised we'd missed it), called "The Plate of Cookies", where two friends are planning on hosting a tea party for a guest, but have to keep each other from eating the freshly baked cookies before their guest arrives. And, as you've probably guessed, this was the kids' lucky day - they were both picked to be part of a group of dancers. That morning the kids had "dressed up" for the museum in their crowns, Nathan in his tie and Sarah in a "fancy" skirt - the skirt turning out to match exactly the tutus they were providing for her role. So, here's the kids' stage debut as "dancers":
But then it got even better. The next performance was one we'd seen many times called "Journey to the Center of the Stage" that teaches the kids different things about putting on plays. It also gives kids two different opportunities to volunteer to be involved. The first is when the real actors are teaching the kids about the stage directions, and the second is where the kids are given costumes and they are supposed to pretend to be that animal as they walk across the stage. Nathan actually was picked as a volunteer for the animal part a while back, but that day the theater was PACKED (I think it was spring break week) and he got stage fright and bolted. This time, though, the theater was practically empty so both kids got to participate in both parts of the production. They were THRILLED!! (In case you don't catch it, Sarah's a frog and Nathan's a toucan. And everyone in the audience is supposed to help with the animal noises as they cross the stage, but of course it sounds like I'm doing them by myself in the video.)
Sarah was especially cute when she came back to sit with me after the first part of her performance and (loudly) whispered "I be berry, berry, berry brave on stage!". I guess I had talked to Nathan about being brave if he was picked as a volunteer after the stage fright incident and it stuck with her.
I still hope for Nathan's sake that he gets a chance to play Patsy pig before we move, but all three of us were so glad to have such a fun experience on Kidstage this week. And, of course, they've been reliving their performances every morning as they watch the videos on my phone.
No comments:
Post a Comment