Kids aren't the only ones who learn from our outreach classes

Siegler enjoys playing for the kids.

Last week, Patel Conservatory instructor Audrey Siegler began teaching her Creative Storytelling class at Sulpher Springs Elementary. Once a month, she teaches a group of 3 to 4-year-olds in the Head Start program.

“We read a story together, then do an activity based on the story. It usually relates to their classroom theme of the week.”

The Creative Drama class introduces theater concepts to small children. Siegler uses visual arts and music to help the kids create and act out stories.

At her first class for the Head Start kids last week, “we played a get-to-know-you game and sang a hello song. Then we did warm up exercises to warm up our bodies, and a vocal exercise to play with pitch and volume and tone. This will help when we start introducing different characters in later classes.”

Siegler uses the analogy of waking up in the morning to stress why it’s so important for performers to warm up.

“You don’t open your eyes and immediately start going. It takes a few minutes to stretch and get your body moving. It’s the same thing before you perform. Warming up gets us ready to start moving and helps you feel more awake and give a better performance.”

After their warm-up, the kids played an improv game where they acted like different animals. As the children pretended to be lions and tigers, and even zebras and flamingos, they then had to add emotions, like happy, hungry or sleepy.

“The most original idea was when one boy had to act old, he yelled, ‘Get out of my yard!’ It makes you wonder where he got it from, and makes you appreciate that kids are so observant,” said Siegler. “They really do pay attention.”

Siegler says she enjoys teaching outreach classes at various schools and organizations because she learns something from every class, from preschool to middle school.

“Each child and their reactions are so completely different. And they each have something to offer.”