Nurturing Your Child’s Creative Freedom Through the Arts

by Nicki Esler Gill

I am a writer, but in the alternate reality of my dreams, I would most definitely be a Broadway star. This is obvious to me for a number of reasons. Firstly, there’s all those times I’ve sat in the theatre, transfixed by the performers on stage, and thought: ‘Gosh, I’d like to do that too!’ There’s also my ability, acquired in childhood, to sing the entire score of Les Misérables, Annie, Grease and Phantom of the Opera backwards, forwards, and upside down. There’s my fondness for flamboyant high kicks and enjoyment of jazz hands. And that fact I will launch into a rendition of ‘When You’re a Jet’ from West Side Story whenever the situation calls for it. And the situation calls for it more often than you would expect.

Obviously, I was born for a life on the stage. But there’s a problem. I’m not very good at singing, you see. Also, I can’t dance that well. And then there’s also the fact that I’m really not even slightly comfortable performing on the stage.

Now that I think about it, maybe I’m not actually cut out for Broadway stardom, despite my lifelong love of musical theatre. And I actually think there might be a lesson here, when it comes to kids and the arts, and grownups and the arts for that matter, too. And the lesson is this: the pleasure, the joy, the delight we derive from participating in the arts, doesn’t necessarily have any correlation to actually having obvious artistic talent. The arts enrich us, whether we are good at them or not. I think that often, kids get this intuitively when they’re little, creating and participating with boldness and abandon. And this freedom is something to celebrate, something to nurture, to counteract all those negative voices, both internal and external, which can start to inhibit them as they grow.

There are all kinds of ways to nurture this freedom in our kids. And given all I’ve told you above, it probably isn’t a huge surprise to learn that my favourite way to do so is with a good, old fashioned musical theatre sing-along. Are we all amazing singers? Um, no. Do we sing together with musicality and joy and laughter anyway? You betcha.

So here’s my Top 8 List of Musical Theatre Sing-Along Benefits, with song suggestions (obviously), if you’d like to give it a go yourself.

1. Show tunes are a fabulous mood booster. Kids are grumpy, and so are you? Try choosing a cranky song, do some emoting, and watch the frowns turn to giggles. ‘Little People’ from Les Misérables and ‘Revolting Children’ from Matilda both work well for this.
   
   
2. Or take a different tack, and choose a happy, peppy song to bring the energy if the kids are feeling flat. We like ‘My Shot’ from Hamilton.
   
   
3. Singing is usually accompanied by dancing, giving everyone a chance to shake their sillies out. Too rainy for active outside play? No worries! Just crank up the show tunes and get those bodies moving.
   
   
4. Distract the kids from back seat bickering on that long drive to grandma’s. We set the rules up front: the children take turns to select a song, and specify whether they want to perform solo, or with back-up vocal stylings from siblings (and parents).Current car ride favourites in our family include ‘The Big Blue World’ and ‘Fish are Friends Not Food’ from Finding Nemo the Musical.
   

5. Sing along sessions are a fantastic way to begin to expose kids to the rich tradition of musical theatre, without the hefty price tag that comes with tickets to big name marquee shows. And if you do actually make it to a live performance, and your kids are already familiar with the songs, just watch their faces light up with recognition and delight.
   
   
6. Sometimes, lyrics can provide useful, age-appropriate teaching moments for littlies. In ‘Just Keep Swimming’ from Finding Nemo The Musical, Dory sings the following: ‘Sometimes things look bad. Then poof, the moment is gone! And what do we do? We just keep swimming on!’ I have used this lyric with my own kids, reminding them that they can work their way through challenges, and with persistence, will come out the other side.
   
   
7. With older kids, musicals can open up discussions around all kinds of important real- world issues, from history in Hamilton and The Sound of Music, poverty and injustice in Les Misérables, and mouth-watering lollies in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Ok, these aren’t all important issues, but that’s the beauty of musicals too—they can be deliciously light and frivolous.
   
   
8. Who knows, your family sing-alongs may help your child discover a passion of their own, for singing, dancing, composing, song-writing, costume design, or who knows what else. This passion could even lead your child to a glittering life on stage—but if it only leads them to a future singing and dancing with their own children in the living room, that would be amazing too.

---