Teaching Shakespeare to Young Children

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Can you introduce young children to Shakespeare?

Between the ages of preschool through 1^st grade we want to encourage creativity, inspire a curiosity, feed a sense of wonder, and spark an imagination.  We are not concerned with memorizing sonnets, historical dates and quotes.  We want to give an experience using classic works of literature not a course on the subject.  Shakespeare is an excellent tool to introduce your child to a classic literature.  Your child will be given a rich sense of language.  In addition, since Shakespeare wrote plays it becomes a hands on activity.  Through Shakespeare you can introduce your young children to the Elizabethan history.   You can break down Shakespeare as easily as you can any other book or classic work for a young child.  Simply find the right resources, use hands on activities, and make it fun.   Children should be constantly striving and challenged to understand the world around them not spoon fed material that comes down to their level.  As educators we are going in the wrong direction.  Students strive upwards as we provide bite sized portions easily digested yet nourishing to their emerging growth.   I do suggest reading the plays in a child friendly format.  You can then slowly introduce over a course of time and through their education the words of Shakespeare.  Being exposed to the story in a child friendly way will help them understand the language of Shakespeare when the time comes to read the plays in the future. 

Tip:  If you have other children the plan and resources work beautifully for a multi-age study.

Shakespeare Lesson Plan

Introduction                                                                                                                           

 

Shakespeare should only to be taught once a week or the length of a unit study which would be about 4 to 9 weeks.  There is no pressure just exploration. 

Shakespeare is normally a subject matter for older elementary students.  Often the subject matter of Shakespeare is more mature and better appreciated by an older audience.  With younger children the human condition of the plays is not emphasized.  The emphasis is on rhyme, dramatic play, history, and simple themes.  The lessons for younger children will more activity based.  We concentrate on dramatic art while using Shakespeare as a backdrop. 

Learning Objectives                                                                                                                 

• Who was Shakespeare and when did he live?
• What is the Globe Theater?
• What is a play? 
• Learning to play a role in a dramatic play with or without a puppet.
• What time period did Shakespeare live in and what did people of that time wear?  What was the world like?  What do we have today that was not around then?
• Create a short play and perform it for your family.

Procedure                                                                                                                             

You can do one activity a day or use a day and chose a 1-3 activities to complete.  Use the printables and coloring pages below to enhance your lesson. 

Choosing from the resources listed below pick a book that shares Shakespearean plays in a story format.  Read short passages of actual plays.  Children may not understand it but they will enjoy the melodic sound.

Study rhyme.  Shakespeare used some of the same meters as nursery rhymes.   Read some nursery rhymes, Lewis Carroll, and a few Shakespearean passages and sonnets to show rhythm and rhyme. Ask your child to rhyme with you by playing a rhyming game. 

Look online or chose a book that tells a brief history and biography of Shakespeare.  Explain that Shakespeare was a storyteller who told his stories through dramatic plays. 

Explain what a play or a skit is and ask your child to reenact a scene from one of the stories you read using puppets, dolls, etc.   

Show your child a picture of the Globe Theater.  Explain what happens in a theater.  You can build your own theater using blocks, cardboard or draw a theater. 

Use the paper dolls listed in the resources to show your child how people dressed in the days of Shakespeare.  Use the dolls to tell a story.  Use this time to compare and contrast the Elizabethan period to current times.  How did people dress?  What was a typical day like?  Did they have cars, TV, or computers?  What kind of toys did children play with during that time period? 

Allow your child to create a short play and present it to the rest of the family. 

Conclusion                                                                                                                            

Your child will learn more about the process of performing a play and historical background than memorizing Shakespeare plays.  Use Shakespeare as a catalyst to discover the world of performing, history and literature.  As your child grows you can introduce more elements of Shakespeare. 

Ways to Make Shakespeare Fun

• Make puppets or use stuffed animals to act out scenes from the play. 
• Have your child draw pictures of the characters or scenes as you read a play. 
• Make the Globe Theater out of cardboard boxes for your child to use for plays.
• Make a theater out of Legos or blocks.
• Get costumes that reflect the time period and let your child dress up. 
• Have an Elizabethan dinner where the whole family dresses up in clothes that represent the time period and eats food of that time period. 
• Use the Shakespeare stories as bedtime stories.

Project:  Create Your Own Play 

The heart of education is for a child to reproduce or show what they learned.  Allow your child to create her own play using puppets, stuffed animals, or doll house figures.  Let your child be the director and producer of her own play.  Assist in creating any costumes, backgrounds, theater sets or any reasonable detail your child envisions.   Encourage your child to practice her play a few times.  Then allow her to present it to the rest of the family.  If you have other children then get all of them involved for more fun and learning. 

Resources for a Shakespearean Lesson

Books

Tales from Shakespeare, by Charles and Mary Lamb

Tales from Shakespeare, by Marcia Williams

The Children’s Shakespeare, by E. Nesbit

Shakespeare Can be Fun Series


Starting with Shakespeare: Successfully Shakespeare to Children, by Todd Daubert and Pauline Nelson

William Shakespeare by Ibi Lepscky (May be difficult to get.)

Shakespeare’s Storybook (Barefoot Books)

Shakespeare for Kids: His Life and Times, 21 Activities

Shakespeare’s Globe: An Interactive Pop-up Book, by Toby Forward

Shakespeare: To Teach or Not to Teach : Teaching Shakespeare Made Fun : From Elementary to High School by Cass Foster and Lynn G. Johnson

Audio

Shakespeare for Children, by Jim Weiss

A Child’s Introduction to Shakespeare (You will also find plenty of other great works on MP3)

Website

William Shakespeare Games and Activities for Kids

Craft

Using Puppets for Shakespeare Narration

 

Printables and Coloring Pages

Printable Paper Dolls

Printable Shakespeare Mask

Shakespeare Presents Printable

Shakespeare Coloring Pages

Coloring page of Shakespeare

Paper Dolls

Great Characters from Shakespeare Paper Dolls, by Tom Tierney