WHY PLAYS WORK
Learn more about plays for:
Easy to Do
Our classroom musicals require absolutely no musical knowledge or ability, and can be put on without extensive staging or rehearsal. For all the details, read our Frequently Asked Questions!
Fun, Educational, and Rewarding
Students, teachers, administrators, and families love the catchy music, silly rhymes, and goofy humor that deliver real curricular content. Teachers often tell us these plays are the highlight of the year.
Spark the Learning Process
Participating in a musical play is a hands-on learning experience that makes the curriculum jump out of the textbook and come alive.
Build Class Camaraderie
Putting on a show builds teamwork, cooperation, and mutual support. Students feel good about themselves, each other, and learning.
Reinforce the Curriculum
Bad Wolf plays are designed to emphasize common core and other national standards. Just look at any play page for links to the relevant standards (as well as vocabulary used in the show).
Integrate the Arts
Our musical plays are designed to make it easy to bring art, speech, movement, theater, music, and singing into your already bulging curriculum. Long live STEAM!
Increase Parental Involvement
These productions—no matter how simple—get families and the entire school community involved in and excited about what’s going on in your classroom.
Cross Learning and Language Barriers
Students of all levels, interests, and abilities have participated in our plays with great success. Learn more about how our shows work for language learners, special needs students, and gifted students.
Excellent for Theater Programs and Home School Cooperatives
You don’t have to have a traditional classroom to experience the fun of a Bad Wolf play—theater and home school organizations love us too! Our flexible casting makes it easy to tailor the show to your needs.
Great for Music Teachers Too
A majority of our plays are purchased by non-music teachers, but many music teachers have found our shows to be great resources. Sheet music is available for all our shows.
Why Plays Work For...
Yes, your English Language Learners CAN put on a musical play! Kids all over the world are using Bad Wolf plays as a tool to help them master the English language.
Here’s why Bad Wolf plays work so well for English Language Learners:
- Develops incredible confidence. The practice that goes into putting on a play helps students embrace the language like never before. Learning to understand and speak their lines gives them a confidence and poise that is beautiful to see.
- Increases comprehension. Because there is a visual aspect to theater, students can “see” the words in action.
- Boosts classroom camaraderie and crosses language barriers. Plays bring classrooms together! All students must come together to achieve a common goal. Teamwork, cooperation, and friendships blossom.
- Perfect medium for understanding vocabulary and wordplay. All of our plays feature humor, challenging vocabulary, and (what we like to think is) clever wordplay. The dialogue and songs can be parsed out and studied for even more learning.
Reviews from Teachers of English Language Learners
Bad Wolf plays have been performed successfully by students of all ages with a huge spectrum of neurodivergencies, learning challenges, and disabilities. Give them a chance to rise to the occasion and they will!
Here’s why Bad Wolf plays work so well for neurodivergent and special needs students:
- Everyone shines. Students of all talents and abilities can shine in a musical play. Often it’s the nontraditional learners who dazzle their classmates and audiences the most.
- Increased pride and self-esteem. Students who are often told “you can’t” suddenly see that they can. Participation in a play can transform a student’s outlook on school and him/herself.
- Boosts classroom camaraderie and crosses learning barriers. Plays bring classrooms together! All students must come together to achieve a common goal. Teamwork, cooperation, and friendships blossom.
- Edit as you see fit. We welcome you to cut or modify material from the show to suit your class’s abilities.
Reviews from Teachers of Special Needs and Special Education Students
A growing number of home school co-ops have been raving about our plays! Home school providers often have more time and flexibility than classroom teachers, making it possible to harness the kids’ creativity and theatrical talents in a way that really takes our shows to the next level.
Here’s why Bad Wolf plays work so well for home schooling organizations:
- Flexible casting. Our shows work with as few as 11 actors, and you can pare down the script/songs even more if needed.
- Everyone can be involved. Students of mixed grades and levels can participate, including younger siblings.
- Extra room for creativity. Bring out the talents of your students! You can easily add musicians and dancers to the show, not to mention set and costume designers.
- Edit as you see fit. We welcome you to add, cut, or modify material from the show to suit your class size, curriculum, and audience.
- No music or theater experience required. Our plays don’t require a stage, sets, or lighting. And you don’t have to sing or play a note — the included audio recording makes it possible for anyone to put on a musical!
Reviews from Teachers of Home Schooling Organizations
If you’re looking for new activities for your gifted and talented students, or for your school’s gifted/GATE program, consider doing a musical or play.
Here’s why Bad Wolf plays work so well for gifted classes and students:
- Extra room for creativity. Our plays can be performed as written, but they can also be changed and expanded in a plethora of directions. You can let your gifted students run with it, adding new scenes, characters, songs, choreography, staging…whatever strikes their fancy and sparks their imaginations.
- Inspire deeper learning. Bad Wolf plays are filled with information about historical events, famous people, scientific concepts, and so much more worth exploring. It’s easy to create assignments or research opportunities that tie in with the play.
- Flexible casting. Our shows work with as few as 11 actors, and you can pare down the script/songs even more if needed.
Reviews from Teachers of Gifted Students
- are verbal (they need and love to talk)
- are smart (they like figuring out stories, plot lines, historical and scientific facts)
- are creative (they get lots of ideas for staging, props, costumes etc.)
- are funny (so they’ll respond to the witty, silly stuff Bad Wolf is famous for)
- are quick to get lots of ideas (which will help make the play better)
- want to use their ideas (they all want to be seen as smart and helpful)
- want to express themselves (verbally and however will get your attention)
- want to be seen and heard (ah…actors…)
- are fast to memorize lines and songs (makes the play even easier to teach/direct/learn/do)
- are very musical (many take private voice, piano, musical instrument, dance, ballet lessons and classes)
- have lots of physical energy and this lets them get it out in a positive way (thank goodness)
- love the challenge (they want to do great and let the world see it)
Now, I know that most of you out there are thinking: How, in the current climate of “High Stakes Testing” can this clown justify taking valuable class time for producing plays? If you choose carefully, musical plays can add a tremendous amount of depth to the curriculum without wasting your valuable class time. There are plays that are based on history, science, math, and even language arts. I choose ones that fit well with something we are studying and use the show to go “deeper.” I had no choice about doing my first musical, but I continue to do them for many reasons: students think they can’t memorize anything, and plays and musical show them that they can and it can be fun. Plays are a great way to teach study skills: highlighting, summarizing, and note taking. Plays are, in my opinion, the absolute best way to introduce and further public speaking skills. You can really do some great team building exercises too. Plus, I always throw in some Physical Education with dance: small and large group synchronized movement, and a lot of silly running around a la Monty Python’s Flying Circus!