Welcome to Online Learning - At Home with The Watermill Theatre - a series of online resources created by The Watermill Theatre Outreach team and a host of leading theatre professionals. Learn about theatre techniques, find out more about backstage roles and get creative with a range of activities.
Select the Watch & Listen tab above for links to videos, resources and activities to watch and try at home! A great way to learn new skills, get creative and keep yourselves entertained, resources include family friendly activities and information aimed at both young people and adults.
These resources are free and available to everyone, but if you are able to make a donation that would be amazing. Your donation will help the theatre to survive and recover during these unprecedented times. Thank you. To donate, please click here.
Education Packs
Watermill Education Packs provide information and activities inspired by our productions. Designed to complement learning and feed into the modern curriculum, education packs are free to download and can be accessed here.
Schools
To support with remote learning, The Watermill Theatre are delighted to be offering schools a bespoke online programme of activities, giving students the opportunity to learn from inspirational and leading theatre professionals.
There are several workshop options to choose from, each designed and adapted especially for KS1 - KS5 students. These engaging and interactive sessions will support remote learning, inspire your students and deliver a shared experience of enjoyment. As well as practical workshops, we are also able to offer Q&A sessions with experienced creative artists, actors and directors.
Please email heidi@watermill.org.uk to find out more.
Get creative, learn new skills and keep yourselves entertained from the comfort of your own home!
You can continue to connect with us by sharing videos or pictures of you participating in any of these online masterclasses and activities by emailing outreach@watermill.org.uk or by sharing them on social media. Find us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. We would love to see your creations!
This series of resources and events is available to everyone for free, but if you are able to make a donation that would be amazing. Your donation will help the theatre to survive and recover during these times. To donate, please
click here.
Learn about puppetry with actor-puppeteer Scarlet Wilderink as she gives insights into the world of puppetry and advice on how to become a puppeteer.
In this interview Scarlet discusses her professional journey, the highs and lows of puppeteering and gives some great tips on how you can get involved whether you are interested in pursuing a puppetry career, or if you just want to try something new for fun.
Video Length: 50 Minutes
Suitability: Suitable for everyone, but will probably most engage ages 10 years - adult.
Scarlet also shares with us a quick and energising warm up routine, to get our bodies ready for some puppet fun.
Video Length: 13 minutes
Suitability: All ages can get involved with this, providing you go at your own pace! Please note, Scarlet has sped up certain elements of her warm up so she can fit it all in - you can pause your video when she fast forwards and go at your own pace. Enjoy!
In this video, The Watermill's Head of Wardrobe Emily Barratt takes us through all the steps to make a Sock Puppet. We understand not everyone will have sewing equipment at home, but that's okay - be creative and improvise! Maybe you can draw eyes on with a sharpie and glue on some accessories with what you have in the house (make sure to ask a grown up first). Have fun!
Video Length: 10 minutes
Suitability: 5 years plus with adult supervision.
Design your sock puppet using
this template to help you get started.
Now you've made your Sock Puppet, it is time to make it a costume - here Emily gives you some great suggestions. We can't wait to see your creations!
Video Length: 6 minutes
Suitability: 5 years plus with adult supervision.
Following on from Emily’s amazing videos on how to make and accessorise your very own sock puppet, Scarlet shows us how to bring them to life! Watch this video to learn how to make our puppet look like it is actually talking. Why not get it to read from a poem or sing-a-long to your favourite song? Make a video and don’t forget to show us!
Video Length: 10 minutes
Suitability: 7 years - adults (younger children will be able to access with support)
Our Outreach Assistant Emma Bradbury is a specialist in drama for early years and she has created a brilliant activity sheet on how to have some fun with shadow puppets at home. Whilst this worksheet has been designed for younger children, all ages can enjoy shadow puppet fun together - a great way to get the whole family involved. You can either print and fill in this worksheet or just work with it on a screen if you don’t have access to a printer. Enjoy and let your imagination be free!
Download: Shadow Puppet Fun
Activity Length: This worksheet should take about 30 minutes to complete, but the fun you can have creating and making your own shadow puppets is endless!
Suitability: 4 years plus (but both younger and older children can engage with shadow puppet play – and adults too!)
Professional actor-puppeteer Scarlet is back to share her skills with us! This time she shows us how to turn a range of household objects into puppets – this is a process known as ‘object manipulation’. This is a fantastic opportunity to get really creative using what is around you. Why not create a character (or a host of characters) and get them to respond to being in lockdown! We can’t wait to see what you come up with.
Video Length: 14 Minutes
Suitability: 7 years – adults. Scarlet takes us through different levels (younger children will be able to access with support)
If you have enjoyed following our puppetry videos, have some fun with this downloadable resource. Print pages two and three to design your own puppet and create a story about what it gets up to! Suitable for primary school aged children.
If you have enjoyed following our puppetry videos and would like to find our more, download this process for research ideas and links to videos and further reading. Suitable for secondary school aged young people and adults.
When telling or creating stories, sometimes it is hard to know where to begin. This worksheet created by our writer in residence, Danielle Person contains activities to help stimulate our imaginations. Using the characters and themes from The Jungle Book as a starting point, she guides us through a series of fun exercises to help us start writing.
Activity Length: There are three different activities, each could take anything from 15 minutes to as long as your young person wants to spend creating stories!
Suitability: 6 years +
We’ve all studied Shakespeare in school and enjoyed productions in the theatre… but the Bard also has a lot to teach modern playwrights about the fundamentals of their craft. These worksheets created by our writer in residence Danielle Pearson look at what is said (and goes unsaid) in a section of Hamlet and how this can be applied to your own writing.
Download: Hamlet – Dialogue & Subtext
Activity Length: As long or as little as you would like
Suitability: 12 years +
Our professional playwright in residence, Danielle Pearson, sheds some light on what the life of a playwright is like, giving us insider information about the industry. Danielle's work for The Watermill includes Moonfleet, Digging for Victory and an adaptation of Jane Eyre. She also discusses the process of bringing a new play, Camp Albion, to fruition – a story about the Newbury Bypass commissioned especially for The Watermill.
Video Length: 12 Minutes
Suitability: 13 years – adults.
You don’t have to be good at drawing to be a set designer. This resource will help get ideas out of your head and onto paper. You will learn about the design process and have the tools to give it a go at home. Why not get creative with all the family!
Activity Length: There are several activities which can take a long as you want. The fun you can have creating ideas is endless!
Suitability: 7 years + with adult supervision