What's the Main Difference Between teaching Kids versus Adults?

The kids have an advantage because they have yet to lose their ability to play.

Their life is still all about playing. When you tell a kid to play, they simply do. When adults think about playing, they want to analyze the game first. They think about what they’re doing, why they’re doing it, whatever. When they play the game, they want to make sure they’re playing it right. It’s actually a little harder for them to let go and have some fun…and that’s all I want them to do. Let go and play!

Think of when you were a kid. You would play cops and robbers, house, cowboys and Indians, school, etc.  If you tell a kid he’s going to be a mobster, the kid says, “Okay, I’m a mobster.” And in that moment, they believe it. He IS a mobster, he’s not playing one. Adults want to know about this mobster, who he is and why he’s that way. They feel a grown up need to be more thorough.  They want to analyze and sometimes that can work against them, especially when it comes to improv.

The way I teach is by experience. Kids are naturally curious. If you tell a kid a candle flame is hot, there’s still a good chance he or she is going to touch it. They need to know, to experience for themselves. When they experience something, that experience becomes a fabric of their being. They don’t have to think about it anymore. Now they know, they have their answer because they’ve experienced it.

It’s the same with improv. I teach them all these life lessons through playing. If you simply tell them about things like communication, trust, confidence, etc. they might not get it. But if you let them learn it from an experience, the lesson sticks, even as the kids think they’re simply having fun and playing a game. They are young and open to these experiences, which is something we lose a little later in life. But not kids, they play, they learn, they experience.