Drama Techniques: Expression and Creativity in Pre-Primary and Primary Education

Description

For young children, movement, play, and interaction with others play a fundamental part in the learning process.

That is particularly true for Pre-Primary and Primary classrooms, where embodied activities can help students express their emotions, develop social skills, and build positive group relationships.

This course’s goal is to introduce educators to practical movement-based and theatre-inspired approaches that can help them support expression, collaboration, and creativity among young learners.

The course will draw on practices from a whole range of different areas (such as physical theatre, dance, and non-formal education), allowing participants to explore how this kind of body-based activity can be used in kindergarten or in the Primary classroom to strengthen communication, imagination, and empathy.

Throughout the course, participants will have the opportunity to engage in experiential workshops involving movement exploration, improvisation, storytelling, and engaging group games.

Through these activities, they will understand how relevant non-verbal communication and rhythm are in supporting children’s emotional expression, self-awareness, and participation in the classroom.

Furthermore, character creation techniques will be used to foster empathy, while natural elements will serve as metaphors to unlock movement and explore emotional expression and relational understanding.

By the end of the programme, participants will have evolved skills to create a safe, participatory learning environment that promotes self-expression and empathy.

They will leave with an enriched toolkit of experiential activities designed to strengthen group cohesion, active participation, and creative collaboration – ready to integrate theatre and dance practices meaningfully into their educational or youth work settings.

Learning outcomes

The course will help participants:

• Access and express their own playfulness and creativity;
• Use movement-based and theatre-inspired activities to support expression and creativity in young learners;
• Experience a journey of personal and collaborative growth;
• Facilitate simple embodied games that strengthen collaboration and group cohesion in early classrooms;
• Apply body awareness and non-verbal communication methods in a Primary classroom setting;
• Devise characters and narratives through physical theatre techniques;
• Use storytelling, improvisation, and character creation to encourage imagination and emotional expression;
• Design age-appropriate creative activities inspired by movement and nature;
• Guide collaborative non-verbal tasks that promote participation and confidence among children.

Tentative schedule

Day 1 – Course introduction

• Introduction to the course, the school, and the external week activities;
• Icebreaker activities;
• Presentations of the participants’ schools.

Group Building – Introduction

• Introduction to embodied learning in early education;
• Setting common values, agreements and expectations.

Day 2 – Body awareness and movement

• Developing body awareness and observation;
• Movement exploration and playful physical exercises;
• Building trust and communication through movement-based exercises;
• Reflection on expression and non-verbal communication.

Day 3 – Physical theatre and character building

• Body sculptures exercises for character creation;
• Exploring rhythm, presence, and physical expression;
• Group improvisation and collective storytelling;
• Reflecting on the relation between character, emotion, and body sculpture, and on collaborative practices.

Day 4 – Movement inspired by the elements of nature

• Exploring movement qualities of the elements (earth, air, fire, water);
• Developing and approaching characters based on the elements;
• Reflecting on embodiment and the use of metaphor in early childhood activities.

Day 5 – Collective creativity

• Non-verbal collaboration games and ensemble activities;
• Creative ensemble tasks or pre-primary and primary classrooms;
• Reflection on teamwork, non-verbal communication, and facilitation strategies.

Day 6 – Course closure and cultural activities

• Course evaluation: round-up of acquired competencies, feedback, and discussion;
• Awarding of the course Certificate of Attendance;
• Excursion and other external cultural activities.

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