S1.E10: It's Showtime! - Raising Thinkers Podcast

Welcome to the show!  It's time to let your children take center stage. Let's dig into how to help prepare your kids to create a memorable presentation for the family!

For starters, I have to say I'm actually an introvert. It might not seem like it if I have a podcast and am willing to speak in front of people, but it's true. However, despite all of that, I'm also a ballerina and because of all those years of training, I can perform when I need to!  Being a dancer since age 4 meant that my family got to see PLENTY of shows, and some were better than others! Fortunately my sister came along and she was a much better ballerina therefore, my parents got to see some really good shows in the end. Regardless how good an official on-stage performance was or not, there were many unofficial shows that happened in our home. Once I even convinced my brother to be a part of the Nutcracker that we performed with some friends at our home. He would probably deny that this ever happened, but we have photo evidence!

Not every show needs to be with friends, and not every show needs to be done on a stage, the home is the perfect place for a performance. Each child has many different talents and abilities. I recommend that to design an effective show at home, you capitalize on those abilities. If you have more than one child, that's great because you can have multiple acts much more easily, but even if you are an only child household, there are plenty of skills available to go around.

To start with, I recommend you set a date for the show.  Depending on how detail-oriented your child is, and how old they are, I recommend giving them somewhere between three to seven days to plan out and prepare for their show.

Build anticipation!  You can even put a countdown up with Post-it notes in the kitchen, and peel off one per day until the show arrives. You can make it after lunch, after dinner, or on the weekend. You can even video chat in relatives to be able to see the show itself. Each child can choose to contribute an act or two.   If you only have one child, you may want to add in some of your talents as well. Have your child make some invitations, plan out the order of the performances, figure out costumes, props, scenery, lighting, and of course, practice!

Whether your child chooses to do magic, show off a somersault, build a lego creation on the spot, sing or play a song, or do some sort of dance, it all takes practice. AND planning. You may have been wondering, where is the thinking in all this?

Pause and think about it yourself, how many events you have planned? It may have been a birthday party, an event at work or even just planning for a conference call. Every day at work, we as adults are in some sort of a show. We each have needed to develop our presentation skills to put our best foot forward in life.  If we want our children to be successful in the future, they need to know how to plan, prepare, and present themselves well to impress an audience.

This is a fun way to help children build those basic skills from the beginning.  Performing helps children develop their communication skills and their abilities to stand up with confidence and show who they are. Completing a sort of talent show at your own home, gives them a safe community to begin to showcase who they are and what they can do. This will help them in the future.  The planning part is where the thinking comes in even more.  Spontaneous talent shows are fun, but a well planned one cultivates even more life skills.

Depending on the age of your child, they may need more guidance than others. If you have older children who can help the younger ones, this becomes a great team building activity. Challenge them further to develop duos or trios.  Should they put all of their strongest acts first, last, or spread them out?  If they have soft pieces of music, where should those fit in with something more dramatic?  How will they manage transitions?  Do they need a host?  If so, what will that host say?

As you can see, there is plenty of thinking to do, just to do a performance at home!  Hopefully this can be a fun experience for the whole family in the days to come. Enjoy your show!