Theatrical activities in senior groups of preschool educational institutions

The role of theatrical activities

Due to the fact that theatrical activities are based on play, it is easy for a preschooler to understand the tasks that are assigned to him. He can easily create the image of his character, give him character and live his life with him. The child develops imagination and thinks more broadly.

theatrical performance

Attention! Participation in theatrical productions allows one to identify a creative personality at a very early age, thanks to which parents can develop the child in a direction that is interesting to him, which can become the basis for successful self-realization in adulthood.

With the help of theatrical performances, children activate their vocabulary, improve the change in intonation while pronouncing lines, and practice constructing dialogues.

Introducing preschoolers to the theater

Theatrical activities in the senior group open the world of art to the kids. The teacher first introduces the concept of theater and the rules of behavior in it. The children are told about different types of theater:

• classic;
• pantomime;
• puppet;
• musical;
• finger

After which the teacher begins exercises on the strength of sound - reads quatrains at different volume levels, reinforcing what is said with gestures. During the familiarization process, children learn discipline and train to listen carefully to the speaker.

Attention! If you present your child with information about the theater as something magical and interesting, a positive association with art will be fixed in his mind, thanks to which he will be happy to independently increase his level of cultural development in adulthood.

Mitten Theater

MAGAZINE Preschooler.RF

Teacher's pedagogical experience:

Tereshchenko N.N., Vad village

Municipal preschool educational institution kindergarten "Romashka"

Modern preschool institutions are looking for new humanistic, person-centered approaches to education. Today, many teachers are concerned about finding unconventional ways to interact creatively with children. How to make every activity with a child interesting and exciting, to simply and unobtrusively tell him about the most important thing - about the beauty and diversity of this world, how interesting it is to live in it? How to teach a child everything that is useful to him in this complex modern life? How to educate and develop his basic abilities: to hear, see, feel, understand, fantasize and invent?

The relevance of this problem is determined by the fact that the development of creative abilities in children contributes to the comprehensive development of the child’s personality and increases the opportunities for his further education. One of the most popular and exciting areas in preschool education is theatrical activities. It is theatrical activities that make it possible to solve many pedagogical problems related to the formation of the expressiveness of a child’s speech, intellectual and artistic-aesthetic education. By participating in theatrical games, children become participants in various events from the lives of people, animals, and plants, which gives them the opportunity to better understand the world around them. At the same time, theatrical play instills in the child a sustainable interest in his native culture, literature, and theater. The educational value of theatrical games is also enormous; children develop a respectful attitude towards each other, they learn the joy associated with overcoming communication difficulties and self-doubt.

My main goal is to develop the creative abilities of children through the means of theatrical art. Theatrical activity develops the child’s personality, instills a sustainable interest in literature and theater, improves the skill of embodying certain experiences in play, and encourages the creation of new images.

Tasks:

1. To consolidate children’s ideas about various types of puppet theaters, to be able to distinguish them and name them (table theater, toy theater, shadow theater, mitten theater, etc.)
2. To develop children’s speech with the help of puppet theater, to improve the ability to convey the emotional state of characters through facial expressions, gestures, and body movements.
3. Develop memory, thinking, imagination, attention of children.

Expected results:

• Enrich children's vocabulary with nouns, adjectives, adverbs.
• Increase children's speech activity.
• Encourage students to speak in complete sentences and write fairy tales.
• Develop elements of creativity and initiative; with the help of the teacher, participate in the staging and dramatization of folk tales.
• To instill in children an interest and love for fiction.

The use of non-traditional forms in theatrical activities:

• Non-traditional form of conducting classes (the content of such classes is not only familiarization with the text, but also with gestures, facial expressions, movements, costumes)
• The use of bright, non-traditional subject equipment for the lesson: a set of soft modules as decorations that allow you to change the plot of the theatrical performance, non-traditional materials for the production of various types of theater.

I have been working on this topic for three years. I started my work by selecting different types of theaters. Then she actively began to use theater in her classes, staging theatrical performances with children. The guys in my group showed such fairy tales as “Turnip”

,
“Kolobok”
,
“The Tale of the Cockerel”
,
“Geese and Swans”
,
“How the Hares Built a House” (appendix)
.

Chapter 1. Puppet theater as an art form

1. 1. Puppet theater in kindergarten

Theater is one of the most democratic and accessible forms of art for children. It allows you to solve many pressing problems of modern pedagogy and psychology related to:

• art education and raising children.
• formation of aesthetic taste.
• moral education
• development of personal communicative qualities.
• education of will, development of memory, imagination, fantasy and speech.
• creating a positive emotional mood, relieving tension and conflicts through play.

Theater not only reveals the spiritual and creative potential of a child, but also gives him a real opportunity to adapt in the social sphere. It has a great influence on the comprehensive development of the child’s personality.

From pedagogical practice it is clear that children most of all love to play with theatrical dolls, show performances, and improvise. Playing with a theatrical doll, the child, on behalf of the hero, talks about his thoughts and feelings; with the help of the doll, he can express and regulate his own experiences. By playing with dolls and interacting with other people, timid children begin to understand the process of communicating with peers and as adults, they will be able to behave differently and, depending on the situation, show persistence.

Modern children do not have a sufficient understanding of the life of their ancestors, their way of life, traditions and customs. Folk festivals and fun occupied a very noticeable place in the life of the Russian people. The foundations of the future professional theater were born in the fair festivities. Studying the history of Russian culture and participating in performances will help children better understand the traditions of their people.

Puppet theater is an art that children are introduced to at an early stage of their lives and is a favorite children's show. Children are often afraid of Santa Claus, Bear and other characters performed by actors on the stage of theaters, but they enjoy playing with toys that depict them as small. Accustomed to the small size of toys, they are not afraid of the wolf or Baba Yaga, they even shake their fingers and drive them away. Therefore, a puppet theater for little ones even has some advantages over a theater in which human artists perform. It has long become a necessary component in the life of our kindergarten “Romashka”

.

What is the importance of puppet theater for the development of preschool children?

• Our puppet theater influences young spectators with a whole range of artistic means. When showing puppet theater performances, both the artistic word and a visual image are used: a doll, picturesque and decorative design, a song, and musical accompaniment.
• The professional use of puppet theater is of great help in everyday work with children for the development of mental, moral, and aesthetic education in children. Creates a good mood for children, enriches them with impressions, evokes emotions in them, promotes the development of patriotism and artistic education. The happy smiles, sparkling eyes and joyful faces of our children during the performance convincingly demonstrate how much children love puppet theater and eagerly await the opening of the curtain.
• Its educational value is very important. During the preschool period, the child begins to develop character, interests, and attitude towards the environment. It is at this age that it is very useful to show children examples of friendship, kindness, love for Russia, honesty, truthfulness, hard work, to show tears and laughter, and the way of modern life.
• Puppet theater, by its nature, is close and understandable to young children and therefore has a huge emotional impact on them. On the stage of our theater they see familiar and favorite dolls and toys. When the “come to life” dolls begin to move and speak, they transport children to a completely new, fascinating world, the world of living toys, where everything is unusual, everything is possible and attractive.
• Music is an important component of the performance and aesthetic education of children. It sets off, sets the character and rhythm of each character, each mise-en-scène, and emphasizes the rhythmic movements of the dolls and their mood. A puppet theater performance does not take place without the singing and dancing of puppets, which children love and know very much. Music shapes, gives volume and charisma to the performance. Familiar melodies and songs bring children and heroes closer together. It is very good when children themselves sing a song with the hero and dance during a break in the performance along with the heroes, performing familiar movements in games and dances.

You can start introducing children to puppet theater from the first junior group. Teachers and older preschoolers show small performances to the kids, using various types of theaters for this purpose: picture theater, bi-ba-bo theater.

By the end of the year, children of the first junior group, having accumulated some experience, try to independently participate in a puppet show. This desire must be supported, developed and strengthened. A finger theater is suitable for this purpose.

For children of the second youngest group, the simplest and most accessible theater is a puppet theater on the table.

In the middle group we move on to more complex theater. We introduce children to the theater screen and to riding dolls and puppets.

In the older group, you should introduce children to puppets, show them dolls with a “living hand”

.

1. 2.Types of puppet theaters

In our kindergarten we make and use puppets ourselves in working with children in the following types of puppet theater:

• picture theater
• theater on flannelgraph
• table theater
• theater of boxes, balls, cylinders.
• finger theater
• mitten theater
• toy theater
• Bi-ba-bo theater
• shadow theater

Picture theater, flannelgraph theater and table theater - it is the easiest to make and display. Kids can draw and cut out such a theater themselves. They will draw pictures, silhouettes and come up with their own stories for them. Everything here is flat and the dolls and decorations, the flannelgraph, are shown on a special board (covered with flannel)

, tabletop theater - on a stage-table.
Everything is available cut out of paper or cardboard. The purpose of such theaters is to add variety to play in groups, to make the toy more interesting for them, to entertain and please children with something made with their own hands. Games with flannelgraph develop creative abilities and contribute to their aesthetic education. Little children love to look at pictures in books, but if the pictures are shown to be moving and actionable, they will enjoy it even more (application)
.

The toy theater is all three-dimensional. The toys used are ordinary children's ones, bought in a store, plus various things may be needed for display: dishes, a basket, a crib. It is desirable that all toys be of the same texture. Such a presentation helps to create a more vivid perception and develops children’s spatial and figurative vision. The content of the scene should be extremely simple, without movements and actions that are difficult for toys to perform. To show that the toy is walking, we move it slowly forward; if it is running, move it faster. During the show, you should sit calmly in front of the audience, look at the operating toy, do not make unnecessary movements and avoid unnecessary facial expressions, so as not to distract attention from what is happening on stage, do not keep your free hand on the table, but immediately remove it (application)

. Goal: to improve the ability to convey the emotional state of characters using puppeteering techniques.

Theater of boxes, balls, cylinders - children make themselves from ready-made materials: boxes and balls. All that remains is to draw or glue - eyes, noses, ears, horns, bows and aprons, hooves and shoes. And what is needed for a little fairy tale. The children themselves will offer a lot of interesting things while working (application)

. The purpose of such theaters is to add variety to the game, make the toy more interesting for children, entertain and delight them with something made with their own hands.

Theater of fingers - small bags made of fabric and placed on children's fingers. These bags have elements of animals and the image of people (application)

. Goal: develop fine motor skills of the hands, improve gestures.

Theater of mittens - children's mittens and gloves. No need to overload with real details (application)

. Goal: to develop the ability to drive dolls, independently invent movements to create an image, and develop fine motor skills.

Bi-ba-bo theater - the doll is put on the hand, where the index finger is the head, and the fingers on the right and left are the hands (application)

.
Goal: to consolidate the skills of controlling dolls with a “living hand”
, enrich children’s vocabulary, and develop clear and correct diction.

Shadow theater is silhouettes of plots and puppets, cut out of cardboard and covered with black ink (application)

. Goal: to develop children’s imagination, teach them to interact collectively and consistently with each other, showing their individuality.

In order for puppet performances to be professionally bright, we adults first learn to use theatrical puppets ourselves. The stage of our theater is a screen. The action of puppets and scenery takes place on it. Behind the screen are the puppeteers with their puppets with attributes for the performance.

1. 3. Theatrical games

Theatrical art is close and understandable to children, because the basis of theater is play. As children develop independence, more and more new ideas for theatrical games emerge, the impetus for the development of which are fairy tales, short stories, stories, cartoons, which arouse the desire to play with their vivid images and interesting plots. Play is the most accessible and interesting way for a child to process and express impressions, knowledge and emotions. In theatrical play, emotional development occurs: children get acquainted with the feelings and moods of the characters, master the ways of their external expression, and understand the reasons for this or that mood. Theatrical play is also of great importance for speech development (improving dialogues and monologues, mastering the expressiveness of speech)

. Finally, theatrical play is a means of self-expression and self-realization for the child.

The characteristic features of theatrical games are the literary or folklore basis of their content and the presence of spectators. They can be divided into two main groups: dramatizations and directorial ones.

In dramatization games, the child plays a role as an “artist”

, independently creates an image using a set of means of verbal and non-verbal expressiveness. Types of dramatization are:

• games that imitate images of animals, people, literary characters;
• role-playing dialogues based on text;
• staging of works; staging performances based on one or more works;
• improvisation games with the acting out of a plot (or several plots)
  without prior preparation.

In director's play, “the actors are toys or their substitutes, and the child, organizing the activity, is a “scriptwriter and director”

, manages
the “artists”
.
“Voicing”
the characters and commenting on the plot, he uses different means of verbal expression. The types of director's games are determined in accordance with the variety of theaters used in kindergarten.

Theatrical activities simultaneously perform cognitive, educational and developmental functions.

By participating in theatrical games, children learn about the world around them and become participants in events in the lives of people, animals and plants. The themes of theatrical games can be varied.

The educational value of theatrical games lies in the formation of a respectful attitude of children towards each other and the development of collectivism. Particularly important are the moral lessons of fairy-tale games that children receive as a result of a joint analysis of each game.

Theatrical games develop children's creative activity. Children become interested when they not only speak, but also act like fairy-tale characters.

In theatrical play, children imitate the movements of the characters, while their coordination is improved and a sense of rhythm is developed. And movements, in turn, increase the activity of the speech-motor analyzer.

From game to game, children’s activity increases, they memorize the text, transform, enter into character, and master the means of expression. Children begin to feel responsible for the success of the game.

Speaking in front of the audience, children overcome shyness and embarrassment and mobilize their attention. All these qualities will have a beneficial effect on the child’s educational activities at school and will help him feel confident among his peers.

So, theatrical play is one of the most effective ways to influence a child, in which the learning principle is most clearly manifested: learn by playing!

Chapter 2. Theatrical activity as a process of interaction, communication and learning

2. 1.Theatrical activities as a priority direction of my teaching activity

It is important to introduce the little man to theater, literature, and painting from early childhood. The sooner you start, the greater results you can achieve. Working in the kindergarten "Romashka"

, I chose theatrical activity as one of my priority areas.

Starting from the 2nd junior group until graduation, I teach children the basics of acting and at the same time introduce them to various types of puppet theaters. For this purpose, I use artistic and finger games, games for the expressiveness of movements, their plasticity and coordination.

Types of theatrical activities

Theatrical games in the senior group can be divided into two main types: dramatic and directorial. Children begin to master the second on their own when they play with toys: they control plush performers, speak for them, move them, and build relationships between toys.

The dramatic type of activity involves the child’s independent performance as an artist using various techniques of expressive speech.

Children as artists

Open classes

Open lessons on theatrical activities attract children with their naturalness. In the improvised auditorium sit not only familiar children and teachers, but also invited guests - parents and other teachers. The purpose of such a lesson is to demonstrate children’s involvement in art, the children’s ability to clearly and distinctly pronounce lines, and not be embarrassed by the audience.

Most often, such classes use costumes created by children together with their parents. Each child who takes part in the formation of his image becomes more closely connected with his character and is sensitive to his fate.

Drawing lesson on the theme “Girl dancing” for the middle group

Attention! Sometimes it is enough to let a preschooler decorate the mask of his hero so that he feels responsible for the fate of the character.

In some preschool institutions, during music classes, children are given cards with images of characters. Having each received their role, the guys play “Turnip”, “Kolobok” or “Teremok” to the accompaniment.

Drama games

Dramatizations allow preschool children to reveal their directing abilities. One student can control several characters at once, and children are often so carried away that they involuntarily adjust the intonation of their voice individually for each character. During such performances, children learn the significance of emotions and practice their facial and intonation demonstration. The definition of character is fixed - all the heroes in the fairy tale are different, each with their own temperamental characteristics.

It is not uncommon for teachers to put on several theatrical performances each season, reinforcing the study of nature and weather patterns through play. For example, in winter, children are invited to dramatize the process of preparing various animals for wintering: some fill bins with food, insulate their homes; others gorge themselves and hibernate, while others go to warmer climes.

Toy range for director's play

Self-analysis in planning theater activities

Experienced teachers, before drawing up an art teaching project for a year or a season, conduct a survey of parents, from which they learn about the degree of emotional liberation of the children, the clarity of the child’s speech at home, the ability to use facial expressions and gestures during communication and the inclinations to empathy .

After conducting the survey, the teacher becomes clear which aspects should be paid more attention to and which ones less when compiling a card index of theatrical games in the group.

Important! Self-analysis reveals the main directions in which the selected material should be worked on and identifies weaknesses in the emotional development of children.

Conversation on the topic “Getting to know the theater” with children of the senior group

DRAMA THEATER

In a drama theater, actors are talking. The playwright talks about the characters and events in the play through dialogues.

THEATER OF BEASTS

The oldest theater exists in Moscow - the theater of V. L. Durov. “Grandfather Durov’s Corner”, where animals perform: hippopotamus, elephant, raven, pelican, raccoon and many others.

PUPPET SHOW

There are puppet theaters where spectators look not at live performers, but at puppets controlled by the performers: glove dolls, marionette dolls, shadow theater.

AUDITORIUM

Let's take a look at the auditorium. The most important place in the auditorium is the stage on which the performance is performed. The scene itself is not yet visible. It is still closed with a curtain. If you are sitting far from the stage, you will need theater binoculars, which you can bring with you or purchase from the cloakroom.

PARTERRE, BENOIR, MENS ELECTA, 1st LEVEL, 2ND LEVEL, BALCONY

ORCHESTRA PIT. Musical operas and ballets, in opera the artists sing, they are called soloists, and they are assisted by choreographers and an orchestra. The orchestra is led by a conductor so that the musicians play in the same rhythm and tempo, and in ballet the artists dance. A choreographer helps them in staging the dance. The musicians are sitting in the orchestra pit. The orchestra pit is a special room for the orchestra in the theater, located in front of the stage.

A CURTAIN. What is a theater curtain? This is a canvas that covers the stage from the audience. The performance will begin as soon as the curtain rises or moves apart, as they are sliding or rising.

SCENERY. The scenery for the performance is made in the workshop according to the sketches of the decorative artists. The scenery for the performance is made in the painting and decoration workshop according to the artists’ sketches.

PROPS. Props are fake, specially made objects of sculpture, furniture, and dishes used in theatrical performances instead of real things. A theater worker who makes props is called a prop maker. Crockery, food, weapons, and furniture can be props.

SPOTS. With the help of spotlights, lighting designers can depict sunrise or sunset, flashes of lightning, starry skies and much more on stage.

During a performance, a sound operator can turn on a soundtrack: the sound of rain or the roar of waves, the roar of a crowd or the whistle of the wind - depending on what is happening on stage at that time.

MAKE-UP MAKER. Before the performance, the make-up artist applies makeup to the actors. An experienced master can change an actor's face beyond recognition. Actors for a performance may need a variety of costumes - ancient, modern, and even fairy-tale.

The entire costume must first be designed and then drawn by the artist. The tailors will then bring his ideas to life. Masters can paint a piece of burlap in such a way that from the audience it will seem like rich brocade, velvet or silk.

Theater project in the senior group

Play theater should be a constant presence in children's lives. To do this, teachers keep notes on theater activities, where they distribute various types of performances, evenly distributed throughout the academic year.

The results of the lessons in the garden are:

• communicative development of children of different ages;
• familiarization with the history of the origin of the theater and its purpose;
• joint creation of props and stage images;
• increasing parents' attention to the creative activities of preschoolers;
• creating a screen for further use by children in independent theatrical performances.

Making your own actors

The theater design should reflect the needs of children's development in accordance with their age characteristics. Often, children need to give free rein to their imagination to organize their own theatrical performance. So, children 4-5 years old can quite successfully put on a show using only spoons. A healthy imagination is enough to mentally endow each spoon with appearance, character, and create a fictional image. Even at the stage of self-analysis, teachers find out the pupils’ ability to think outside the box, leaving the child, as if by accident, alone at the table with two or three spoons. Some children begin to get bored over time and look in the direction of their frolicking peers, while others, already in the first minute, take up spoons and begin to play with them like dolls.

Methods for diagnosing attention in preschoolers

Additional Information! Children who are unable to create instruments for play from everyday objects using their imagination especially need theater, which will allow them to develop non-standard thinking and relieve them of emotional constraint.

Card index of theatrical games

According to the Federal State Educational Standard, each group must have a card index of theatrical games, selected in accordance with the interests of the children, their emotional needs and characteristics.

Popular games included in the card index for the senior group of preschool educational institutions:

• Finger Theater "The Fox and the Hare". The production involves 6 children - 5 characters and one who is responsible for the words of the author. Children wear characters on their fingers, who take turns appearing on stage.
• Classic production "Granddaughter Snow Maiden". The whole group can participate - 5 main characters and secondary roles assigned to the Snow Maiden’s many girlfriends.
• The director's work "Emelya", in which one child can participate, controlling all the characters at once, or several children sharing all the roles among themselves. The production should include a model of a furnace and an ice hole, in the creation of which the entire group took part.
• A dramatization of the fairy tale “Fear has big eyes.” The production involves 6 children, including the author reading the words.
• Mitten theatricalization of the fairy tale “The Fox and the Jug.” 3 children participate in the production; hands and intonation are actively involved.

Additional Information! Before starting to prepare theatrical presentations and performances, children need to be familiarized with the work. Answer all their questions that arise along the way. Explain the idea of ​​the work and its moral. Once the children understand the meaning of the fairy tale, they will be happy to try to play it.

Classes in preschool institutions are organized by professionals, teachers with experience and professional education. At home, arranging such a useful activity will not be difficult if you direct ordinary children's play in the right direction. To do this, you need to spend a little effort on creating a theater corner in which each fairy tale will be shown. And noisy, aimless children's play will instantly turn into priceless creative development.

The first do-it-yourself puppet theater - printable templates

Traditional fabric dolls are more difficult to care for and are not suitable for all children. But any child can handle paper products. Place a cone with a picture on the finger, suitable for each child.

It is advisable to introduce the little ones to simpler fairy tales:

1. Teremok.
2. Kolobok.
3. Chicken Ryaba.
4. Turnip.

We will need:

• scissors;
• Printer;
• PVA glue.

All templates must be printed, cut out and connected together. Fairy tale “Teremok”. The details are presented in the form of a regular tabletop puppet theater. This is the basis for the tower, scenery and characters. The main advantage of this performance is free hands.

Fairy tale “Turnip”. Contains images of more modern graphics. The theater is easy to use, which all kids will appreciate.

For variety, take note of another version of the fairy tale “Turnip”.

The same fairy tale, only in the form of a didactic game.

Fairy tale “Kolobok”. It is presented in the form of a walking theatre, which makes it easy to involve children in participating in the performance. The templates have special holes for fingers to control the figures.

Consider the second version of templates for the fairy tale “Kolobok”.

And here is the third option.

Fairy tale “Ryaba Hen”. Includes figurines of fairy tale characters in two versions. The background for the performance can be constructed from scrap materials.

Are your kids excited for the New Year? Then involve New Year's characters in your theater. Cool scenarios can be found on the Internet or come up with yourself. Below you will find matching figures and decorations.

And here is the New Year's fairy tale theater “Moroz Ivanovich”. With script, bright pictures and instructions.

An audio tale will make the task of voicing paper characters easier. You will only need to carry out what you hear.