How to Nurture a Child’s Talent in the Performing Arts

Does your child dream of becoming a future Tony Award winner? If you think your child loves the stage, then the pre-school years are actually a good time to start honing his or her acting talent. 

Cecile Tamura, Vice President for Parents of the Philippine Association of the Gifted, says that the pre-school age is the stage of development where kids begin to apply what they have learned in their earlier years, with emotional development beginning to partner with their cognitive development. 

Between 0 and 7 years old, a child’s imagination, sense of wonder, and knack for mimicry are at their peak. “Toddlers are natural actors; they have less inhibitions compared to adults,” said Tamura. “The child is becoming more and more curious. The character of the child and his interests will begin to emerge at this age. He inquires a lot and he starts developing passion for things”. 

Irene Delarmente, Trumpets Playshop instructor, also finds the pre-school age a good time to encourage a child to discover the inner actor in him as she feels that this is the stage that children are at their most curious and imaginative. “Pre-schoolers are just bursting with so much enthusiasm and energy and they are oh-so eager to explore and absorb things. You just give them a little nudge and they can work wonders! You’ll be amazed at the things they can come up with creatively!” she says. 

“I personally think that if you plant the ‘creative seed’ in them this early and continually nurture their interest, enthusiasm and passion as they grow up, chances are they would end up as artistic individuals,” continues Delarmente. “Children are basically ‘sponges’ and if you give them the proper guidance and encouragement, any lesson that you introduce to them at this age will potentially become habit-forming.” 

 

[previous|page|next]

She also says that introducing the art of performing to pre-school kids is beneficial in a big way because they will mainly learn about the values of being more confident, self-accepting and sociable. 

“These are the building blocks of a confident, secure and great performer. Through acting lessons, their observation, sensory awareness, memory and speech skills are also enhanced. They experience and learn about working with a team and overcoming inhibitions,” she explains.

At the Trumpets Children’s Theater, students can build their self-confidence and self-acceptance, and ultimately shine in their own way. 

“As Children’s Theater teachers, we primarily lay the foundation for them to accept and love their uniqueness and individuality, and then lead them to accept, respect and love others’ uniqueness as well.

This is the core of pre-school acting lessons,” Delarmente says. 

These objectives are achieved through a series of simple theater games that work on the most basic principles of inhibition, teamwork, music, voice and movement, imagination, improvisation and role-playing. “For example, our music exercises initially cover music appreciation and voice projection, and then we proceed to simple topics like low and high pitch, loud and soft sounds, fast and slow beats etc. Our movement exercises focus on basic motor skills appropriate for their age. Children get the feeling that they are just playing and enjoying when in fact, they are already actually learning. We also supplement with a lot of storytelling and mini-puppet shows to sometimes illustrate a point,” Delarmente explains. 
Delarmente also says that nurturing a child’s love for acting or performing is a process. 

 

[previous|page|next]

“First, it would greatly help if you expose them to the performing arts - initially through stage plays, puppetry, films etc. Then, identify if their awareness turns into an interest. This is really important because children learn better if they love and enjoy what they are into,” she advises. 

If the child really enjoys performing, Delarmente encourages parents to enroll him or her in acting lessons where he or she can be with children who share their passion. She also says that to supplement these lessons at home, parents can play around with their child's imagination and creativity since they play a pivotal role in the development of their child’s talents, especially during these years. “Role-play and pretend with them....tell stories and act out the characters with them...sing and dance with them. This whole learning environment at home greatly helps in the nurturing process,” she says. 

Early this year, Promil Pre-School, Trumpets Playshop and the Philippine Association for the Gifted collaborated to come up with the i-Shine Talent Camp, which gave children from all over the country an opportunity to showcase their talents in singing, dancing and acting through various workshops. Celebrity mentors and leading talent schools also participated in this project. 


Photography by Stephanie Esguerra