Gift Ideas for Kids Who Love to Dance, Sing, or Perform

Amy Rau – Music Instructor & Office Manager

Is there a child in your life who loves to move and loves music? Have you ever been an audience member for a high energy performance in your living room? Does every playdate result in a show with costumes, scripts, props (and probably a mess to clean up afterwards!)?

Foster your kids’ love for performing this holiday season! Here are some ideas for encouraging a love of performing in a wide range of practicality!

FREE – Create at-home performances the whole family can be a part of! Kids love it when their adults play in their world!

-Go through your closets and find wigs, scarves, hats, wands, jewelry, and anything else a kid’s imagination can use as a prop and create a dress up bin for home.

-Move the furniture and create a wide open, safe space in your home. Turn on the music and have a dance party!
-Find karaoke tracks on youtube to some favorite songs and have a sing off.

-Offer to host a party with their friends from their Cavod class!

LOW COST – Cavod has some wonderful shows coming up that would make a great experience gift. The Nutcracker ballet is coming to Lancaster Mennonite High School (with a new, creative twist!) in mid-December. The Prince Of Egypt the musical will be presented at Cavod Theater New Holland in late February! You can get tickets at cavod.org!

-See a concert together at the local elementary school, middle, or high school. Most schools will be having choral and instrumental concerts during the holiday season for low cost or free!

-Take your kid thrifting or yard sale-ing and have them choose more items for the dress up bin.

-Hire an older dance student to teach your child some basics at home.

-Purchase a microphone and speaker or karaoke system. There are reasonably priced systems that range from “toys” up through a basic system with lights and amplification that can turn a basement playroom into a Broadway stage.

MORE INVESTMENT – Sign up for dance or acting classes! Cavod welcomes new students through the fall, as long as they start before our Dec break. We have classes for beginners of all ages and also adults. Being in a class the majority of a school year gives the student a chance to really get in depth in a genre to see if they have an aptitude for it.

-Register for a summer camp at Cavod! No experience necessary! For older Musical Theatre students, we will have a camp that will present The Little Mermaid, Jr. This 2-week opportunity is a short-term commitment, but super concentrated. Younger students may want to attend our Arts Camps for dance, art, acro, and music! – we have camps at both the New Holland and Manheim locations. More summer camp info can be found HERE and camps open for registration in December!

-Take them to see a professional musical. There are local options like the Fulton Theatre or Dutch Apple, or a trip to NYC to see a Broadway musical could be the catalyst for a lifelong passion.

-Find out what they love and expose them to professionals in that area. This will show the student what is possible and bring lots of inspiration!

GET CREATIVE To make an experience into a gift, create a homemade gift certificate you can wrap up and give. Create a coupon book of trips, games, home play that they can “redeem” with you for any of the above suggestions – or make your own creative ideas. Kids just LOVE an attentive audience so be present, praise them, and TAKE ALL THE VIDEOS for you both to look back on years from now. Who knows, you might be capturing a future performer “where it all began!”