The next time you attend a school play, concert, or community event, pay close attention to the lights instead of just the performers. Notice how the color changes when a scene shifts from happy to sad. Watch for moments when a single spotlight isolates one person on stage. After the show, talk with your family about what you noticed. How did the lighting make you feel during different parts of the performance? If you can, ask a parent to help you experiment at home with a desk lamp and colored cellophane or tissue paper. Hold different colors in front of the light and see how they change the way a room feels. 

Build a miniature stage using a shoebox or cardboard box. Cut an opening in the front for the “audience” to look through, place a small toy figure inside as your actor, and experiment with different light sources. Try shining a flashlight from above, from the side, and from below. Notice how the direction of the light changes the way your figure looks and the mood of the scene. Use colored plastic wrap or tissue paper over the flashlight to create different color effects. You are doing the same thing a lighting technician does when they set up lights for a show: deciding where the light comes from, what color it is, and how it shapes what the audience sees.

The next time you see a live performance, stay after the show if possible and look at the stage from the audience. Can you spot the lights hanging above the stage or on the sides? Count how many different colors you see. Ask a parent to help you learn the names of the basic fixtures: spotlight, floodlight, and followspot. If your community has a children’s theater or performing arts center, ask whether they offer backstage tours where you can see the lighting equipment up close. Seeing the equipment in person and understanding how it connects to what you watched on stage is the beginning of thinking like a technician.