Republic of the Philippines

PANGASINAN STATE UNIVERSITY

Urdaneta City, Pangasinan

Name: Grethel Joy H. Doria Rating:

Course, Year & Section: BEEd-2B Mr. John Paul Flores
Topic: Creative Movement, Creative Dramatics Instructor
and Dramatic Play

Creative Movement, Creative Dramatics and Dramatic Play

At the beginning of life, movement allows a child to explore the world and separate the me from
the not me. Movement and learning are inseparable. Infants repeat and refine movements to develop
control of this tool for learning and outlet for emotions. Providing a safe, open environment for
movement exploration is critically important. “Children need opportunities to express intent – to plan
and talk about what they are going to do before they act. They need opportunities to carry out their
plans and then recall what they have done. Planning and awareness are keys to thoughtful, purposeful
movement” (Weikart, 1989).

Movement is part of our social language by which we are able to communicate with others. The
art form of dance is a way of forming and sharing the way we respond to the world in which we live by
paying particular attention to experiences and giving them significance, particularly those experiences
that can be organized and ordered in bodily movement (Lowden, 1989).

Fundamental movement abilities include: steady beat independence, coordination, aural/visual

processing, attending and concentrating, special awareness, language acquisition, creativity and
problem solving, planning and decision making, and energy and vitality. Movement experiences need to
be engaging, enabling and extending (Weikart, 1989). Creative movement education:

• develops neural networks necessary for future learning;

• increases the child’s movement vocabulary, leading to competent and confident movement;

• increases the language vocabulary, particularly verbs and adverbs;

• is a source of personal meaning, significance and power through self-concept;

• offers opportunities to solve problems through physical action;

• provides opportunities to develop relationships with others through leading, following, allowing time
and space for others, and being a contributing member of a group; releases high energy or tension,
leading to relaxation; and
• provides imaginative ways to explore or practice concepts and skills from other subjects (Weikart,
1989).

Movement experiences are noncompetitive. Children learn about working with others and
about how to share space without interfering. They learn about their own bodies in space and how to
control movement, direction and tempo. Confidence, creative ideas and self-esteem all result from
quality music and movement curriculums.

Best Practices

The following best practices in the areas of creative movement and dance are recommended
for use by early childhood educators.

• Provide children with a vocabulary to describe their movements: high, low, under, as slow as, etc.; and
provide opportunities for children to talk about their movements.

• Move to show placement, e.g., over, around, through, on, in, next to; and to show emotions such as
anger, fear and happiness.

• Give directions for movement. Start with one step and gradually increase the complexity of the
directions as children’s skills develop. Start with large-motor coordination and build a movement
vocabulary before focusing on small-motor coordination.

• Use a variety of music, from classical or jazz to world music, to stimulate different types of movement.
Encourage children to notice changes in pitch and tempo and to adjust their movements.

• Involve all children in movement activities, but allow a choice of participation.

• Be prepared for the excitement that movement activities create. Begin slowly and be patient.

• Describe and label the children’s movements to encourage new and more elaborate movements (e.g.,
Xavier is walking on tip toes. Holly is spinning like a helicopter. Sam is stopping when the music stops and
listening before he begins again.).

• Use movement to illustrate the characters and action of stories. Sing songs with structured
movements such as Bluebird, Rig a Jig Jig, I’m a Little Teapot, or Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes.

• Move to music of different cultural groups, especially those represented in the class. Play mirror
games, by having pairs of children mirror one another. Children try following directions visually, while
keeping up with a friend’s actions (e.g., Follow Your Partner, Follow the Leader).

• Prepare children in advance to understand appropriate responses during movement activities. Some
children will see this time as an opportunity for physical stunts. Help children to understand where to
move, how to move, and when to start and stop.
Creative Movement as a Regular Part of the Young Child’s Curriculum a number of objectives may be
reached.

 Relaxation and freedom in the use of the body.

 Experience in expressing space, time and weight.
 Improvement of coordination and rhythmic interpretation.
 Increasing sensitivity on aesthetic judgments.

In order to provide the music or rhythm for creative movement, only a few items may be
necessary. Musical instructional materials and rhythmic movements.
Some basic concepts for the teacher to remember when working in this area are listed below:
 The teacher should make it clear that anything the children want to do is all right, as long as it
does not harm themselves and others.
 The children should understand that they do not have to do anything anyone else does. They
can do anything the music or idea tells them to do.
 The child should be allowed to copy someone for a start if desired.
 The children should understand that each child is different and people move in different ways.
 Dancing is a healthy form of exercise for everyone; it takes no special talent or skill to have fun.
 The children should have help in realizing the experiences of freedom of movement and the
relationship of movement to others.

Listening to Music
Listening to music is a natural way to introduce creative movement. Distinctive type of music or
rhythm should be chosen for initial movements.

The teacher may begin the experience by playing music on a phonograph. A record should be
chosen that has a strong and easily recognized beat or rhythm. The children should not be told what to
listen for. They should not be told the name of the selection or see the album cover. The teacher should
let them listen and then ask them to think what the music is saying to them.

While the children are listening, the teacher may turn the music down a bit lower and ask them
to form a circle facing inward. The teacher should talk about what the music is saying with each child.
Some of the children probably are already moving to the music by this time. And the teacher may join in
later. It should be suggested that the children may go anywhere in the room and do anything that the
music “tells” them to do. For this exercise, clapping, stomping and even shouting are all possible and
helpful. When appropriate, a quieter piece of music may be played to allow the children to risk and give
them a sense of context.

This general approached can be adapted to the movement of dolls and puppets and the
movement of specific parts of the body such as hands, feet or toes, and movement in different kinds of
space or group. The imagination of the children and the teacher are the only limit.
Creative Dramatics

Creative drama is an improvisational, non-exhibitional, process-oriented form ofdrama, where

participants are guided by a leader to imagine, enact, and reflect on experiences real and imagined
Creative Drama is an integrative process that develops imaginative thought and creative expression in
children. Through the use of movement, pantomime, improvisation, story dramatization and group
discussion, children acquire language and communication skills, social awareness, problem-solving
abilities, self-concept enhancement, and an understanding of theatre. Rather than an attempt to create
professional child actors, the goal of Creative Drama is to guide a child to self-fulfillment through the
process of theatre techniques.

In this introductory course to Creative Drama, teachers will learn to create and implement
drama exercises in their own classrooms and foster an environment where youngsters can feel
comfortable to work creatively and think critically. Students will analyze the works of theorists in the
field and be able to apply their ideas as well as formulate their own ideas into creative expression. Also,
students will learn to contribute to their own students' development as thinking, feeling, and creative
human beings.

Dramatic play
Dramatic play can be defined as a type of play where children accept and assign roles, and then
act them out. It is a time when they break through the walls of reality, pretend to be someone or
something different from themselves, and dramatize situations and actions to go along with the roles
they have chosen to play. And while this type of play may be viewed as frivolous by some, it remains an
integral part of the developmental learning process by allowing children to develop skills in such areas
as abstract thinking, literacy, math, and social studies, in a timely, natural manner.

The Proper Environment

In many classrooms the dramatic play area has traditionally been centered in “housekeeping”.
However, when we actually watch children play, we see them reinventing scenes that might take place
in other areas of life such as gas stations, building sites, department stores, classrooms, or libraries. This
should tell us, that in order to derive the full benefit from dramatic play as it relates to learning, early
educators should “set the stage” throughout the classroom.

The Dramatic Play Skill Set

There are basically six skills children work with and develop as they take part in dramatic play
experiences.
Role Playing – This is where children mimic behaviors and verbal expressions of someone or something
they are pretending to be. At first they will imitate one or two actions, but as time progresses they will
be able to expand their roles by creating several actions relevant to the role they are playing.
Use of Materials/Props – By incorporating objects into pretend play, children can extend or elaborate on
their play. In the beginning they will mainly rely on realistic materials. From there they will move on to
material substitution, such as using a rope to represent a fire hose, and progress to holding in their
hands in such as way to indicate that they are holding an actual hose.
Pretending/Make-Believe – All dramatic play is make-believe. Children pretend to be the mother,
fireman, driver, etc. by imitating actions they have witnessed others doing. As the use of dramatic play
increases, they begin to use words to enhance and describe their re-enactments. Some children may
even engage in fantasy, where the situations they are acting out aren’t pulled from real-life experiences.
Attention Span/Length of Time – Early ventures into the field of dramatic play may only last a few
minutes, but as the children grow, develop, and experience more, they will be able to incorporate
additional actions and words, which will lengthen the time they engage in such activities.
Social Skills/Interaction – Dramatic play promotes the development of social skills through interaction
with others, peers or adults. As children climb the social skill ladder of development through play, they
will move from pretending at the same time without any actual interaction, to pretending that involves
several children playing different roles and relating to each other from the perspective of their assigned
roles.
Communication – Dramatic play promotes the use of speaking and listening skills. When children take
part in this type of play, they practice words they have heard others say, and realize that they must
listen to what other “players” say in order to be able to respond in an appropriate fashion. It also
teaches them to choose their words wisely so that others will understand exactly what it is they are
trying to communicate.
Dramatic Play and Development
Dramatic play enhances child development in four major areas.
Social/Emotional – When children come together in a dramatic play experience, they have to agree on a
topic (basically what “show” they will perform), negotiate roles, and cooperate to bring it all together.
And by recreating some of the life experiences they actually face, they learn how to cope with any fears
and worries that may accompany these experiences. Children who participate in dramatic play
experiences are better able to show empathy for others because they have “tried out” being that
someone else for a while. They also develop the skills they need to cooperate with their peers, learn to
control their impulses, and tend to be less aggressive than children who do not engage in this type of
play.
Physical – Dramatic play helps children develop both gross and fine motor skills – fire fighters climb and
parents dress their babies. And when children put their materials away, they practice eye-hand
coordination and visual discrimination.
Cognitive – When children are involved in make-believe play, they make use of pictures they have
created in their minds to recreate past experiences, which is a form of abstract thinking. Setting a table
for a meal, counting out change as a cashier, dialing a telephone, and setting the clock promote the use
of math skills. By adding such things as magazines, road signs, food boxes and cans, paper and pencils to
the materials included in the area, we help children develop literacy skills. When children come together
in this form of play, they also learn how to share ideas, and solve problems together.
Language – In order to work together in a dramatic play situation, children learn to use language to
explain what they are doing. They learn to ask and answer questions and the words they use fit
whatever role they are playing. Personal vocabularies grow as they begin to use new words
appropriately, and the importance of reading and writing skills in everyday life becomes apparent by
their use of literacy materials that fill the area.
Dramatic play engages children in both life and learning. Its’ real value lies in the fact that it increases
their understanding of the world they live in, while it works to develop personal skills that will help
them meet with success throughout their lives.