TINY TOTS

Theatre as a super power

Students explore their own Resilience by uncovering the Super Hero in themselves.

Modeling expressive participation

Ms. Cassidy creates a supportive space by jumping right in to the silly, expressive nature of class.

Cooperative play has complex benefits

Two students practice their teamwork, by “planting” a garden together!

Where FUN takes center stage

A good time that is out of this world!

Multi-tasking skill development

A student works on empathy, public speaking, and fine motor skills all at once with these crowd-favorite finger puppets.

Not just for actors

This class embraces the technical side of theatre, experimenting with the power of lighting design.

Be you!

At The Drama Spot, every child is welcomed and encouraged to be who they are, as they are each and every day!

Standard-aligned curriculum

This student thinks they are turning scribbles into magical animals, but what they don’t know is they are also working on those ELA and Science standards!

WHAT TO EXPECT

Full of sound and movement, this class has our tiny tots dancing and singing their way to confident self-expression. We leverage the curiosity of toddler-hood to develop social, emotional, and motor skills. Like all of our classes, our weekly Tiny Tots classes focus on our monthly Core Skill. Each week, we dive deep into one of the emotions that can emerge when working on the Core Skill of the Month.

For example, Resilience may have us examining the feelings of frustration, pride, fear, and determination. We try to have one feeling from each quadrant of the mood meter every month. Even at two, children can engage with big words and big feelings. While toddlers may still be learning the basics — “sad” or “mad” — we intentionally introduce more advanced vocabulary like confident or anxious in playful, concrete ways. This practice expands their emotional vocabulary while giving them safe ways to try on and understand feelings that might otherwise be overwhelming.

Our classes follow this predictable structure, to ensure every student can walk in confidently and leave full of joy:

• Warm-ups with songs and movement introduce routine and predictability while teaching that our voices and bodies are creative tools.

• Emotion-focused activities help toddlers recognize feelings in others, express them with their own faces and bodies, and begin to practice coping with big emotions. Specifically, we:

  • Sing our Feelings Song to show what the feeling of the week looks like on others

  • Play a game or do a group activity to help children notice how the feeling shows up in their own bodies (some examples: Going on a Bear Hunt to explore scared or anxious; or hula-hoop obstacle course for frustrated or proud)

  • Invite them to pretend to be that emotion as we demonstrate along with them

• Closing rituals and bubble dance parties reinforce learning in a joyful, energetic way.

Theatre aS A TODDLER

At two years old, children are beginning to explore who they are, how they feel, and how they connect with others. Dramatic or Pretend Play is not only a great source of joy, it is an essential part of their developmental learning. Children use this space to explore their world physically, socially, and emotionally and our classes are designed to usher them along in that journey.