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The Caldecott Honor Award-winning story John Steptoe's MUFARO'S BEAUTIFUL DAUGHTERS: AN AFRICAN TALE will open Dallas Children's Theater's 40th season this fall! In the play, an African villager named Mufaro has two beautiful daughters. The daughters, kind and considerate Nyasha and self-centered and bad-tempered Manyara, both go on a journey to meet the king as he is in the process of choosing a wife.
John Steptoe's MUFARO'S BEAUTIFUL DAUGHTERS: AN AFRICAN TALE is a Zimbabwe-based version of the classic Cinderella fairy tale. And, just as in the latter, kindness prevails!
Before coming to see DCT's production of John Steptoe's MUFARO'S BEAUTIFUL DAUGHTERS: AN AFRICAN TALE, check out the following activity that will inspire kindness in your family's everyday life. Then, come to the theater and watch kindness triumph on DCT's stage, too!
Kindness Jar
Materials needed:
- jar or container (use anything you have on hand, such as an old spaghetti sauce or pickle jar)
- scraps of paper, popsicle sticks, or any other material to write kindness ideas on
- pens, markers, pencils
- paint, stickers, or anything else to decorate the jar (optional)
Instructions:
- Start by brainstorming with your family members some ways you could spread kindness in your home, school, and community. The ideas should be personal and manageable. Things like: write a note to a grandparent, bake cookies for a neighbor, do someone else's chore for the day, paint a "kindness rock", etc.
- Have everyone select a few ideas and write them on the scraps of paper (or popsicle sticks). Put the ideas in the jar.
- Once a day or week (or any time you want to promote kindness), select a paper from the jar and complete the task on it (help each other, as needed, so the task gets done).
- Optional: decorate the kindness jar with paint, stickers, or whatever you have on hand.
This activity was adapted from inspiredbyfamilymag.com/2015/02/04/spy-random-acts-kindness-jar/. Check out the website for more detailed instructions.
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DCT Staff Thoughts
Although kindness is one of the most important qualities I want to encourage in my home, during busy seasons of life (like now, with back-to-school hecticness), I have to be very intentional about it or it doesn't seem to be something we focus on as much as we should. Whether it's creating a Kindness Jar together or watching a play at DCT that brings it to the forefront, there are things we can do together to help spread kindness in our homes and communities.
These activities are for you to enjoy while you are at home, and hopefully bring a little DCT fun into your quality time together. We have found that the more prepared our audiences can be before they get to the theater, the more engaged they will be as an audience. After you create a kindness jar at home, don't forget to see John Steptoe's MUFARO'S BEAUTIFUL DAUGHTERS: AN AFRICAN TALE at Dallas Children's Theater.
Jessica Colaw
DCT Communications
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