New Victory Arts Break: Night Light

What objects and activities do you and your kid associate with bedtime? This week on New Victory Arts Break, we’re exploring the sights and sounds of bedtime alongside Teater Refleksion and Andy Manley’s cozy and enchanting show Night Light! Check out the activities below before, on your way to and after seeing Night Light to deepen your connection to the show’s themes and add a sprinkle of theatrical magic to your nighttime routine!

Stay up to date on Arts Break and other arts-based activities! Sign up for New Victory email.

Some of the videos in this Arts Break were filmed at New 42 Studios. We acknowledge that New 42 Studios resides on the seized homeland of the Lenape people and the intertribal territory of many First Nations. We celebrate and pay deep respect to all Indigenous peoples, past, present and future, and we encourage you to learn more about these vibrant communities.

Have you ever wondered what other people dream about? Dreaming can be very exciting, and sharing your dreams can be equally as exciting! In this first activity, we’ll play a game of guessing the dreams of others and spend some time thinking about our own dreams as well. Grab a comfy seat for you and your kid, and check out the video below.

Great job guessing! After watching this video and thinking about others’ dreams, try to remember a dream of your own. What have you dreamed about recently? Print out the worksheet below or use it as inspiration to draw your dreams and yourself dreaming them!

As you make your way to New 42 Studios for Night Light, get into an evening mood with a nighttime version of “I Spy.” Check out the image below and see how many of these things you can find:

• a teddy with glasses on
• a nighttime snack
• your homework
• a pair of rollerskates
• a pet fish
• a teacup
• a phone
• a fairy
• a night light
• the North Star

After thinking about nighttime for so long, it’s finally time for bed! Let’s relax and wind down for bed with New Victory Teaching Artist Ellen Winter. Follow along as she guides you through her celestial bedtime routine of singing and stretching.

Here are the lyrics to Ellen’s song, in case you’d like to make it part of your bedtime routine:

Don’t forget to do your stretches during each verse of the song! Here’s a stretch-by-stretch refresher:

Stretch One: Stretch your arms and your kid’s arms overhead and say hello to the stars in the sky!

Stretch Two: Wave your arms and your kid’s arms side to side and greet the moon!

Stretch Three: Place your fingers on the tops of your head and your kid’s head and tap tap tap to wake up your dreams.

Stretch Four: Wrap your arms around you and your kid to give yourselves a big hug!

If you were to invent a fifth bedtime stretch, what would it be?

We hope you enjoyed getting creative with the themes of Night Light! If you want to spend some more time in the world of the show, check out this Professor Propeller’s Planet episode about Denmark, home of Teater Refleksion, and Johal Kids’ facts about Scotland, home of Andy Manley.

And for more creative playtime related to the themes and art forms of Night Light, check out the Arts Break activities below from more of our talented New Victory Teaching Artists:

Create a dramatic nighttime setting at home using theatrical lighting and sound design techniques with Drew Petersen.

Learn to design and puppeteer everyday objects with Renata Townsend for interactive storytelling at bedtime or anytime.

If you and your kid enjoyed Night Light, we have more upcoming shows designed for the younger set this season, including the outdoorsy Grand Soft Day and Four Go Wild in Wellies for 2–5-year-olds at New 42 Studios, plus the lyrical Música and I Wish for 4–7-year-olds at the New Victory Theater. See you soon!