How Live Theater Teaches Kids Empathy and Big Feelings with Lynne Streeter Childress
Some of the most important things children learn happen when they are sitting in an audience. In this episode of A Fresh Story, Olivia Howell talks with playwright and teaching artist Lynne Streeter Childress about why live theater matters for kids and families, and how it helps children practice empathy, kindness, and naming what they feel. This conversation is for parents, caregivers, and anyone raising children through a season of change.
Meet Lynne Streeter Childress
Lynne is a playwright, teaching artist, theater director, and producer of theater for young audiences. She is the founding artistic director of Building Better People Productions, based in Annapolis, Maryland, where everything she creates is about treating yourself and other people better. She also co-hosts the podcast Fine Beats and Cheeses with her sister, Leslie Gray Streeter. You can follow Lynne on Instagram.
Key takeaways
- The audience is part of the show. Lynne explains that live theater changes depending on who is in the room, which teaches kids that their presence matters.
- Audience skills are friendship skills. Watching, listening, and responding with care are the same habits that help children become good friends and good listeners.
- Start small. Community theater and children's theater expect kids to react out loud, which makes them a comfortable first step before bigger productions.
- Let them laugh. Kids do not need to be silent to be good audience members.
- Children notice which feelings the adults around them welcome. Lynne's show Feeling All the Feelings grew out of her son's honest answer to a second-grade writing assignment during the pandemic.
- Olivia shares how a family play, staged the same month her children's father moved out, helped her kids feel part of something bigger.
Mentioned in this episode
- Feeling All the Feelings, Lynne's one-person show about emotional health. Two free performances on Saturday, October 24 at 11:00 AM and 12:30 PM at Highwire Improv on Conkling Street in Baltimore, as part of Free Fall Baltimore. An ASL interpreter will be at both performances.
- Building Better People Productions
- Fine Beats and Cheeses podcast
- You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown
- Cats: The Jellicle Ball
Where to listen
Listen to this episode of A Fresh Story on Spotify. You can also follow along on the Fresh Starts podcasts Instagram and subscribe to the Fresh Starts Registry newsletter.
If your family is moving through a transition and you would like support, Fresh Starts Registry offers free consults, a vetted network of experts, and free guides.
Thank you for listening, and for making room for every feeling in your home.