As families continue to shelter at home amid the global COVID-19 crisis, parents from coast to coast are facing their toughest assignment yet: assuming the role of teacher.
Thanks to Disney Theatrical Productions, presenting a meaningful curriculum at home will have parents saying "haukuna matata," with the newly announced virtual release of "The Lion King Experience."
Free to access, "The Lion King Experience" is a web-based arts education program that provides students an immersive introduction to theater-making through the lens of "The Lion King" on Broadway.
Various modules of learning involving the theatrical processes include playwriting, directing, designing, technical theater, and more.
Students explore topics individually and are asked to create projects related to those topics, like creating an original song, a lighting design concept, or designing a theatrical mask.
Each session features a video introduction hosted by "The Lion King" on Broadway's Jelani Remy and Syndee Winters to introduce the lesson and theme.
Curriculum materials contain all of the tools needed for "The Lion King Experience’s" experiential theater curriculum and are split up into a KIDS and JR curriculum.
The KIDS curriculum is comprised of an 11-session course for students aged 8 to 11 and the JR curriculum is an 18-session course for students aged 12 to 15.
The multi-media curriculum was originally designed to be taught in a classroom setting by a teacher for schools producing "The Lion King." The program grants accredited elementary and middle schools the opportunity to produce condensed, age-appropriate adaptations of "The Lion King," which together with the curriculum, comprises "The Lion King Experience."
Disney Theatrical Productions adapted these lessons for a full at-home experience with new step-by-step instructions that students can explore on their own.
“When we developed The Lion King Experience we were excited to see students and teachers embrace their own artistry in classrooms everywhere," Disney Theatrical Productions Director of Education Outreach Lisa Mitchell told "GMA."
"Five years later, as a mom with a young child now learning from home, I realize just how important creativity and storytelling are during challenging times."
All sessions for The Lion King Experience have now been unlocked for students and teachers as the COVID-19 crisis continues.
Disney is the parent company of Disney Theatrical Productions, ABC News and "Good Morning America."