Open Forum

We need to raise money this year to help pay for our spring musical.
We already run a Drama Camp in February for 2nd Grade to 8th grade students, with my theatre students running it as teachers, etc.  I heard about running one in December for younger students, as a way for parents to get time to go "Christmas shopping" without their kids.  This would be more like "creative dramatics meets babysitting" and we could charge what a babysitter would charge - only offer great theatre activities for the kids.
Has anyone attempted this? If so, I would love to know what to avoid, what to expect, and any other knowledge gained from the experience. 
I searched for discussions on this topic in the past and found none.
Any advice will be greatly appreciated,
Thanks

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Valerie Farschman, Drama Director
MLS Theatre Company, Troupe 1422
Marion L Steele High School
Amherst, Ohio
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We've been kicking around this idea, too. I am eager to hear from others who have tried it.

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Dianne Rowe
Birmingham AL
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Haven't tried it myself, but it's a pretty solid idea, which I might bank and steal for later.

My daughter's dance studio offers something like this at intermittent times of the year. Understanding that it is glorified baby-sitting is the first step, as for these events, the 'baby-sitting'/dance event allowed siblings to be dropped off as well as the dancing student. This meant, for the dance studio, that quite a few of the participants really didn't want to participate. 

Make sure you have insurance. Make sure all parents sign a waiver for every child/provide insurance details, just to CYA. Make food/snacks a part of it. 

Be prepared that it may become a drop-in session for some unless you're very clear that there is a definite set start and end time. That would be up to you. If it is to be a drop-in, any time kind of a deal, make it clear on paperwork that the cost is a flat fee that isn't pro-rated (i.e. you pay $25 whether your kid stays an hour or four hours). Something to consider, at least. 

I would say use fairly universal activities that all kids can succeed in. Avoid competitive games, as you may well receive students who have no ability to lose graciously and will have a fantastic super melt-down when they lose a game. Or be prepared for it, one of the two. At the dance studio, they did a great job of creating a schedule of activities that were suitable for all (non-dancers as well as dancers). Theatre might be 'easier' than dance, as its a different skill set, but choose the activities wisely. 

It might even be worth having a couple of stations. There will be, despite your absolute best efforts, a couple of kids who cannot/will not. Having a quiet corner for them to read or be by themselves is a wise option. Ban electronic devices, and they will probably get bored of being by themselves after a while and join in. But it's good to have this as an option, as long as they don't have a screen they can tune the rest of the world out with. 

In order to pull in as much money as possible, you might want to consider running a couple of these events in the lead up to Christmas, in order to give parents ample time to go shopping. Maybe even a special 'Black Friday' event...though that might be a little more tricky to swing, it'll depend on your community and administration. 

These are just some spit-balling ideas, based on observations and thoughts. Good luck!

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Phillip Goodchild
Theatre Arts Instructor

Etobicoke ON
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We have done something like this for years.  Parents fill out a permission form/insurance info/waiver form and pay $25.  Students (k - 6) select 4 workshop sessions. (They also get a t-shirt.)  Each workshop is 45 minutes long and taught by a team of high school students.  After the workshops everyone eats their self-provided sack lunch.  We then head into the theatre.  Parents, friends, siblings may purchase tickets.  The k - 6 students and their HS student/workshop leaders perform a showcase of what they learned that morning.  We then follow that with our current high school "theatre for young audiences" production.  I run a Q & A after the show.  People keep coming back and we make approximately $15 per registration.  Costs include production supplies, scripts, royalty, and t-shirt.  Works well for us!

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[William] [Myatt] [Director of Theatre]

[Pleasant Valley High School]

[myattw@pleasval.k12.ia.us][563-332-5151][Bettendorf][IA][USA]
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My troupe has done this in the past, or a form of it any way. We have done workshops for younger kids and a week long summer camp sometimes. It's a great learning experience for my students and for the "campers."

We have one high schooler that is the counselor and they stay with their group all day. For each small group (say 5-8 kids) we have a counselor and they are a team together (like blue or red team with matching name tags). Then we have high schoolers who also actually teach the workshops and the team groups rotate around to each workshop. So if one room is doing masks, another is doing improv., while another is learning a musical theatre piece. This breaks up the responsibility and keeps it from being too many kids at once. We always had so many high schoolers who wanted to help that it was nice to split things up too.

We always put two or more high schoolers with every group of kids at all times. This helps with safety and security for both the campers and high schoolers. Our adults usually move around the space to each group checking on things. Nothing is led by adults though, it's all high schoolers planning the lessons, workshops, and fun stuff and them leading it. 

We do bring your own lunch (don't like kids share food in case of allergies) and snack and water bottle. 

Hope this helps.

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Kathleen McNulty Mann
mcnulkl@bay.k12.fl.us

Arnold High School Theatre
Panama City Beach, FL
Program Director and Thespian Sponsor

Florida Association for Theatre Education
Board Member
Membership Committee Chair
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