Week 2- Drama Warm-Ups and Storytelling
This week, we kicked off with fun warm-up activities that helped get us moving and ready for the storytelling exercises. The highlight for me was the “Story of Our Names” activity. This gave us a chance to reflect on how our personal stories shape who we are. Another highlight was acting out stories without using words, to answer the question, "Where do stories come from?" It was eye-opening to realise that stories do not always need words. We can tell them with our bodies, facial expressions, and actions.
As a future teacher, I see how important this is, especially when working with young children. Not all children can express themselves with words right away, so teaching them to use their bodies to tell stories gives them another way to communicate. It is a skill I will definitely use in my classroom.
The group activities also gave me a chance to collaborate with classmates. We were divided into groups based on things like birth month, favorite color, or birth order, and we reflected on what worked and what did not during the storytelling exercises. It made me think about how to improve as a facilitator of storytelling, not just telling the story myself but helping children tell their own.
We also spent time reflecting on whether we are storytellers, facilitators, or teachers. At first, I thought of myself as just a teacher, but I now realize that facilitating is just as important. As a teacher, my role will be to help children become storytellers themselves.
Linking this to our Childhood Studies Core class, we discussed the Grade R child and their developmental stage. Drama activities like these can be incredibly beneficial for young children as they help with cognitive, social, and emotional development. The non-verbal storytelling activity particularly helped me understand how physical activities can support children’s understanding of emotions and relationships. Drama-based activities can foster social skills, like empathy and teamwork, which are essential for the Foundation Phase.
This week really helped me think about how I can use drama and storytelling to support children’s communication and creativity, and I am excited to continue learning about these methods.