About
Kristin Hammond, Founder & Director |
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Kristin Hammond is an Expressive Arts Facilitator and Social-Emotional Development Coach who blends theater, mindfulness, and child development to create engaging, growth-centered experiences for children. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Theater and a Certificate in Early Childhood Education, pairing creative expertise with a deep understanding of how children learn, regulate, and connect.
As a certified Mindfulness for Children Practitioner and Flow Form Practitioner through the International Mindfulness and Meditation Alliance, Kristin thoughtfully integrates mindful movement and play into her work. Her classes strengthen focus, self-regulation, confidence, and emotional resilience through imagination, embodiment, and joyful exploration. Through her signature program, Centered Stage, Kristin unites the expressive power of theater with the grounding tools of mindfulness—offering children a nurturing space to grow into confident, empathetic, and self-aware individuals. With a passion for supporting all learners, including children with diverse social-emotional and neurodiverse needs, she designs strengths-based, imaginative programs that foster communication, collaboration, and creativity. Her workshops incorporate applied theater, improvisation, and mindfulness practices that empower children to express themselves authentically, build meaningful connections, and find joy in the art of play. Kristin also teaches Mindfulness Through Movement, drawing from principles of Yoga, BrainDance, and Tai Chi Qigong. Her formal training includes improvisation, movement, mime, directing, neutral mask work, and Commedia dell’arte. She grounds much of her teaching philosophy in the work of Viola Spolin, creator of Theater Games, emphasizing play as the foundation of learning and connection. Favorite stage credits include Harpoon in The Miser, Edith in ’dentity Crisis, Alice in The Mating of Alice May, Helen in Baby with the Bathwater, and Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Her directing credits include The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Alice in Wonderland, Annie, Little Shop of Horrors, The Sound of Music, The Jungle Book, and Grease. Kristin has directed and performed in numerous improvisational productions and has taught a wide range of children’s theater courses. She supervised summer camps at Brundage Park Playhouse, served as a Resident Teaching Artist with the Centenary Performing Arts Guild, and stepped in as an adjunct faculty member in their college theater department. At Acting-A-Part, she taught multiple classes, directed the Little Actors program and mainstage productions, and led summer theater camps. She currently resides in northern New Jersey with her two homeschooled children and their beloved dog, Bernardo da Vinci, pup extraordinaire. |
