Bookish Family: A Midsummer Night's Dream Study for Young Children

Even before I thought of myself as doing the Charlotte Mason Method, I knew I wanted to enjoy Shakespeare with my children. But I wasn't sure of how to go about it.

My kids loved stories and we had a great read-aloud practice going. We were reading chapter books at lunch and bedtime and had been enjoying a morning time full of poetry, folk tales, and even some heavier titles like the full versions of Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.

But those works were translated into modern English. Should I or could I get my kids excited about the complicated wordplay and romantic entanglements of Shakespeare? How? And where should I start?

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Fortunately, while listening to the entire backlog of the Read Aloud Revival podcast I finally got to Episode 6: Teach Your Child Shakespeare with Ken Ludwig. In it, Ludwig discusses his book, How to Teach Your Children Shakespeare which details exactly how he enjoyed Shakespeare with his daughter and how you can do the same with your own children.

After interlibrary loaning the book from the library to read and spending time on the How to Teach Your Children Shakespeare website, I felt like this was something I could do even with my VERY young children.

That fall, a professional touring company brought Hamlet to the university where my husband works and my 6-year-old son and I were right up close to the stage enjoying every minute. Well, truthfully, my son dozed off around 10 pm but perked right up when everyone started killing each other.

And my 4-year-old? He wept bitterly beforehand because he didn't want to miss the play. He also had enjoyed learning the story of Hamlet!

I knew rightly that it was too late at night for him and that the standards of behavior at a performance like that were too high for him to meet, but I still felt sorry for my little guy.

But just 8 months later, both boys, now 7 and 5 were enjoying Macbeth at a free Shakespeare in the Park performance. It was a very special night for all of us!

Informed by Ludwig's book and website, we prepared for both plays by

Memorizing or becoming familiar with notable passages from the play;
Reading one or more adaptations of the play;
Watching a movie or animated version of the play; and
Seeing a professional production of the play in real life.

This summer, our local Shakespeare company is putting on A Midsummer Night's Dream--a play I have never read, studied or seen before. We have been having a great time preparing for the performance which is just a few weeks away.

Below are all of the passages, books, and videos we've been using to get ready for the performance. All of my kids--ages 8, 6, and 3 (almost 4) have taken part.

A Midsummer Night's Dream Study for Young Children

1. Taking one at a time, read each of the following passages from the play every day for one week (we do it as part of our morning time):

I know a bank where the wild thyme blows (My son memorized it as part of his recitation lessons)
Oberon, Act 2, Scene 1

I know a bank where the wild thyme blows,
Where oxlips and the nodding violet grows,
Quite overcanopied with luscious woodbine,
With sweet musk roses and with eglantine.
There sleeps Titania sometime of the night,
Lulled in these flowers with dances and delight.
And there the snake throws her enameled skin,
Weed wide enough to wrap a fairy in.
And with the juice of this I’ll streak her eyes
And make her full of hateful fantasies.
(gives ROBIN some of the flower)
Take thou some of it and seek through this grove:
A sweet Athenian lady is in love
With a disdainful youth. Anoint his eyes.
But do it when the next thing he espies
May be the lady. Thou shalt know the man
By the Athenian garments he hath on.
Effect it with some care, that he may prove
More fond on her than she upon her love.
And look thou meet me ere the first cock crow.

Oberon and Puck, Act 3, Scene 2
Oberon

(squeezing flower juice into DEMETRIUS ’s eyes)
Flower of this purple dye,
Hit with Cupid’s archery,
Sink in apple of his eye.
When his love he doth espy,
Let her shine as gloriously
As the Venus of the sky.
When thou wakest, if she be by,
Beg of her for remedy.

Robin

Captain of our fairy band,
Helena is here at hand,
And the youth, mistook by me,
Pleading for a lover’s fee.
Shall we their fond pageant see?
Lord, what fools these mortals be!

Oberon

Stand aside. The noise they make
Will cause Demetrius to awake.

Robin

Then will two at once woo one.
That must needs be sport alone.
And those things do best please me
That befall preposterously.

Bottom's Dream
Bottom, Act 4, Scene 1

I have had a most rare vision. I have had a dream—past the wit of man to say what dream it was. Man is but an ass if he go about to expound this dream. Methought I was—there is no man can tell what. Methought I was, and methought I had—but man is but a patched fool if he will offer to say what methought I had. The eye of man hath not heard, the ear of man hath not seen, man’s hand is not able to taste, his tongue to conceive, nor his heart to report what my dream was. I will get Peter Quince to write a ballad of this dream. It shall be called “Bottom’s Dream” because it hath no bottom. And I will sing it in the latter end of a play before the duke. Peradventure, to make it the more gracious, I shall sing it at her death.

More Strange Than True, Theseus' Speech
Theseus, Act 5, Scene 1

More strange than true. I never may believe
These antique fables nor these fairy toys.
Lovers and madmen have such seething brains,
Such shaping fantasies, that apprehend
More than cool reason ever comprehends.
The lunatic, the lover, and the poet
Are of imagination all compact.
One sees more devils than vast hell can hold—
That is the madman. The lover, all as frantic,
Sees Helen’s beauty in a brow of Egypt.
The poet’s eye, in fine frenzy rolling,
Doth glance from heaven to Earth, from Earth to heaven.
And as imagination bodies forth
The forms of things unknown, the poet’s pen
Turns them to shapes and gives to airy nothing
A local habitation and a name.
Such tricks hath strong imagination,
That if it would but apprehend some joy,
It comprehends some bringer of that joy.
Or in the night, imagining some fear,
How easy is a bush supposed a bear!

2. Read a short retelling of the play and a longer graphic novel version (we do it as part of our morning time):

A Midsummer Night's Dream in Tales from Shakespeare by Charles and Mary Lamb (free online also here)

A Midsummer Night's Dream Graphic Novel by Nel Yomtov (Author),‎ Berenice Muniz (Illustrator)

3. Watch a faithfully interpreted movie or animated version of the play that includes lots of Shakespeare's original language:

Shakespeare: The Animated Tales - A Midsummer Night's Dream

Shakespeare A Midsummer Night's Dream animation from Mr Gibb on Vimeo.

4. Attend a local performance (Shakespeare in the Park if possible).

Loving Macbeth at Shakespeare in the Park

We'll be attending the performance in a few weeks. A few tips that make it more enjoyable for little kids.

We choose a day with good weather! Since the play is performed about 6 times over the course of a few weeks, I keep our schedule open so we can jump at the best night for being outside.
We arrive at the park very early to get a great spot up front and center. Before the play, we eat dinner and play on the playground.
We bring camp chairs for grownups and a big comfy blanket for the kids to sit (and lay on).
We bring lots of snacks (like popcorn) to keep hands and mouths busy and quiet when the play starts feeling long.
We have realistic expectations about behavior and plans if those expectations cannot be met. No talking is allowed. Whispered questions are OK if important. If you can't be quiet, a parent will have to take you away due to respect for the actors. If you are a young child, falling asleep is also OK. It isn't disrespectful if you are enjoying yourself AND you are hours past your bedtime!

I would happily take my children to an indoor performance if one was available locally. However, Shakespeare in the Park performances are perfect for kids because more noise is allowed--there is ambient noise and the audience is eating and drinking.

So that is how we study and enjoy Shakespeare as a family! Have you introduced your kids to Shakespeare yet?

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