At The Playing Space, our holiday clubs don’t begin with a ready-made script or pre-cast roles. Instead, they begin with nothing more than a title. This summer, one of those titles was Once Upon a Remix — and from there, our students built an entire world from scratch.
Over the course of the week, the children didn’t just learn lines and rehearse. They created everything: the storyline, the characters, the costumes, the set, and even the rules of their imaginary world. That level of ownership means the final performance isn’t simply a show we hand to them — it’s a show they can truly call their own.
Doing things differently
This approach is different from the model used in many other holiday clubs, where children arrive on day one, are handed a script, and are told what part they’ll be playing. Sometimes there’s even an audition, which can feel daunting. While this guarantees a neat, polished show, it often means the children themselves have little or no creative input.
We prefer a different path: one that sparks imagination, values every voice, and invites each child to be a storyteller.
A Party in Fairyland
And what a story they told! Our Once Upon a Remix cast whisked audiences to Fairyland on Party Day, where every child played the character of their choice. We had Princess Jasmine, the Three Little Pigs, a Wicked Witch, Baby Bear, and more — even the Big Bad Wolves moonlighting as mischievous DJs.
The wolves remixed all the classic stories: Baby Bear’s porridge turned into a bowl of beetles, Jasmine’s magic carpet became an elephant, and the Wicked Witch’s wand transformed into a walking stick. To fix the muddle, the characters had to visit Grandma’s Record Shop and set things right. The result was hilarious, surprising, and utterly original.
Crafting for inspiration
One of the first activities of the week was the “character remix game,” which you can see in the photo. Children drew their character’s head, body, legs, and shoes on pieces of paper — but kept passing the paper around the circle. The results were surreal, funny, and inspiring, and gave the children a taste of what it means to remix familiar ideas into something completely new.
Joy in performance
By the time parents arrived on the final day, the room was filled with excitement. The children performed their original play with pride, laughter, and pure exhilaration. And the audience? They loved every moment.
What shines through most in a week like this isn’t just the final performance. It’s the journey: the brainstorming, the debates over plot twists, the crafts, the jokes, the ownership. Every child can say, “I helped make this.” And that’s something far more valuable than being handed a pre-written part.
At The Playing Space, we believe children are at their best when they are given space to create. Once Upon a Remix is proof: with just a title and their imaginations, our students can build a world full of joy, laughter, and surprise.