The first Drama lesson is always a little scary for all the children.
Mum brought her little girl, Lillie, to her first Drama lesson.
“She’s a bit nervous and probably won’t say much.”
“Don’t worry, they all feel that way and soon find their way into the drama. The children are very kind and welcoming so she’ll soon make friends.” Reassured, Mum went off to do a bit of shopping.
The drama was about helping someone to solve a problem. I asked the class of 6 – 8-year-olds what that might be. They decided that a Scarecrow was looking unhappy. They also decided that they were crows. I played the scarecrow.
They very sensitively asked the scarecrow what was wrong and how they might help.
I said I was a rubbish scarecrow and that the farmer was going to get rid of me. There was much discussion between them about how mean the farmer was because they thought I was a very nice scarecrow. And that was the problem. They were not scared of the scarecrow. All were silent for a moment as they took this in. Then all shouted suggestions over the top of each other.
Lillie said quietly at first and then repeated more loudly, “I’ve got an idea!” They all stopped and listened. She told them they, “Could pretend they were scared. We could have someone looking out for the farmer coming and they would call out to us. Then the scarecrow could wave its arms and shout and we would all fly away.”
“That’s a good idea,” another child said and they agreed that’s what they would do.
Of course, I did as I was told and much to their delight the Scarecrow was thrilled that it worked. The drama continued as they wondered if lying was the right thing to do and how they could keep up the pretence.
It was a simple story with a fairly predictable ending but the point of this lesson was to enable the children to deal with the problem without an adult suggesting several choices to solve it. My part was of a Scarecrow who was not confident or competent, the children were in charge. My character was vulnerable. They had the answer and carried it out successfully and they went on to discuss the morality of what they had done and how further action might fail.
At the end of the lesson, Mum asked Lillie how she did. “It was brilliant! I had an idea and they listened. And they did what I said!” It was her first Drama lesson. She felt included and that her ideas mattered. That is one of the first and most important steps in gaining self-confidence.
