FOR THE KIDS : At the ‘Children’s Hour Tea,’ Youngsters Can Really Act Up : They are drawn into improv theatricals with the help of experienced adult actors.

You’ve heard of improv--improvisational acting where actors dream up zany skits on the spot. How about “kid-prov?”

Terry Brenner-Farrell, who runs the children’s Hundred Hats Theater in Santa Paula, is offering a kid spin on improv at the theater’s “Children’s Hour Tea” on Saturday afternoon.

It’s not really a tea, but it is a party of sorts. It’s kind of a fun session for kids that includes storytelling, music and Brenner-Farrell’s own brand of improvisation.

She and other adult actors do the improv bit, but with some help from the kids. To start with, a child spins a roulette-type wheel to determine the type of skit--a gushy fairy tale, a mystery or maybe one with a scary monster. As the skit progresses, the children are asked by the actors to decide what comes next, and they might even be drawn into the scene.

When it comes to improv, Brenner-Farrell is a pro. She is a member of Ventura Area TheatreSports, an improvisational acting troupe that performs in Ventura.

Hundred Hats has been around since 1980. Affiliated with the Santa Paula Theatre Center, the children’s theater puts on three productions a year aimed at family audiences. Kids can take acting classes, and about 60 children from the Santa Paula and Ventura area are involved in the program.

“Fifty percent of our students are on scholarship,” she said.

How do kids take to improv? “What the kids like is that they get to participate,” she said. If they are in the mood, that is. “Sometimes it goes over well, but other times, you think you’re working with the living dead.”

Julie Billingsly, Hundred Hats’ co-artistic director with Brenner-Farrell, will also be taking the stage during the “Children’s Hour Tea.” The storytelling will be keyed to holidays, and the sing-along music will be provided by Brett Rungren, who starred in “Jesus Christ Superstar” at the Dorill B. Wright Cultural Center in Port Hueneme. Art by students at Santa Paula’s Briggs School will also be on display.

All this takes place at 2 p.m. in the theater’s back room, which has its own stage. The event is recommended for kindergarten through elementary school-aged children. Admission to the event is $2, which includes refreshments. Brenner-Farrell said the tea is one of several the theater will sponsor throughout the year as fund-raisers.

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The Children’s Christmas Parade in Oxnard isn’t coming up until Dec. 11, but kids who want to participate must submit entry forms by Tuesday. This is the second year that the Oxnard Redevelopment Agency has sponsored the “push-em, pull-em”-style parade downtown.

The theme this year is “The Treasures of Christmas,” and kids can decorate bikes, wagons, buggies, even skates with that in mind. The best entries will get trophies and prizes.

The parade starts at 11 a.m. at 3rd and A streets. It will run only a couple of blocks and wind up at Plaza Park on 5th Street. Parents must accompany the children. Entries are available at 715 S. A St., Oxnard. For information, call 483-7960.

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Wannabe shutterbugs in Ventura can learn about photography through a free series of classes offered through the Ventura Arts Council and a long list of sponsors. Called “Our Town,” the four-week course--conceived by the council as an alternative to graffiti, tagging and gangs--is open to kids 9 to 16 years old.

Classes start the week of Nov. 29 and will be held at these Ventura locations: Boys and Girls Club West, Wednesdays 5 and 6 p.m (641-5588); Boys and Girls Club East, Tuesdays 5 and 6 p.m. (641-5599); Westpark Community Center, Mondays 5 and 6 p.m. (648-1895); Anacapa Middle School, Wednesdays 3 p.m. (641-5135); and Cabrillo Middle School, Tuesdays 3 p.m. (641-5155). Pre-registration is required.

Details

* WHAT: “Children’s Hour Tea,” an afternoon of improvisation, storytelling and music, sponsored by Hundred Hats Theater.

* WHEN: Saturday, 2 p.m.

* WHERE: Santa Paula Theatre Center, 125 S. 7th St.

* COST: $2 per person. Refreshments provided.

* FYI: 525-4645.