The Improvaneer Method Online

Due to the Pandemic of 2020, we were forced to use our own improvisation skills to come up with an alternative to teach the Improvaneer Method. With the heightened use of virtual programming, we had our solution. So we looked at all of the games we used in our live program and all of the skills we were developing and decided what could still be done online. Turns out, we could keep a bunch of games, and still build nearly every skillset.

Once we introduced the program, we realized how impactful it still was, but in even more ways than we could have imagined. Our live program proved that improvisation could build key skillsets that would be impactful on building social, workplace and lifetime opportunities. The online program has proven to do that as well, but added two key benefits we hadn’t considered - 1) connection and 2) a reprieve.

Overwhelmingly, parents and caregivers noted through our surveys how ‘connected’ these programs allowed their loved ones to be in a world that wasn’t allowing much connection due to the pandemic. This connection made the participants excited for their classes each week. Parents would recount how their children would begin getting giddy when “improvaneer time” was about to happen. They could meet others from around the country who had similarities to them, who maybe also needed some extra time, or who had challenges articulating their words. And they found connection in those similarities and got to play make believe and laugh and learn together.

A ‘reprieve’ was also another benefit parents and caregivers touted about the classes. This was broken down in two ways. It was a reprieve for the participants from their normal activities, which particularly during the pandemic, had become very tedious and dull. This was a release to vent out their boredom and frustrations. The reprieve however was also for those parents and caregivers, who could sit the participants in front of the screen and perhaps get a break themselves. The reprieve was for both parties, and no one had any problems with that!