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MOTHER GRINS VILLAGE: A CREATIVE DRAMA PROGRAM HONORS THESIS Presented to the Honors Committee of Texas State University-San Marcos In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For Graduation in the University Honors Program By Julie H. Raty San Marcos, Texas May 2008 Raty 1 Thesis introduction This paper was written to illustrate how creative drama programs can encourage effective communication skills in children. The person responsible for conducting the study in this paper will be referred to as the facilitator. Effective communication becomes ever more important as the population grows and diversifies. As they mature, today’s children must process and address complex social issues within their private and public lives. Because creative drama’s purpose is “for the growth and development of the players rather than for the entertainment of an audience” (Beall Heinig and Stillwell 5), it is an appropriate source to develop programs that address interpersonal communication. Creative drama has been an informal way of communicating information through the ages. One theory on theatre’s development is that it started as storytelling. Whether to relay a current event such as a hunting expedition or recount great ancestral achievements, the purpose was to share something of significance with others in an entertaining way (Brockett Hildy 5). It wasn’t until the efforts of early founders such as Winifred Ward that creative drama emerged as a viable means of educating children in the areas of communication and social interaction. Ward opened “a new field of education: the teaching of drama wit