9 Activities to do with Homeschool kids to reduce stage phobia

In case of homeschoolers, these issues can be even more noticeable. Because they do not get a chance to mix with a large heterogeneous group of peers very often. Many times, homeschoolers lack adequate skills to speak in public. And all this leads to stage phobia in them.

As a parent, you must figure out the exact reason for the fear. And devise a strategy that helps your child to overcome this fright.

If you are a homeschooling parent,

Try this list of activities for kids to help your kid overcome his/her stage fear:

(1) Relaxing activities

Educational activities for kids are fruitful only if the learner is stress-free and in the right mindset to learn. Try some good meditation and breathing exercises with your homeschooled kid to reduce the flow of irrelevant thoughts in his/her mind. This will channelize the child’s energy and eventually help him/her to focus on constructive activities.

(2) Role-play to boost confidence

Kids need to be confident to perform well. You can plan some fun family activities at home to boost their confidence level. Try enacting like some of the most loved superheroes. And add a couple of popular dialogues and ape the body language, posture and actions as well. Motivate the child through these confidence-building activities. For high schoolers, you can try simple familiar tag lines or add elements like extempore role-play, etc.

(3) Public speaking activities

Activities to do with kids are also better when you allow the kid to perform in front of others. Homeschooling groups are ideal to create these opportunities for your child. You can join these groups and plan visits to each other’s homes. Children can present some practiced content turn wise and take a ‘stage-like’ experience. Parents and adults who view these performances can share their feedback at the end of the performances. These activities are easier if your child is enrolled at the best online high school. Because virtual classes arranged by online schools are ideal to interact with peers of the same age groups.

(4) Newsreader activity

Let the child be a newsreader and ask to present news articles aloud. This can be done in a fun way with voice modulation and a simple formal dress/props. The child can put on a blazer/collared shirt or any formal-looking attire. And the feel of a newsroom can be created by playing some tagline/music piece/jingle of any famous news channel. All this is readily available on YouTube nowadays and you can cut the required versions using some audio cutter apps. Focus on eye contact and let the kid be completely in character throughout the activity.

(5) Storytelling

Next in our list of activities for kids is the age-old storytelling activity. Let the kid narrate a story. And if possible encourage him/her to add elements like ‘learning’, ‘moral’ or ‘takeaways’. Takedown some quick notes and practice correct pronunciation or grammatically correct sentences after the presentation. Again this can be done in the presence of other homeschoolers or common friends, or simply at home with family members as an audience. Teachers in an accredited online school make use of such activities during virtual classes. As these go well with elementary and middle school age groups.

(6) Activities to improve voice projection

Lack of confidence in one’s spoken skills, is a big reason for stage phobia. And this situation can be resolved through some educational activities for kids that help the child with overall spoken skills. Plan some fun games to let the child project his/her voice. And make sure there is no shouting involved throughout.

You can simply place toys/furniture pieces as a marking for distance and let the child select the pitch as per the called-out object. With younger age groups dolls and teddies are good props. But for a more mature age-group you can select some signs like numeric values or some cut-outs of story-book characters that they like. With high-schoolers, you can simply take up diaphragmatic breathing exercises. As these are ideal to train them in voice projection used in stage presentations. When the learner becomes a confident and clear speaker, his/her stage phobia automatically gets reduced. So your home-based activities to do with kids must focus on these spoken skills.

(7) Activities to promote eye contact

Family activities at home are super fun if you involve other members of the family. Try some mindful exercises to improve the child’s eye contact. This will in turn reduce his/her stage fear. Plan activities like handshakes in different moods and also try other role-plays with eye stickers and pillow passing. Other circle games related to changing facial expressions can also help in establishing eye contact with other players.

You can also make use of mirroring techniques and the kid can ape the person standing right opposite just like a mirror. Focus on eye contact during all these activities. And also make it a practice to encourage eye contact for your kid even during his/her regular conversations

(8) Speaking in front of the Mirror

Battling stage fright is also possible by practicing in front of the mirror. Family activities at home should be arranged after the kid takes enough time to practice and is sure of his/her performance. Try to train the child to speak in front of the mirror with poses, actions, and expressions. It will make him/her realize the importance of stressing, pausing, tone, and intonation gaps. Eventually, it will also boost the kid’s confidence level for a better stage performance.

(9) Assertive posture and power poses activities

Body language is another important aspect that can reduce stage phobia by instilling a sense of confidence in the child. Try using some posture exercises like sitting and standing (without any leaning). And power poses like victory, super personality, etc. These are great to boost your child’s confidence and in turn helpful in bringing down his/her stage fright.

Wrapping Up-

The key to reduce stage phobia is to create the right ambiance and instill a sense of confidence in the child. Train your child to accept mistakes and practice the golden rule that IT’s OK to make these. Create a family atmosphere that has enough room for improvement. And trust yourself that eventually things will start shaping up well.

Try these simple activities to do with kids and help your child to overcome stage fear forever!

All the Best

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Thanks for Reading!