Explore the Arts + Entertainment Industry at home with these kid-friendly activities
As a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up? Can you remember the very first career choice that excited you?
These days, with our little ones becoming familiar with screens and media very early, it should come as no surprise that many of their first dream jobs fall in the Arts and Entertainment Industry. From musicians to movie stars, painters to podcasters, your littles ones have a vast array of future careers to choose from in this creative line of work.
Learning about careers in this field doesn’t have to mean extra screen time for your little ones, though. We’ve compiled a few family-friendly activities below that are perfect for exploring the Arts and Entertainment Industry at home.
Musician, comedian, radio host… There are very few careers in the Arts and Entertainment Industry where you won’t ever need a microphone, so what better way to get kids excited about the performing arts than creating their own? Aboutamom.com shared some fun instructions on how to DIY your own mic with the kids.
You’ll need the following materials that you can probably find around the house:
paper towel tube
black craft paint
Styrofoam ball
piece of aluminum foil (enough to cover the ball)
hot glue gun
stick on gems or metallic craft tape
Click HERE for the full article and rundown on how to bring your creation to life at home!
2. Create an art gallery and host an art show
Tell the truth. You’ve already got tons of your kids’ art stashed around the house in various spots, and enough of their crafty projects to last a lifetime…
So why not flesh it out into a creative activity to show them what it’s really like to be an artist? That’s where this next idea comes in.
Pick a room or hallway at home with some undecorated wall space, and get to work displaying the work of your Picasso-in-residence!
Fuelled by Latte shared their own take on building a gallery wall of your kids’ art at home, and you don’t need much more than some thrift store frames, string, art and craft pegs, spray paint and a staple gun. Check out their home art gallery project HERE!
But don’t stop there. Give the kids a taste of what it’s like to be the star of their own art show. Create little note cards to accompany their work featuring the artist’s name, medium used to create the artwork and description of the piece. Then, have them share about each of their pieces for their audience. Who knows? Maybe they’ll even sell a piece (in exchange for desert)! ;)
3. Build a puppet theatre and put on a show with homemade puppets
Awaken your kids’ inner thespian or screenplay with this fun activity. Gather a couple of shoeboxes, some newspaper, scissors, acrylic paint and markers for this simple exercise, and don’t forget your imagination!
Corina Bona, Professional Puppeteer, created a detailed tutorial on how to build and decorate your very own puppet theatre masterpiece, HERE.
But what’s a puppet theatre without a puppet show? And what’s a puppet show without PUPPETS? Here’s the easiest part. Have your little ones draw and color their characters on a piece of paper or card stock, cut them out and glue them onto the front of wooden skewers - these puppets will be perfect for sliding through the top holes of the puppet theatre to move around below, on stage.
Andddd SCENE!
4. Turn everyday activities into songs
This final activity may be the simplest of them all - no props or craft supplies necessary. In fact, you’ve probably done this with the kids on occasion, without much thought at all.
For this songwriting exercise, you’ll only need a notepad and paper, and perhaps a smart phone to record the musical genius you uncover.
You’ll want to write these songs to melodies already familiar to your kids, such as “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” or “The Muffin Man.”
Next, once they’ve settled on a tune, give them themes to write about. For example, have your kids write a song about mundane activities like eating breakfast or bath time, but adding their own personality and sense of humor!
And finally, pull out that phone and hit record to document the hits your kids create, or even go a step further and upload your songs to SoundCloud or YouTube. You never know - you and the family could have a chart topper on your hands!
