Curious Parents Youth & The Arts Resources

Be a Cultural Explorer With Your Kids
Publisher's Note

“Well then, we must arrange a carriage for your trip to the ball …” The fairy godmother waved her wand and a bright glow arose from the prop tunnel at the back of the theatre.  A hundred and fifty versions of Cinderella’s coach appeared in the individual imaginations of the audience – each unique to the experience and imagination of the mind that formed it.  Belief was evident in the turned heads of the children sitting on the edge of their seats, their minds’ eyes seeing something that wasn’t really there.  This is the importance of live theatre (and books for that matter) – their ability to exercise the imagination of children and adults -  to help them each see a carriage when all that was provided was a bright light. 

Modern media – television, movies and video games – strive to make their productions ever more realistic.  Their technology and special effects increasingly do the work for our imaginations.  They fill the gaps that our imaginations would otherwise fill in.  Modern entertainment is less and less about exercising our imaginations and more and more about passively consuming alternative realities. 

I compare the excitement, wonder and joy of the children at the Hedgerow Theatre’s production of Cinderella, their animated conversation after the show with the numbed and dazed demeanor of my son and his friends after a couple of hours in front of Rune Scape or Halo 2.  There’s no doubt that they’re learning something from these games – their hand-eye coordination is sharp and their ability to process multiple input streams is great.  But their ability to imagine is not improved.   Similarly, I usually come away from recent movies thinking what a great visual experience, but there wasn’t much of a story and the characters were pretty flat.

Modern media create vivid visual and auditory experiences, but are typically one dimensional in character development and dialog.  Human beings are unique among the animals in our capacity for language and social interaction.  If we want our children to develop their language and social skills, to understand the elements of human existence, we need to expose them and educate them in the nuances of language, dialogue and character.  I believe that books and theatre can introduce them to a much richer experience in language, stories and character than most recent media productions with their emphasis on visual reality. 

Our area has diverse institutions dedicated to presenting rich cultural experiences for families and children.  Our theatres, museums, universities, bookstores and galleries produce a continuous selection of productions and exhibits with which we can supplement the cultural experience and development of our children.  This year, we will continue to present these to you in our Cool Happenings Family Calendar and Youth & the Arts sections of Curious Parents magazine and CuriousParents.com.  In addition, we will present “It’s a Date” a theatre review written by two local high school students covering local family theatre productions and their accompanying meals at local restaurant and dessert destinations.  Feel free to duplicate Juliet and Katie’s dates or create your own version for a cultural adventure with your family by looking up other cultural events in our Cool Happenings family calendar.  Either way, make sure you get out for a cultural adventure with your kids at least once a month this year – you’ll surprise yourself with some of the best conversations you’ve ever had with your kids.

John Piccone is the publisher of Curious Parents