Pre-Concert Crafts
Seattle Symphony & San Diego Symphony
For the last decade, I've collaborated with both the Seattle Symphony and San Diego Symphony’s education departments to design pre-concert crafts that align with the themes for their kids and family concerts. This helps the concert-goers start to connect with the story of the concert even before the concert starts. It also expands upon the “symphony experience” for the little ones, making the whole event full of interactive activities that add to the joy of the music. One of my favorite things to do is have the craft turn into an item that the kids can physically interact with during the concert, helping them connect even more to the story, and giving young ones a neuro-inclusive way to fidget.
In a recent "Movie Magic" concert for kids aged 0-5, I designed a simple template for a movie director’s megaphone. Kids could easily decorate and assemble these templates into a 3D craft in the lobby before the concert. During the show, the megaphones connected the kids to the action on stage, with the host encouraging the audience to shout cues like “action” and “cut.”
I design the crafts, create any templates we use, and set up a materials list. These crafts usually run at a large scale, around 300-500 kids in one go, with a lot of amazing volunteers helping to prep and run the craft. I also create instructional posters and videos to help guide both the volunteers and families as they make the crafts. The goal is to make the craft age-appropriate, but also to provide something that makes the symphony experience feel even more special.
