Drama helps children's speaking and listening skills and these lessons can stick with them throughout their lives. In drama, actors are taught to listen to what the other actor is saying so they can genuinely react when performing. Verbal interaction is much more common in real life than written communication, which children learn about in other classes such as English. Drama can benefit children throughout life, teaching them how to overcome nerves and to communicate effectively and confidently.
Performing in theater requires children to utilize a great deal of memorization skills. These skills can benefit other areas of a child's life. Children can become more adept at memorizing the name of states, for example. Not only is memorization necessary, but remembering the lines and then delivering them in a pressure-filled situation can improve the child's performance on tests -- many children are victims of stress anxiety, which hinders their ability to recall information when being pressured.
Each person in a play has the responsibility of playing a part at a specific moment, and the other performers are depending on an accurate delivery. This mutual responsibility creates an environment that promotes teamwork in a playful setting. Working with other students will also help the child make new friends and come out of their shell by completing often goofy and fun drama and theater exercises that build the trust among performers.
By taking on the role of another character, children can learn how to empathize for that person. For example, the child is playing the part of Alice from "Alice in Wonderland," who has tumbled down a rabbit's hole and is often lost and afraid; the child can now get a better idea of what it must be like to be a character who is experiencing the type of trauma Alice is going through.