Here's what you should know whether your child is interested in school musicals, community theater, or a holiday play.

Whether your child insists on donning high heels and makeup or mimicking a grumpy schoolteacher, her imagination develops early. Children express themselves freely and creatively, combining gestures, movements and voice intonations to create fictional characters. Your child’s dramatic play may be the beginning of a theatrical interest.

By dreaming themselves into a different time and space, children can escape the pressures of everyday life. There are many ways to be on stage. Evaluate whether your child would prefer in small class performances for parents or a full-drama production for the public. Since the arts have taken a back seat in school curriculums, more children have been enrolling in drama classes and children’s theater organizations.

• Theatre develops the imagination, allows for self-exploration and freedom of expression, and provides a healthy release of stress.

• Imitation and re-enactment, by allowing children to experience different emotions and situations, promotes empathy and understanding of others. Acting teaches emotional discipline and develops grace under pressure.

• Drama promotes innovation, spontaneity, risk-taking, and fearlessness. Being on stage helps children overcome shyness and conquering performance anxiety. It helps children with low attention spans learn to focus and channel their energy. It also develops language, communication, and memory skills.

BEST AGE TO START

• Your child may begin theater and performing as early as age 6 or as late as her teen years. One way to judge whether or not your child is ready to participate in theater or drama classes is to observe how she plays at home. Children of all ages love to perform, enjoying mimicking what they see and playing make-believe. If your kindergarten child likes to create crazy stories, act out roles, or imagine fantasylands, then she might enjoy exhibiting that behavior on stage.

• Children don’t usually begin formal script reading and participating in formal performance dramas until ages 10 to 12.

KIDS WHO TEND TO EXCEL

• Outgoing, enthusiastic, creative and energetic kids often don’t mind taking risks or feel inhibited by what others will think of them.

• Shy children, who may need more coaxing initially, often gain the most from the experience. Many find acting to be a new, freer form of expression, and introspective kids often love thinking about and getting into a character.

• Hyper kids can often channel that extra energy into improvisation. However, in staged drama productions, fidgeting, wandering off every few minutes, and not listening becomes a real problem.

• Being able to concentrate is critical.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR WHEN GETTING STARTED

• Early theater classes should be geared towards having fun. Your child will learn the basics of performance and begin to get comfortable expressing herself in front of a group. Emphasis is placed on cooperation and observation. To ensure more individualized instruction, look for 12 students and under per class.

• In class, your child may work on dramatic skills such as projecting, learning to communicate feelings, pantomime, and individual character work. These skills are often taught through movement, story improvisation, vocal exercises and character development.

• In classes for younger children, drama teachers often use theater games and group storytelling, in which the teacher may narrate a story that the children can act out.

• In intermediate classes, your child may be assigned a monologue and begin to do scene-work with scripts.

• Advanced acting classes enter into the realm of audition practice. Students practice comedic or dramatic monologues and scenes and learn techniques of reading a piece in an audition that they have not seen before.

• If you have the time, observe a theater program or acting class before enrolling your child. Here are some questions to consider:

• What do the classes offer?

• Are the students under a lot of pressure to perform or is it a more relaxed environment?

• Are there creative aspects or is the goal to produce a formal play?

• What upcoming shows will they be producing?

• Take your child to see a production by the program. Consider these questions when evaluating the quality of the play: Did the actors exhibit a high level of skill and were the characters believable? Were the costuming, sets, and lights creative?

• Your child may initially be shy and not particularly thrilled about getting up in front of a room full of people. Allow your child to explore theater in an environment where there is less pressure.

• Find out the director’s style and personality. Some directors focus only on the lead, while every other kid fades into the background.

CLARIFY PERFORMANCE TIME COMMITMENT

• Depending on whether your child is taking acting classes or participating in the production of a full-scale play, the amount of time commitment will vary greatly.

• If your child has a part in a play, she may have to rehearse lines at home nightly.

• Ask the director:

• What times are rehearsals?

• How long do they last?

• What do the kids do while they’re when not on stage?

• Does the schedule accelerate towards production?

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