18 Amazing Resources for Teaching Shakespeare to Your Kids

To be or not to be a family who studies Shakespeare. That is the question. May I encourage you in this endeavor since studying Shakespeare has so many benefits for the education of our students. To help you I have 18 amazing resources for teaching Shakespeare to your kids that will make it fun and easy!

Amazing Resources for Teaching Shakespeare to Your Kids

The first 2 resources I recommend are the required books for my online course entitled

 10 Weeks of Shakespeare ~ Introductory Course for 7th-12th Grades.

See the course for a detailed lesson plan and introduce Shakespeare to your students.

My Top 2 Resources

How to Teach Your Children Shakespeare by Ken Ludwig

I love how Ken Ludwig breaks down different aspects of studying Shakespeare’s works into bite-sized lessons that even young children can do. But, since it’s still Shakespeare we’re talking about here, it’s not childish. I used this book with teens, and it was perfect.

Ken’s companion website that includes some free printables, etc., is howtoteachyourchildrenshakespeare.com.

William Shakespeare’s Star Wars by Ian Doescher

What a blast this book is! We had so much fun doing some scenes from William Shakespeare’s Star Wars at our homeschool co-op. If you like these, there are more in the series such as The Empire Striketh Back!

Shakespeare’s plays written as stories for children

Tales from Shakespeare by Charles and Mary Lamb

Usborne Stories from Shakespeare by Anna Claybourne

Printables

Shakespeare resources from Everyday Graces

Copywork, printables, games, speeches, quotes, lists of characters, character analysis and drawing sheets, vocabulary cards, etc. These are great for helping with speaking and memorizing.

History: Renaissance and Reformation Notebooking Pages

Plays/Scripts

Folger Shakespeare Library editions of Shakespeare plays

No Fear Shakespeare editions of Shakespeare plays

The Comedy of Errors by Shakespeare, script abridged by Joyce McPherson

Shakespeare in a Box

These are available for several different plays of Shakespeare’s. They include a director’s scripts, scripts for all actors, and some props!

Shakespeare Readers Theatre:

Here are some ideas for doing Readers Theatre, which is when actors read the lines of a play for an audience without any blocking, costumes, props, scenery etc. (I haven’t looked at these personally.):

Simply Shakespeare: Readers Theatre for Young People by Jennifer L. Kroll

Shakespeare for Readers Theatre: Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream by John Poulsen

How to Direct a Play

Introduction to Directing FREE .pdf by Sabrina Justison

Music Inspired By Shakespeare

See a 15-Minute Music Lesson about music inspired by Shakespeare here. Includes a free printable pack!

Other Helpful Websites

• Shakespeare.Mit.Edu

• Shakespeare Webquest Questions

• Shakespeare Quotes

• PBS Shakespeare Uncovered

• Shakespeare Sonnets

What have you done to teach your children Shakespeare? I’d love to hear your ideas and see more suggestions for great Shakespeare resources.

Related Posts:

• All About the 10 Weeks of Shakespeare Online Course
• Why I Want My Kids to Experience Shakespeare
• 15-Minute Music Lesson of Music Inspired by Shakespeare
• How to Provide Opportunities in the Arts for Homeschoolers
• How to do an Ancient Greek Tragedy with Your Homeschool Co-op

(Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.)