April 9, 2015

An EASY Way to Put on a Play With Kindergartners!

Easy Way to Put on a Play FBEasy Way to Put on a Play FB

Today we have a great idea for a totally EASY way to put on a class play with Kindergartners or first graders with minimal costumes, minimal investment, and a part for every child in your class!  Below is a guest post from my new friend Lindsey Law from the blog Miss Law’s Kinders! , opens in a new tab I discovered this great blog when she tagged me with the photo of her class putting on my Wide Mouthed Frog play below on Instagram!  I was delighted by the happy smiles of this “class selfie” with the children all in their cute little masks, all ready to put on their play!

Easy Way to Put on a Play
 

But I had to know:  where in the world did those masks come from?  When I did the play, I spent quite a bit on animal hats and costumes, but it looked like Miss Law did it just as well on a shoestring budget.  So I asked her how she did it, and she directed me to her blog post on it, which you see below.  I have since discovered that she also has some really NEAT looking items on her TPT store as well, opens in a new tab (I saw photos of them on her Instagram account!!!  I want, I want, I want!!!)  Lindsey agreed to share her post on how she did this play with us here.  I’m going to add few comments of my own in italics, too.  Enjoy!

Teacher taking a selfie with smiling kindergartners wearing frog, monkey, elephant, and lion masks for a classroom play
 

Hi!  I’m Lindsey Law, from Miss Law’s Kinders, opens in a new tab!  This past Friday, we performed our class play by HeidiSongs, “The Story of the Wide Mouthed Frog.” The play was absolutely precious, and I am so incredibly proud of how well my Kinders did. I wanted to share with you some pictures from the play.

Kindergartners in animal masks acting out Wide-Mouthed Frog on a gym mat, text misslawskinders.blogspot.com
 

Wide Mouthed Frogs

Four children wearing green frog masks crouching on a red stage in front of paper cattails as they perform a class play
 

Three children in elephant masks on hands and knees on a carpeted floor performing a play; 'misslawskinders.blogspot.com' visible
 

Monkeys

Three children in monkey masks by a paper palm tree on a school gym stage, misslawskinders.blogspot.com printed at the bottom
 

Lions

Three kindergarten children crawling on a carpet while wearing lion masks for a class play
 

& a Crocodile

Child in a green crocodile mask crawling on a classroom carpet stage next to large paper cattail props, smiling
 

To put on this play, the children just need to learn some simple songs and act out the story while the teacher narrates.  It’s the narration that prompts them and helps them know what to do next, so they don’t have to remember very much on their own.

“The Story of the Wide Mouthed Frog” goes a little something like this:
The Mother Wide Mouthed Frog and her babies went in search of food to feed her babies.

(Each time the characters do something, there is a simple song about it with movements.)

Kindergarten children in frog masks crouch on a red mat performing a classroom production of the Wide-Mouthed Frog
 

They came across Elephants, Monkeys, and Lions and asked them what they feed their babies. The Mother Wide Mouthed Frog realized that she can’t feed the same things to her babies, and continues to search for the best possible food.

Four kindergarteners in green frog masks pointing offstage during a school play on a gym stage with cardboard reeds
 

(Each group of characters take their turn on the stage to be featured singing their songs and doing their movements to it.  You can have as many or as few of each animal as you like, so that each child gets a part no matter what.)

Kindergarten students perform a classroom play wearing monkey and elephant masks; overlaid misslawskinders.blogspot.com
 

That is, at least, until they came across a Crocodile. Mother Wide Mouthed Frog quickly realized the mistake she had made by talking to the Crocodile when he tells her that he feeds his babies Wide Mouthed Frogs.

Kindergartners wearing green frog masks performing the Wide Mouthed Frog play on a school stage with paper cattail props
 

After the scare of getting eaten by the Crocodile, the Wide Mouthed Frogs all returned home and never left again.
This play ends with an adorable song that all of the characters sing together.

Kindergarten children wearing animal masks perform a frog-themed classroom play while standing on a blue sheet used as a pond
 

Kindergartners in animal masks performing a class play on a red stage mat, watermark www.misslawskinders.blogspot.com
 

I highly recommend Heidi Songs Primary Plays, opens in a new tab such as this one for your own Kinders. Each play is able to accommodate all class sizes, and is simple enough for the younger kiddos to perform.

If you are interested in doing this play in your own class, click the picture below to visit the HeidiSongs website to purchase the CD, or you can click here to see all of the primary plays, opens in a new tab she has to offer.

Front view of CD and DVD combo The Story of the Wide Mouthed Frog showcasing smiling cartoon frog and HeidiSongs logo on white background
Each CD or DVD is $15 each. (You need the music CD to put on the play. The DVD is only for reference so you can see what the play looks like.)
 

 

Also, the costumes for this play were a piece of cake. I was able to find the masks for each character on the Silhouette Design Store, opens in a new tab, and I was able to quickly print them using my friend’s Silhouette and then laminated and cut. I added some string and asked parents to have their child wear the color of their character to school for the play, and voila! Parents didn’t have to search for expensive costumes, and I didn’t have to really worry about any of my students not having a costume on the day of the play because no matter what, I had the masks for them.

Lindsey Law logo
Click here to visit Lindsey’s blog, Miss Law’s Kinders, opens in a new tab.
 

, opens in a new tab Instagram profile for Miss Law's Kinders
 

, opens in a new tab Lindsey Law Store on Teachers Pay Teachers
 

, opens in a new tab Facebook profile for Miss Law's Kinders
 

————

Follow me!   Did you enjoy this post? Do me a favor and share it with your friends!  And follow this blog by signing up email updates, or follow on Bloglovin’, opens in a new tab, or follow me on TPT, opens in a new tab!
I’m also on Go to PinterestPinterest, opens in a new tabGo to FacebookFacebook, opens in a new tabTwitter, opens in a new tabGoogle+, opens in a new tab and Go to YouTubeYouTube, opens in a new tab, too!  Don’t forget to sign up for our email newsletter (on the left sidebar) for special deals and promo codes that you won’t find out about anywhere else.