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Curious” and “Inquisitive” – These two words best describe 21^st-century children. Today’s children are hungry for knowledge and updated information. They love exploring new sources of information while not hesitating to experiment, fall, and challenge themselves.

Of course, textbook-based academic education still holds importance in terms of bagging the desired degree. However, what is equally or more important is street smartness. At the Sapphire International School, one of the best cbse school in noida, we strongly believe that giving children a voice to freely express themselves and come forward to place their opinions is crucial. It is these abilities that help children shine through life and carve a place for themselves in life in general.

To make this a reality, one of the areas that we have passionately stepped into is Street Plays. Let us now understand how street plays work as an excellent education and empowerment tool.

What are Street Plays?

If you live in any of the metros, it is common for you to find yourself in crowded public places, especially on holidays and weekends, witnessing a play that is being performed free of cost, right there out in the open.

Most street plays take place with a specific objective behind their conductance. Usually, the goal is to create awareness about issues that impact humans, the environment, or some specific ongoing matter.

Just recently, i.e., on 30^th April 2023, the students of Sapphire International School hosted a street play at Connaught Palace, Delhi. This play called “Lakshya” was conducted in collaboration with the Delhi Traffic Police and was performed through Rahul Khanna’s Education through Theatre. This play was a part of Global Citizen Climate Awareness, which was highly appreciated by the audience for creating awareness about a sustainable future while drawing the attention of G20 leaders.

Needless to say, this performance bestowed our students with a sense of accomplishment and confidence. The best part is that ever since the play has happened, our students are showing even more willingness to perform more such street plays in the days to come.

Street Plays – A Worthy Resource for Education and Empowerment

Every street play that we at Sapphire International School have initiated has been with some specific purpose – The purpose being to create awareness and educate the masses. We believe street plays are community-focused acts that make children realize how important it is to first educate themselves about the problems surrounding them and eventually spread the word about the problem and ways to tackle it.

In the course of this, children learn about happenings that textbook-based information may not always be equipped to provide. Some of the key benefits of engaging children in street plays are:

Memory retention – This is viewed as an important trait that most parents would agree is a must for children to succeed in life. Be it to write an exam and pass with flying colors or prepare for an interview and confidently give the right answers. Street plays are one of the best ways of improving children’s memory retention graph. When children have to enact a play, they are given certain dialogues, which they need to memorize and present. In the process, children’s focus, concentration levels, and memory retention abilities improve.

Self-confidence – This is the first step towards feeling empowered. If you lack confidence, you will never be able to come forward and express yourself, let alone make an impact. This is another barrier that street plays tackle right from its core. Children who perform in the street plays become mentally prepared to perform before a crowd, most of the people being strangers. Moreover, children who have trouble speaking in public or experience stage fright are able to get rid of these limitations by participating in street plays on a repeat basis.

Goal-setting – Every street play has a pre-set goal, be it creating awareness about fighting global warming or contributing to improved air quality. This is an important trait that children get to pick up. Goal setting offers direction and can eventually help with achieving milestones.

Sense of belongingness – This is one of the most important benefits of engaging children in street plays. These plays help children to understand their worth on this planet and how they can be the reason behind the change. This leads them to begin taking accountability for their actions and act responsibly in all areas of life.

Street Plays – An activity worth exploring

We at Sapphire International School, recognized among the best cbse school in noida, firmly believe that street plays are more than just an act of entertainment for children. It is essentially a mindful practice to help build children’s self-confidence and public speaking abilities.

If you encourage your children to participate in street plays, you will observe that over time they appear better educated, aware, and empowered. Plus, there will be a significant boost in their communication abilities and confidence level.

It is high time parents, teachers, and schools come forward to get children to prepare for and participate in street plays.