Dads do so many things! Most mums, occupied with housekeeping and child-raising, often fail to notice their efforts. Fortunately, there is Father’s Day. Show your husband how much you appreciate him and engage your child to record a simple theatre play for Dad!
It seemed like ages before the gifts for the Father’s Day ceased to be only theoretically from our daughter, but practically prepared all by myself. This day finally arrived. Our daughter was big enough to consciously take part in gift making as well as keep our surprise a secret. Until then, we usually recorded music videos or slide shows for Father’s Day or Mother’s Day with our children starring in them. This time I decided to do something more and record a short play, encouraged by my daughter’s successful performance in kindergarten.
What theatre play can you record for Father’s Day?
“The Little Red Riding Hood” or another fairy tale would be too complex, too long and would require too many actors. Such a play would also be hardly personal unless Dad was a fan of a particular story. Therefore, I opted for something much simpler and recorded a play entitled “What Dad does”.
Our play starred:
- Brown Bear – as Dad
- Pink Bear – as Mum
- Doll – as Child
We used two chairs covered with a blanket as our stage. I wrote the initial scenario, but on the shooting day, I encouraged my daughter to add her ideas. That is how the list of everyday chores, such as throwing out the garbage, buying groceries or reading bedtime stories was amended with tossing children into the air and preparing surprises for Mum.
Due to some realisation problems I had to give up on some of my ideas – e.g. we didn’t have a toy bathtub to show bathing or a small bicycle on which Bear could teach Doll how to ride. I also couldn’t think of how to show watching sport or watching the news.
Nevertheless, I was immensely proud of our ideas and how they were presented. Especially that I limited my role to shooting and saying which scene we were at, and my daughter decided how to show things and what props to use.
How to put together and present the recorded theatre play for Dad?
The shooting took us approximately two hours, during which we laughed all the time. Once I had the recordings, I uploaded them to my computer and put them together in the appropriate order in Windows Movie Maker. Next, I chose a music background and added subtitles. Even though all scenes were acted splendidly, I wanted to make sure that Dad wouldn’t have problems deciphering their meaning.
Below you will find a detailed scenario of our theatre play for Dad:
What does Dad do? [Question displayed in the centre of the screen]
Dances – Daughter turns around two bears locked in an embrace
Tosses children into the air – Daughter props the bear against her belly and tosses the doll
Plays basketball – Daughter holds the bear in one hand and an orange ball the size of a tennis ball in another. She touches the floor with the ball a couple of times and then throws it into a bucket hung on the back of the chair.
Paints walls – Daughter holds the bear’s paw and a paintbrush in the same hand, and – turned with her back to the camera – moves her hand up and down
Does groceries – Daughter hangs a disposable bag on the bear’s arm and moves it towards a container with toy vegetables, puts some of the vegetables to the bag and moves the bear with the vegetables back to where he started
Checks the balance – Daughter makes the bear approach a toy that resembles a laptop, then puts some old receipts against the bear’s paw, against the “laptop” and aside. Finally, she makes the bear lean over the “laptop” and clatters at the “keyboard”
Throws the garbage away – Daughter hangs a disposable bag with “litter” on the bear’s paw. Then she makes the bear bounce from one chair to the other and leave the garbage there.
Prepares suppers – The bear “approaches” the plates and toy vegetables prepared on the other side of the scene; Daughter leaves him there and cuts and spreads sandwiches herself, while holding the bear with her free hand
Reads bedtime stories – The bear sits on one side of the scene with an open book, and the doll lies opposite him
Puts to bed – Daughter holds the bear in one hand and the doll in the other. She lays the doll down, presses the bear against the doll’s forehead so that he can kiss it and waves his paw to indicate “goodbye”
Prepares surprises for Mum – We used an actual surprise that I had received for the Mother’s Day to record this scene
In the end, Daughter bows, standing behind the chairs, and end credits appear.
What else would you add to this list? I can’t wait to read about your ideas in the comments below!
Do you have an idea for a more sophisticated plot or lack actors to perform a theatre play for dad? If that’s the case, maybe it would be a better idea for you to write a funny story about Dad and his children or Dad the Superhero. I’m sure Dad will cherish such a gift for the Father’s Day. If you need help, write me at: joanna@mypresents.eu, and I will tell you how to amaze your Dad with a personal gift or write a story based on your idea for you! (more details HERE).
My advice:
– I admit that chairs standing on a sofa are not the safest scene. I had to make it this way because I didn’t want to hold the camera in my hand to prevent it from shaking, and I needed a uniform background that would not distract from the play. However, if I had had a stretch of a white wall somewhere lower, I would have definitely used it.
– You may also create a scene from big card boxes, where you may hide props. On the other hand, chairs facing each other make it possible to hang something (e.g. a basket) from their backs.
– I strongly advise you to try the scenography without a child. Otherwise, the child may get bored or discouraged during the actual shooting, and splitting the recording into several days may result in different lighting conditions or a different outfit of the child. Another day of doing the same thing may also become boring for the child. It is much better to make a short pause for a snack, after which the child will get back on the scene with renewed energy.
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