Stance: Studies on the Family

Recently, my husband and I taught a Sunday School class of 10- and 11-year-olds. To enliven the lesson, we decided to ask them to act out a story from the scriptures. Their eyes lit up when they found out what we would be doing, and they got really into the story as my husband narrated and I acted alongside them. When we discussed what happened in the story afterward, they were very attentive and thoughtful. They had captured the action because they had lived it!

Children are often great actors because they have no fear of looking silly in front of an audience. Even shy children will perform in front of those with whom they feel comfortable. Toddlers are constantly running around and picking up objects—props, if you will—and using them to pretend: some play house, others play cars. Older children also enjoy telling jokes, singing, dancing, describing a book or movie, playing games, and reciting poetry—all theatrical activities. For those children who truly want to become actors, parents may learn from Denise Simon’s article “Three Reasons to Support Your Child’s Acting Dream.” 

For all children, these skills of creativity and presentation are all critical to their success in school and in life. Gai Jones, in her book The Student Actor Prepares: Acting for Life, lists several life skills we develop through acting:

• Creating imaginative, bold ideas
• Reasoning
• Thinking reflectively
• Developing positive working habits
• Being open minded and flexible
• Conveying emotions with your voice and body
• Listening appreciatively
• Cooperating
• Thinking on your feet
• Reading and analyzing written material

What adult wouldn’t hope that a child develops these same life skills? Parents and teachers can foster their children’s acting abilities home, at school, and at church with ideas like these below.

At home

• Provide props. Toys can invite creative and theatrical play. To avoid expensive costs of fancy toys, the National Association for the Education of Young Children suggests common household items that can double as toys, like plastic spoons and balls of yarn.
• Provide a stage. Go to the park or the backyard for open spaces to dance and run. Move the couch and stand behind it for a puppet show. Tie a sheet on a window frame, put a lamp behind it, and learn to do shadow puppets with your hands.
• Provide activities. Ask kids to act out their favorite movies or books with paper dolls, Barbies, dolls, stuffed animals, or action figures. Fun time guaranteed!

At school

• Provide props. After reading a story, have students create masks with brown paper bags, etc., to use in acting out the story. Pinterest has tons of ideas on decorating masks.
• Provide a stage. Most schools have an auditorium or cafetorium with a real stage, but teachers don’t need to get so formal. They can use the front of the classroom or move aside desks and have audience members sit on the floor. Or, the props themselves become the stage through Teaching Channel’s theater boxes.
• Provide activities. One I like is “Fortunately, Unfortunately,” in which you sit in a circle and one person begins a sentence with “fortunately,” then the next with “unfortunately,” to form a story. Many websites have easy theater games, such as DramaResource.com.

 At church

• Provide props. To act out stories from the scriptures, simple props like strips of cloth to tie around kids’ foreheads or waists and chalk to draw the backdrop are sufficient.
• Provide a stage. Probably the best idea is to stay inside the classroom, but you might get permission from parents and other leaders to venture outdoors if you stay close to the church.
• Provide activities. Act out scripture stories, as I mentioned in the beginning. SugarDoodle.net has lots of resources, including scripts. For example, here’s one script on the story of the Ten Virgins in the New Testament.

—Leah Davis Christopher, Stance

Image from lds.org. License.

Recently, in the General Women’s Session of General Conference, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints emphasized the need to reach out to serve refugees and others who may be facing significant life challenges. These challenges may include finding employment, adjusting to a new culture, learning a new language, and making new friends. As I was pondering this invitation, I remembered an experience that had taught me how to love a stranger.

A few months ago, I rode in a carpool with a friend, her young son, and an older woman I was acquainted with. I knew that this woman had some irregular social behaviors, and I was worried that my friend’s son would be a little afraid of sitting next to her in the car. As time passed, she began to teach him little songs and tricks for counting, and she shared some snacks with him. To my surprise, he warmed up to her easily—acting more friendly than he has ever acted toward me.

A few days later, I carpooled with my friend and her son again, without the woman this time. The little boy sweetly asked, “Where’s my friend?” and we realized quickly to whom he was referring. In just a couple of hours, he had come to love a person that I had had trouble loving.

We can learn so much from children about accepting others and looking past their differences. I remember times in my life when I have met people and immediately begun to categorize the person, based on appearance or speech, into the type of person I believed he or she was. Most of the time, after getting to know the person, I have realized my gross mistake and misjudgment.

In contrast, most children are unassuming when they meet new people—they seem to see everyone as equals, including strangers. They don’t jump to making comparisons or casting judgment as some adults are prone to doing. For example, when I have taught children for the first time in church settings and public school settings, they have usually welcomed me with loving hearts, not caring what my background was or how well I delivered a lesson.

The little girl in this video from October 2015 General Women’s Session of General Conference shows another example of childlike acceptance of another who sometimes feels left out. If only we could all be that open-minded toward others and their circumstances!

Accepting others, seeing people as equals, and being open-minded are qualities that I know will help me better reach out and help my neighbors. I hope to follow the example of children who see others with such genuine love.

—Leah Davis Christopher, Stance

Image and video from lds.org