It’s no big secret that getting kids involved in the performing arts can help improve academic performance. After all, research shows that children who sing, dance and act their little hearts out are four times more likely to be recognised for academic achievement compared with their non-performing friends.

Whether you’re a kid or an adult, the ability to stay calm and carry on is what keeps a small social blooper from mushrooming into a major one. When something goes wrong during a show, kids learn to improvise and think on their feet. Those are great skills that can be applied to everyday life and help both children and adults improve their social skills.

Let’s face it: Even grown-ups get nervous when we have to speak in front of our colleagues or give a presentation to the boss. Learning from an early age how to cope with performance jitters gives kids a leg up in those big life moments.

Performing arts help teach children both self-reliance as well as collaboration with others in order to reach a goal. They learn that there are many different pathways to develop a skill. Performing arts develop reasoning and creative thinking, as well as motivation, concentration and teamwork.

One of the wonderful things about being in a play is that for a short period of time, you get to become someone else. For a child who struggles to talk about their feelings, there is a tremendous relief in disappearing behind a character and using it as an intermediary through which to open up. Playing the role of someone else also teaches kids about empathy. They learn to put themselves in someone else’s shoes.

There’s nothing quite like hearing the audience clap at the end of the show, it is an incredible feeling. That instant positive feedback is really rewarding. Any type of performance requires teamwork to succeed. Kids are introduced to the notion of an ensemble. It’s not just you up on stage. You are responsible for a larger group that is counting on you to do your part so they can do theirs. That weight of personal responsibility is rare in a child’s world, and successfully delivering his lines means more because of what’s at stake.

At the end of the day, the transferable skills a child learns from performing may not be nearly as important as the experience of performing itself. We’re always looking for ways the arts can benefit kids in other areas of life. Whether it’s acting in a play or performing in a dance, encouraging your child in performing arts is a great way to create a well-rounded education.