The quietest child in the Christmas performance

[dropssnow]

Nursery, Reception and now Yr 1, my child is always the one not moving his lips, not doing any song actions, not having any parts.

I put it to nerves the first two years but he didn't seem nervous this year. He appeared to chat to kids around him, he smiled at the part where they said babies smell. He was rather amused by his 'costume'.
Except for a single clap in the right place, he didn't do a single thing. His lips moved a bit very occasionally but not even sure he was singing or talking to someone.

He thought he did well at the end. He said he did the singing and the dancing just like everybody else...

Should I be worried for his lack of awareness or you can expect that from a 5 year old.
Also, I cannot stop myself comparing him to all the children same age as him who did so so well.

Hopefully, this was the right place to post.

Ds didn't do anything other than swivel on his seat in year R and year 1. In year 2 he had a few lines as a narrator. This week (age 15) he's performing as ensemble in an adult version of the Nativity which he's chosen to do. Tbf I think the fact he misses a couple of days of school adds to his pleasure, but he did say he wanted to do it before he knew he would miss school.

@MargaretThursday thanks for responding.
It's a relief to hear they can outgrow it.

Everybody sang and danced beautifully and for having my dc at the front not doing a single thing was not a proud moment.
And I'm genuinely not sure what it is - can he not keep up with the tempo/ words, does he find it difficult to do both singing and actions together, does he not understand what is expected, etc.

He's nearly six now. But clearly needs more time with things like that.

You could talk to the teacher and see if they've noticed anything else, but he could just be shy/nervous.

@dropssnow They do outgrow it. And not all children like performing. Tell him how lovely it was to see him, and what a lovely play and ask him his favourite bit etc.

In year 1 and year 2 I used to find ds was the wriggliest least attentive child in the form. Year 2 he was still wriggly but didn't stand out as much.

But there will be other children whose parents feel similar to you. Maybe not as obviously to you because you were watching him. Not every child joins in with gusto. And you'll get the other way.
I remember a couple of friends when their dc was year R. I'd not have said either was particularly show-offy about their child. One of them said similarly to you. The other said to me that the whole set of parents were talking about how amazingly her dc had known every word and action of the song.
She showed me the video. And actually the two children performed fairly similarly but the second dc was more confident. The first child is the one who's now a professional actress.

Ds was children's chorus in a panto while quite small and in the last performance he suddenly noticed the stage smoke and had a lot of fun, blowing it, waving it etc instead of doing the dance. The cast and audience was in stitches and he hadn't a clue.

He got there in the end. It just took him longer.

He does do drama and has for a few years now (he's 15yo). He enjoys it but doesn't want to be the main part. He enjoys the working together as a group more than anything else. Tbf he's got a lovely group that are really supportive of each other and cheer each other on rather than being competitive which is fantastic.

Bless him. How is he in school otherwise?