Ideas for a Kids Lighting Workshop

norbe

Member
Hey people of Control Booth! I need your help! The theater I am working at is having a couple of "young artists" workshops for kids 7-13. My job is to do a lighting workshop. Any ideas what would be interresting to show the kids lighting wise, activities, etc. I would appriciate your ideas (because this is my first time even thinking about doing a workshop for lighting. I need some help!)
 
I think there are a number of other threads about workshops if you do a little searching.

Set up stations for RGB and CMY colour mixing that the kids can play with.
Set up a lighting angle station where kids can adjust levels from various instruments and observe what happens to shadows, depth, etc.
Samples of various lights and the sort of light they produce
Pull the lens assembly off an ERS and demonstrate how hot it gets at the focal point using a piece of paper, or a balloon.
 
Lots of stuff to play with. Also probably make sure it doesnt get to hot so the kids dont burn themselves.
 
Mixing colors on a Cyc (preferably with a ground row as well) always seems to be interesting .


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Kids LOVE color. Do a lot with color. Show them gobos also, but don't delve too deep in to it. I wouldn't worry about trying to explain the design concept of ellipsoidal reflectors, different lenses, etc as they likely won't be interested. I'd focus more heavily on the creative aspect. Showing the different types of lights would be fun; maybe open a fixture up just for the heck of it, but I'd make it primarily an external examination.
 
If you have extra pairs of gloves in your shop you might be able to have the kids focus and ERS onto the walls. If you aren't able to let them focus the light you can show them how the right shutter shutters off the left side and maybe draw a diagram showing how the light travels through the instrument and how the top crosses the bottom at the gate if that makes sense. Here, this picture explains it better than me.

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Not sure who made the diagram, but it's 'knob'. :)
Also, the gobo slot is in front of the shutters. Otherwise, not a bad little illustration. I've been kicking around the idea of splitting a 360Q in half for a while now...
 
Ah you speak the truth! I never noticed it before. I didn't make it but I know who did and I shall point it out next time I see him ;)
 
Colour is definately a good bet with kids. RGB/CMY on a cyc is good, maybe some par cans with a selection of gels they can look at/play with. Getting hands on is important, if you are just talking they will lose interest quickly.
 
Make sure you have gels that you want to use, as well as extra lamps around. You'd be surprised at the attention span of some kids, and wasting time finding/cutting gel will get endlessly boring to some people.


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They might enjoy the trick with red and green painted on something, and then crossfade between red and green gels. That would give you a chance to talk about how color/light works.
 
Couple things I do in some classes for kids--You can teach them about shadows and lighting angles--how things change in appearance as a light rotates around a person or set item like a vase or lamp...put a few ERS or Fresnel on a rolling rover/pipe and base from various angles...not just side light but from high side or from shin/up lighting angles....and have them move it around--do a couple lights and demonstrate angles and shadows and how it changes...then add colors for mixing to see how it changes...

Additionally to the colorplay mentioned by others you can have the kids experiment and make/using split gels or take gel strips and make a colorizer or multi-color gel effect like water/fire/stained glass or windows in combination with a gobo or a rotator...


Kids like interactive stuff...have them do more than watch...let them cut and tape up gels and so on..

-w
 

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