I can rememeber the first time my grandmother took me to see a theater show — it was ‘The King & I’ and I was just enthralled! Growing up in a small town without regular theater or musical performances helped me to appreciate the great opportunities we have here in Kansas City.
A wonderful first exposure to live music is the UMKC Kid’s Club – a hidden gem for families! The Conservatory of Music & Dance at UMKC has a great program that introduces kids ages 3 – 8 to all types of music. Kid’s Club events are held four times each year and allow children to have a hands-on, interactive experience with music. Depending on the event, kids can be involved in making music, experiencing a kid-friendly ballet, or seeing how music is connected with a familiar story. I highly recommend attending one of their fun performances!
And I’m sure you’re familiar with some of the kid’s theater companies in Kansas City. One of my favorite thing about our local kid’s theatre shows are that they are so often related to great children’s literature! Talk about a fun way to get kids interested in reading — treat them to a show that brings a book to life.
Here are a few of the entertaining shows being held this season:
- The Coterie Theatre has been voted one of the top 5 kid’s theatre in the country! They are currently performing ‘Shrek, the Musical‘ which many people don’t realize is actually based on the book “Shrek” by William Steig. Older elementary kids will also enjoy ‘Number the Stars’, based on the book of the same name, that is being performed early in 2013.
- Theatre for Young America (also known as TYA) is a super-fun place for kids ages 2 – 10. Kids are encouraged to laugh out loud during the performance and ask questions after the show. Just in time for the holidays, you can take the kids to see ‘Junie B. Jones in Jingle Bells, Batman Smells’. And coming next year, both ‘Go Dog Go’ and ‘The Boxcar Children’ are sure to please!
- In addition to live theater, we also have one of the best puppet performance groups in the country — Paul Mesner Puppets never fails to entertain both kids and adults alike! And yes, more fun shows that are based on kids books! ‘Officer Buckle & Gloria’ is being performed in November, followed by the beautiful performance of ‘The Nativity’, an amazing show that includes puppets which are 7 feet tall!
For additional music and theatre shows during the holiday season, visit our Kansas City Holiday Events listing — and enjoy the show!!
This post is by my friend Jacquie Fisher who is the author and curator of KCEdventures. KC Edventures is an online resource that provides parents & grandparents with ideas to keep kids creative, curious and connected to the world around them. (In my speak, they give you ideas that combine hands-on, with books, and places to go in Kansas City.)