Can a three year old sit through a panto?

[Liverbird77]

Aibu to ask if an about-to-turn-three year old would be able to sit and enjoy a two hour panto?

Me and my mum would love to take him, but we aren't sure if it is feasible.
There's no SEN or other special considerations to think about.

I am interested to hear from parents of older children. What age did you start to take them?

@Voomster953 you've really made me laugh!

Seriously, though, I wouldn't want to spoil the show for anyone. We'd be going to a morning performance and I'd take him out if he got upset or misbehaved.

Lots of different opinions. I really can't decide!

I work Front of House at a theatre. Yes to taking your D.C. along to the many wonderful children's shows that tour and are specifically designed for this age group. Your child will be enthralled and will love coming to shows. Panto - I'd say not yet. Every year it's heartbreak when we see sobbing little ones outside the auditorium who are terrified by the baddy or the ghost scene, or inevitably get exhausted by half way through the second half. An older four year old and definitely a five year old will get so much more out of it. And yes pantomime is loud.

[quote Liverbird77]@Voomster953 you've really made me laugh!

Seriously, though, I wouldn't want to spoil the show for anyone. We'd be going to a morning performance and I'd take him out if he got upset or misbehaved.

Lots of different opinions. I really can't decide![/quote]
So you’d take him once he’d already spoiled the show, then?

Because if he’s misbehaving or is loud or upset, he’s already spoiled it by the time you’re taking him out. And a morning performance isn’t any “lesser”, nor does it mean it’s not as important to those viewing it.

He’s far too young. Be considerate of everyone else.

I took my now 4yo to the cinema just before he turned 3 - I didn't think he'd sit through it (it was a 45 minute children's thing, not a feature length film) and he did! He loved it! We also took him to an outdoor panto before Christmas (socially distanced event) and again he loved it, although of course he is a bit older now. Worth a shot as long as you are happy to leave early if he hates it.

Depends entirely on the child really. My 3yo's sat through a few children's shows/pantos.

Again @emilyfrost it’s PANTO. Matinee performances are geared around children. I’m fairly sure if a two year old gets upset in the first 15 minutes and is removed, the rest of the audience will get over it and won’t find themselves bemoaning the disturbance during the dame’s inaugural scenes.

I would say this is fine. I have taken my DD to age appropriate theatre since the age of 2 1/2 and although she was a shy child she has always enjoyed it. Do you have a smaller local theatre to start off with? I probably wouldn't want to pay the price of a regional theatre tickets until I knew they would get through the performance. Also make sure you had a drink and a biscuit in case they are fidgety!

My DD is 18 now and we love going into London to see a show.

Both my children did but they loved stuff like that. They both sat through films at the cinema as well from aged 2.
You won’t know til you try. There will be loads of young kids there so I’d just go for it.

my dc did from that age. often ended up on my knee but it's perfect for introducing them to the theatre.

OP ignore @emilyfrost I go to the theatre a lot either local, regional and in London and if you book to see a small theatre panto or children's show you expect a small amount of disruption. As long as you remove your child immediately if screaming then you will be fine.

I started taking my DD age 7 to touring Musicals at regional theatre as I knew that firstly she would enjoy it but also behave so not to disturb other theatre goers.

From age 11 we progressed to London based musicals and theatre and at those prices I would be annoyed if a young child disturbed the performance. For a £15 per ticket performance at a small or amateur performance I would be fine.

Mine would have struggled with a traditional panto until the age of about 5-6. Most pantos are quite long (45-60 mins per act) and that's a big ask for a toddler to sit still and concentrate. They're usually quite dark too (bad witch, scary creatures in the woods etc). which mine would've found terrifying at 2/3.
I'd suggest a production aimed at under 5s instead - Gruffalo, The Snowman, My First Ballet, Stuff and Nonsense Theatre Company etc. were all loved by my little ones. Or the CBeebies panto if you're lucky enough in the ballot.

Too young. I used to work in a box office and every performance there would be parents with crying toddlers front of house who were scared of the villain.

If you insist on going then make sure you book aisle seats so you can make a quick exit if needed.

Depends on the kid . Took my DD to the Nutcracker when she was 2 1/2 at Hammersmith Apollo many years ago - we were close to the stage , afternoon performance and it was introduced by angellina ballerina ( mouse ) so she was transfixed . Frequent scene changes so couldn’t get bored helped .

Depends on the kid. My dc1 definitely. Dc 2 no way. Dc3 probably not either tbh.

@ Emilyfrost . For the love of God it's a panto. I'll let you into a little secret, It's aimed at children. Children laugh, cry, talk, fidget wave the marvellous light sticks they get at the show and they have fun. If you don't want all this then don't go to the pantomime. You'll be the one ruining it not the kids.
OP. It does depend on the children, if they can sit still, if they speak well and have a good level of understanding they will probably enjoy it. Many years ago I took 10 children between the ages of 3 and 10 two years running to christmas pantos and they loved it. The littlest ones sat either side of me and we had no problems.

Ours went one month shy of turning 3 and he loved it. Was enthralled by Peter Pan 'flying' over us.

Highly unlikely. And DC1 was terrified at that age. Cried most of the way through. It was far too loud for them.

Definitely choose the matinee one. We didn't do the evening one til he was about 9.

The panto is meant for children - it's not a serious piece of prose - no one expects silence at a panto

My Dd could have.
I still can't as Panto gives me the creeps

I took her to X Factor live at that age and she loved it, I was willing to leave at anytime though of course.

Actually, I also took her to Joseph, the musical at 6 in front row seats and she loved that.
Tbf Dd was a sitter, and no, nothing I did other than getting lucky!

Mine would, but he has SEN and gets very mesmerised by that sort of thing. Depends on the child!

@emilyfrost wow, unclench. It's a panto. It's for children. I'd take him out at the first sign of trouble, because I am very considerate of other people. It wouldn't spoil anything.
For what it's worth, he is very well behaved. We aren't bringing him up to be an entitled little horror.

Took both of mine from being two years old, theatre, cinema, restaurants. They both behaved exceptionally well. But then I’d taken them out to eat etc from being tiny.

Mine did and loved it. Depends on the child.

Took a family members child at that age, was fine, she loved it.

But I’d say it depends on what their attention span is like. I probably couldn’t have taken my own Dd at that age as she had the attention span of a goldfish and couldn’t sit still for more than 10 minutes!