🐇 A 2nd Grade Play

Looking for a fun play to do with your 2nd graders? I got ya covered.

It’s definitely play season, as we close in on the end of the school year here in the northern hemisphere, and I’ve been hearing plenty of questions for folks.

I recently wrote a post about the reason we do plays and it’s worth a read if you haven’t checked it out yet. The gist of that post is that it’s important to remember the reasons behind doing class plays when you’re in the thick of it—and to share those reasons with class parents.

We know that we generally don’t perform plays to put on a stunning performance. Our responsibility is towards the growth and development of the children, and putting on a great, entertaining performance isn’t a big contributor to that growth. Children gain so much more from putting on a class play, and our job is to maximize those benefits.

Second grade is a particularly growth-filled year (I mean, I guess they all are, but I remember my 2nd graders seemed so different at the end of the school compared to where they were at the beginning). It can also be a year of strife. I remember a colleague once describing the 2nd grader as one of those cartoon characters that has a devil on one shoulder and an angel on the other. They’re often pulled between those two extremes, which definitely inspires growth!

That’s why the fables are so great for 2nd grade. The animals in the fables are such pure characters and when the children get to act them out, they get to try on some of those naughty attitudes and behaviors.

I wrote our 2nd-grade play using some lesser-known fable stories that wove in many of the songs and flute music we’d been working with together for quite some time. This is my biggest recommendation for the play in the lower grades. Use content that the children already know and weave the story around it. It usually works pretty well.

This play (if you’re a paid subscriber, the download link is below) includes choral speaking parts about three fables.

• The Fox and the Cat

• The Elephants and the Moon

• The Story of the Bat

I think in the end we only performed the first two, which was actually great. I actually broke my arm building the set and I had surgery on the day of the performance, so a colleague led them through it. It was one of those moments when I realized how strong my students were!

What are your tips for class plays in the lower grades? Leave them in the comments!