Introduction

This resource is a compilation of drama games, icebreakers, activities, lessons and warm-ups. It is a collection of resources that I have gathered throughout my experience teaching and participating in the dramatic arts. I have included full instructions for a variety of my favourite activities that have been obtained from many sources as well as links and booklets of the full resources that include even more resources from quality drama websites, books, and booklets.

Table of Contents

Fundamentals of Drama

Introduction to Drama Class

Imaginative Openings

Introducing Yourself

Learning Names

Actor’s Tools

Drama Contracts

Movement

Purpose

Introduction to Movement

Sleepy Snakes

The Crocodile Snap

Polar Bears

Games

Alphabet Madness

As If

Yes Lets!

Late for School

Ensemble Building

Greetings your Majesty Mr. Hit Spotlight Two Truths and a Tale World’s Greatest Questions

Learning Names

Fake Word Definition Greetings Name and Movement

World’s Greatest Sandwhich

Theatre Game Activities

Warm-ups

Physical

Association Jump Four Corners Guess the Word Run to It Yee-Ha!

Vocal

Short Introductory exercises Patter Songs Tongue Twisters

Focus

Count to 10 Guess a Minute Honey, if you love me… Mirrors Opposites Game

Creativity

Animal Scenes Fortunately, Unfortunately Not what it seems

Improv

Accepting Circle Add a Freeze Sit, Lie, Stand Yes Lets!

Lessons:

Organized by skill/grade level

Here you will find some of my favourite drama lessons that I collected and used with my grade one drama class.

First Time Drama

1. Hand Animals 2. Nursery Rhyme Charades 3. A Tree Grows (narrative pantomime)

Grades 1-3

1. The Lion King’s Court 2. No! You can’t take me! 3. Rhyme Charades

Resources

Web Resources

Text Resources

Booklets

Drama Notebook Curriculum: How to teach your first drama class Anytime Drama: Animal Fun Making Learning Fun: Drama Activities—Drama Task Cards Grades 1—3 Non-Equipment Activities (Eastern Active Schools)

Introduction to Drama Class

Goals

Imaginative Opening

Introduce yourself

Learning names

Getting to know each other

Explain actor’s tools

Classroom contract

Forming a group awareness/developing trust

Imaginative Opening (take your pick!)

To make the drama class experience magical and full of wonder, you may want to

come up with a way of inviting kids into the room for the very first class. Here are three

examples:

Imaginary Places

Turn the lights down, with music playing. Invite the kids to move about the room in time

to the music. Ask them to listen to the music and imagine what kind of place the music

reminds them of. They can “pretend” to be in that place as all of the other students

arrive. When every child is present, gather the students into a circle and let them know

that they have already been acting! Then go around the circle and ask each child to say

his/her name, and tell the rest of the class which place he/she was imagining. Let the

kids know that the essence of theatre is using their imaginations to create different

places and people wherever they are!

The Campfire

Get an orange scarf and tell the kids that it is a fire. Dim the lights and invite the kids to

sit around the campfire with their snacks. You may choose to tell a story, or ask for each

child to contribute something such as telling the class about a time when they felt really

scared, or something that no one else knows about them. A talking stick is a really great

item to have on hand for “campfire” time.

The Tree

Have enough paper and colored markers for everyone. Invite the kids to enter the room

and join the circle and start drawing a tree. It can be any kind of tree. Any color, any

shape, any design. When all the kids have arrived, and have finished their trees, have

the students place them on the floor either in a big wide circle, or in random places

around the playing space. This is our tree “gallery.” In silence, invite the players to walk

around the “gallery” looking at the trees. Eventually have them stop at a tree that is not

their own, but one they feel is like them. Then have them find a tree that is very

different from them. Then invite the kids to join you in a sitting circle. Ask them what

they noticed. Explain that just like us, every tree is different and that in this class, there

are all kinds of people with all kinds of viewpoints and that all of us are unique. No one

is ever right or wrong…in this class, we appreciate the differences.

You can invent whatever imaginative opening you wish for drama class. Or you can

leave it out entirely, adding it in when you feel inspired.

Introduce Yourself!

If you are teaching drama to a group of children you already know quite well it is

still important to introduce yourself in the dramatic space. Opening up to your students

and sharing your life with them in the drama classroom will help them to open up to

everyone else. Tell them why you love drama. Let them know if you have ever felt

nervous or scared about performing in front of a group. Make them feel as comfortable

as possible.

Learning Names

Once again, you may already know each other’s names however these

community building activities can still be valuable and fun. I have listed some of my

favourite name games under our theatre drama games section.

Actor’s Tools

This list is for the teacher and can be altered to more child friendly language. It is

important however that children start considering these questions once they begin to

act and develop characters.

Words Actions Imagination

The Spoken Word Your Voice How loud? How Soft? How fast? How Slow? How high? How low? Where are the pauses? How long do you pause? Do you bring life to the text? The Written Word The Playwright Who wrote it? When did they write it? Why did they write it? Who was the intended audience for the play? What did the theatre look like?

Your Body How old is your character? How would they walk? Are you facing the audience? Are you looking at another character? What expression is on your face as the other character speaks? What are you doing with your hands? When do you move? Before you speak? After you speak? While you are speaking? The Group Where are the other characters? Which character is higher, which is lower? When do you move toward or away from the other characters?

Playing the situation Is your character listening? Are you giving your character time to think? Are you engaged mentally, physically, and vocally every moment of the scene? Does the audience see you or do they see the character? Was this the first time this scene happened? Relationship to Audience Can the audience hear and understand every word? Can the audience see your character even when you are not speaking? If the audience looks at you when you are not speaking can they see you reacting? Are you letting the audience have time to react through laughing, tears, or thought?

Explain Actor’s Tools:

Have the kids sit in a circle around you. Explain that everyone uses "tools" to do their

work. You may wish to go around the class and ask the students for some examples of

jobs. Pick one of the jobs and ask the class "What kind of tools do they use to do their

job?" Do this with two or three different jobs. doctors, mechanics, firemen, and

teachers make good examples. Next, ask them what kind of tools they think actor’s use.

You'll get: props, make-up, swords, costumes, etc. Those are all good, but ask them to

think of ones the actor is born with. What we're after is body, voice and imagination. Try

to guide them to these--don't just tell them what the three are. If you're using a

blackboard, write the three answers prominently on the board. Ask the students: What

is unusual about these tools?

One answer is that every single person has these tools with them all of the time.

Everyone has the tools already that you need to be an actor and these tools are always

with you!

( Drama Notebook Curriculum, How to Teach Your First Class www.dramanotebook.com

© 2009 Drama Notebook, Janea Dahl

Drama Contracts

For the most part I like to allow students to come up with their own list of rules in small

groups and then we pick the best ones and add them to my list of rules.

Drama Contract Example:

1. Be careful getting the drama space ready.

2. Pretend to be someone else.

3. Try your best.

4. Listen carefully.

5. Believe others.

Move With Me Exercises

Purpose:

Move with me exercises give children the opportunity to explore and develop their

motor skills individually. Furthermore, these exercises allow teachers to fine tune their

students listening skills. Through participation in these activities students are provided

with the building blocks necessary to explore the world around them through use of

their imagination. These exercises require children to participate in physical activity that

contributes to positive health and fitness.

Instructions:

The focus of these exercises is movement. Children will be required to act out

behaviours that may require prior knowledge, for example students will be asked to use

their “sensory imaging” (what you already know to be true) to “walk like a penguin”.

Occasionally, depending on the ability level of children

MOVE WITH ME Instructions:

The teacher will use verbal cues throughout the scene and will demonstrate

movements for the children to follow.

There are no speaking lines for the children. The children should use only their

bodies to tell their story.

Sleepy Snakes

Scene summary for teachers: In this scene, the children are all quietly sleeping, curled

up on the floor. They slowly awake, stretching their snake bodies. They shed their snake

skins. Once shed, the snakes will get sleepy and curl up to take a nap.

Teacher leads with verbal and physical cues as the children follow:

1. Children are asked to lie on the floor in a curled up sleeping

position and close their eyes.

2. Slowly stretch your body as you are awaking.

3. Stretch your body out as straight as you can.

4. Look at your body and discover you are a snake!

5. Feel your smooth, cold scales.

6. Your skin feels funny, today is the day you shed your skin!

7. Slither across the floor and find a good spot to shed your skin.

8. Now, rub your body on the floor, your skin is shedding.

9. Wiggle your body to shake off your skin.

10. Wow, that was great, your skin is off!

11. Feel your body again; it’s even smoother than before!

12. Boy, that has made you tired!

13. Slither over to your favourite tree.

14. Now curl up in your favourite tree branch.

15. The sun is shining down on your new skin, making you warm and comfy.

Instructions:

The teacher will use verbal cues throughout the scene and will demonstrate

movements for the children to follow.

In this lesson, there are a few speaking lines for the children, but the children

should mainly use their bodies to tell their story.

The Crocodile Snap!

Scene summary for teachers:

In this scene the children will move like

crocodiles, snapping their arms to mimic the

crocodile’s jaw, hop like frogs, slither like

snakes, growl like a Tyrannosaurus Rex, fly like

Pterodactyls and move like turtles.

Teacher leads with physical cues as the

children follow:

1. Say “snap, snap, snap” as you use your hands to snap jaws like crocodiles.

2. Say, “croak, croak, croak” while hopping from lily pad to lily pad like frogs.

3. Say “hisssss, hisssss, hisssss” as you use hands to slither like snakes.

4. Say, “growl, growl, growl” as you hold your arms still and move around on your

hind legs like a T-Rex.

5. Say, “squawk, squawk, squawk” and hold your arms out and fly like a Pterodactyl.

6. Now move slow like a turtle.

7. Now, hide inside your shell like a turtle would. Great job!

MOVE WITH ME

Instructions: The teacher will use verbal cues throughout the scene and will demonstrate

movements for the children to follow.

There are no speaking lines for the children. The children should use only their bodies to tell their story.

Polar Bears Scene summary for teachers: In this scene, the children are all quietly sleeping, curled up on the floor. They slowly awake, stretching their limbs as they do. Once awake, they realize they are polar bears. They will investigate their new bodies, discover they are hungry and search for food. Once fed, the polar bears will get sleepy and lay down for a nap. Teacher leads with verbal and physical cues as the children follow: 1. Children are asked to lie on the floor in a curled up sleeping position and close their eyes.

2. Slowly stretch each limb as you are awaking.

3. Stretch out the neck.

4. You are fully awake and it feels great to be awake.

5. Look around and discover you are at the zoo. In fact, you discover you are a zoo animal!

6. Look down at yourself. You have white fur and a long white furry nose! Feel your long nose.

7. Discover you have four paws with long claws. Stretch one of your claws out. Now stretch out another claw.

8. You are a polar bear!

9. You are a hungry polar bear! Walk around the room like a hungry polar bear would walk (maybe rubbing their tummies or clawing through the air).

10. Walk tall and raise your claws to try to catch a passing bird.

11. Walk low with your claws in front of you to try to catch a fish.

12. Find some berries and pick them with your big claws.

13. The berries taste wonderful. Fill your tummies with berries.

14. All this food makes you very tired. Sit down and take a rest.

15. It feels good to relax again. Stretch out a paw. Stretch out another paw. Lie down and rest your head on your front paws and close your eyes.

16. Polar bears are warm and comfy and sleeping quietly. THE END

Alphabet Madness

Formation: Standing

Equipment: None

Learning Outcomes: Movement concepts: effort, space awareness, and relationships. To promote movement through imagery inspired by words associated with each letter of the alphabet.

Rules/Directions:

1. Starting with letter "A", call out each letter of the alphabet, and a corresponding word or phrase that begins with that letter.

2. The teacher can expound on the word/phrase to create an image and to promote movement. For example, the teacher might begin by calling out or holding up a letter "A", saying the word "apple", and then asking the children to "Pretend you're an apple tree; now stretch your branches high into the sky".

3. After each movement, review the letter and the word, and then ask the children to call out the letter that comes next.

4. You can continue through the entire alphabet, or select certain letters each day.

5. Following is a sample list for the entire alphabet:

A--Apple: Keep your feet together and stretch your branches high in the sky.

B--Breeze: Now a breeze begins blowing, and it blows the apples trees back and forth. (have the children sway and stretch their trunks while trying to keep their "roots" planted firmly in place.

C--Cat: Let’s see if you can get on your hands and knees and arch your back like

a scared cat.

D--Dance: Now let’s dance. Wiggle your body and shake your legs.

E--Eagle: Show me an eagle - stand on one foot and then slowly move your arms like a bird with long, graceful strokes.

F--Frog: Jump like a frog on your lily pad! Now jump all around the lily pads without touching any of the other frogs.

G--Gallop and H--Horse: Let me see horses that can gallop gracefully around the general space.

I--Inchworm: I want you to be an inchworm -- start with your hands on the floor in front of your feet; "walk" your hands out as far as possible, then "walk" your feet up to meet your hands

J -- Jumping jacks. Start with 10, and add one each time you do this exercise.

K--Kangaroo. Two-foot jumping (Again, stress they are not to touch the other kangaroos!)

L--Ladder. Pretend to climb a tall ladder, moving your hands and feet at the same time. (Narrate the climb while you're doing it, "we're almost to the top!". When you reach the top, look around at the "view" and take several deep breaths of the fresh air, etc.)

M--Missle. Stand with your feet together. As we count down from 10, slowly lower into a crouch. When we reach "blast off," jump straight up into the air as high as you can.

N--Newt. We are all lizards; get down on all fours and crawl around in quick bursts.

O--Ostrich. With your long neck, and long stride, move around the room like an ostrich.

P--Push-ups. See how many you can do. Try to add one more than last time.

Q--Quiet tip-toeing. Pretend you are sneaking into the kitchen to try and get a smack (which leads to...)

R--Running. Once you snatch the snack, run in place for a while, pretending to make your getaway.(vary the tempos, having them slow down to a trot for a bit,then running hard for a while)

S--Swimming. Pretend you are a fish swimming around in the ocean, slowly moving your arms and walking around the area.(Yell "shark!" and they'll all start swimming fast to get away).

T--Touch your toes.

U--Uniforms. Pretend you are wearing a shiny bright uniform; you are the leader of a marching band. High-step your way around the area

V--Vibrate. Stand in place and "vibrate" (shake) your arms really fast.

W--Waltz. You and your imaginary partner are dancing the waltz around the floor.

X--Make a big X with your body, stretching out your arms and legs as far as you can.

Y--You are a Yo-yo. Make your body go up and down.

Z--Zig-zag. Move in a zigzag pathway around the general space.

Suggestions:

1. The instructor can adjust this activity from class to class, change some or all of the letters each time, and channel the activity toward specific skills they want to get across.

2. The children also like to try and guess what you're going to have them do with the letters.

3. Ask the children to suggest ideas of active words to put with each letter.

4. Music can be used.

As If

Formation: Standing at own personal space

Equipment: None

Learning Outcomes: Coordination, Creativity

Rules/Directions:

1. Teacher reads sentence to class:

• Jog in place as if a big scary bear is chasing you.

• Walk forward as if you are popcorn popping.

• Jump in place as if grabbing balloons out of the air.

• March in place and play drums as if you are in a marching band.

• Paint as if the paint brush is attached to your head.

• Swim as if you are in a giant pool of Jell-O.

• Move your feet on the floor as if you are ice skating.

• Shake your body as if you are a wet dog.

2. Students act out each sentence for 20-30 seconds.

3. Students may create their own sentences for additional activities.

Yes Lets!

Formation: Standing spread out in a circle

Equipment: None

Learning Outcomes: Listening, Movement, Creativity

Rules/Directions:

1. Teacher begins by saying “Lets _________” (ex. Go skiing, brush our teeth, etc.)

2. Students reply “YES LETS!” and proceed to act out the action, silently and on the

spot.

- Allow students 10 seconds to do each action

3. Students proceed around the circle and come up with “Lets _________” phrases

until everyone has had a turn.

Late For School

Formation: Standing in their personal space.

Equipment: None

Learning Outcomes: Listening skills, loco motor skills, acting

Rules/Directions:

1. Have all the children stand in their own personal space. 2. Tell the children they must copy your actions. Pretend you are asleep and

suddenly wake up and are late for school. Everything you do is done on the spot but in a hurry. Brush your teeth, wash your face, put your clothes on, run downstairs, run back up (forgot to put your pants on), run back downstairs, eat breakfast, pick up your bag, open front door, shut door, run down the street, jump over hedge, look both ways, cross the road, jump over a puddle, pick flowers for your teacher, run across the school parking lot, open front doors, walk briskly into the office, tell the secretary you are here but she is not there, walk briskly to your locker, take off your coat and outdoor boots, put on your indoor boots, pick up your backpack, walk briskly to your classroom, knock on the door, open the door. Stop. You are puffing and panting, then you realize there is no one there.....it’s Saturday!!!!

3. You must provide a running commentary while doing the actions and you can make it as fun as you like with as many actions as necessary.

Suggestions:

1. For a cool down activity, do the same type thing only for going to bed. This would involve a lot of stretching as you mime removing clothes, hugging teddy bears, etc. This would be done slowly and you end with the students lying on the floor asleep.

Ensemble Building

Ensemble building is one of the most important aspects of

drama. If students feel that they are part of an ensemble,

team or family they are much more likely to participate. This

allows students to feel comfortable expressing themselves

in ways they have not yet experienced before and push

themselves outside of their comfort zone. Here you will find

a selection of some of my favourite getting to know you

activities.

Greetings Your Majesty

This is a really simple but fun game to burn

some time at the end of a class or to have

students see how well they know each other.

Time: 5-10 minutes

Instructions:

1. Get the students to sit in a line.

2. Place a chair facing away from the

students.

3. One student is chosen to sit in the

chair. He/She must then shut their

eyes.

4. Students are then picked from the line to sneak up behind the student in the

chair, and in a weird or different voice, they say: Greetings Your Majesty.

5. This student then returns to their seat in the line.

6. The student in the chair must guess which student it was.

7. If the student in the chair gets it right they stay in the chair, and this will continue

until they get five right in a row.

8. If they get in wrong, however, the student who tricked them becomes the one in

the chair.

9. This continues until the game tires.

Mr. Hit

This game is a way of learning the names of a group, or as a good warm-up with a group

whose names are already familiar to each other.

1. Actors stand in a circle. One person announces, "I am Mr. Hit!" Mr. Hit begins

walking directly (but slowly, at first) towards another person in the circle, with his

hands out in front of him like a zombie. If he touches the person, they are "out"

and must leave the circle.

2. The only way the intended victim can stop Mr. Hit is to call out the name of

another person in the circle before any contact is made. No fair running away.

3. Once a name is called out, that person (whose name was just called out) instantly

becomes Mr. Hit and begins advancing on a victim.

4. Kids can use funny voices or grunting when they start toward someone. The only

way the victim can save himself is by calling out a name. Continue play until all

but two people have been eliminated. It gets harder and harder, because as

people are "out" the number of remaining names grow smaller.

5. Students can't say the name of a person who is out--it must be someone who is

still in the circle. It sounds easy, but it isn't. It is very difficult to think with Mr. Hit

bearing down on you. This is great, frustrating, and fun! Something about the

sheer panic you feel when Mr. Hit is coming at you and you can't think of a name

to say really makes those names stick in your head.

Does not work well with really little kids. Grades 2-3 only!

Spotlight!

This is my favourite community building

activity that can be used in any classroom or

subject. It may be difficult in kindergarten

and even grade one, simply because of their

spelling and printing skill level. However in

grade two and three this would be a perfect

activity to boost self-esteem and encourage

a kind and positive community.

Time: 10 minutes—to be done at either the beginning or the end of each drama class.

Instructions:

1. Choose one or two students from a hat and have those students stand far apart

in front of a whiteboard.

2. Have the rest of the class line-up in front of the students that are in the spotlight

that day.

3. The rest of the class will take turns writing compliments about that person.

Make sure that students are not simply writing “pretty” “nice” or other

generic compliments. Give suggestions to them that are specific to that

person for example: “Jordan is a great hockey player” “Shawn is a kind

friend” “Elise has a great sense of humor”

4. Take pictures of students standing in front of all of their compliments to later be

posted on a “spotlight” wall.

5. On the count of 3 have them turn around and read their compliments.

Two Truths and a Tale

This game encourages students to learn more about

each other and enhances their storytelling skills.

Instructions:

1. Sitting in a circle, students must take turns telling 2 truths and 1 tale.

2. It is the job of the other students to guess which of the 3 facts about that child is

a tale, or untrue.

World’s Greatest Questions

In pairs, kids take turns asking one of these questions that

you have written on the board or handed out on a piece

of paper. Then they switch partners. They can ask a

different question each time they change partners, or

they can keep asking the same question! These are also

available ready to print in a document in LISTS “Interview

in Pairs Questions.”

If you were to choose a new name, what would it be?

If you could take a vacation anywhere in the world, where would you

go?

If you could turn into an animal right now, what would you be and

why?

If you had a million dollars, what is the first thing you would buy?

What is the greatest thing that ever happened to you?

If you had one wish, what would you wish for…except more wishes?

If you could have one magical power, what would it be?

Learning Names

Fake Word Definition—A name learning game

Fake word definition is an alternative to the usual movement-based association games

used to learn names in a new drama group (or indeed, in any other type of group!).

Instructions:

Standing in a circle, each person in turn says their name, then says what it is backwards

and provides a fake definition for what their name backwards means.

For example:

“My name is John. Backwards, that’s ‘nhoj’, which is the Turkish word for when you rub

your knuckle on someone else’s head.”

“My name is Paul. Backwards, that’s ‘luap’, which is a type of electrical circuit.”

“My name is Helena. Backwards, that’s “aneleh”, which is cous cous dish, including

courgettes and peanuts.”

Definitions can be as detailed – or brief – as desired — and creativity is very much

encouraged!

Optional add-on: break the group into small sub-groups of four or five. Ask each group

to take one (or more) of the fake definitions, and create an advert/infomercial to sell

the item/concept. Allow around 5 minutes of preparation time then 1-2 minutes per

group for the showcase.

Length: 5 minutes (depending on the group size/detail); plus, extra for the add-on.

Group size: Any size, up to a maximum of around 30

Greetings

Instructions:

1. Players mill around the space.

2. On a given signal, they meet the next person they meet by name, and then

continue walking.

3. The leader calls out a new way of greeting each time.

4. Try and find a new person each time. Examples:

Long lost friend

Shyly

Famous person

Someone you know a secret about

Under water

On the ledge of a high mountain

Martian

Old person

Someone in a hurry

Bored

Spies

Robots

Old enemies

Cheerleaders

Rock Stars

Like your principal/teacher

Name and Movement:

This is a great, simple game to help students begin to memorize each other’s names.

Furthermore it is a good ice breaker that gets them moving and breaks them out of their shell a

little.

Instructions:

1. Kids stand in a circle. Each person in turn says (or sings or shouts) his name “Joe!”

2. That student makes an accompanying movement such as throwing his hands up

in the air.

3. As a group, the rest of the players repeat exactly what the person did. They shout

together, “Joe!” while throwing their hands up in the air.

World's Greatest Sandwich:

In this fun memory-name game, the

players sit in a circle. One person begins

by saying his/her name and then states

what ingredient goes on the sandwich.

1. Example: "My name is Kevin, and

the World's Greatest Sandwich

has pickles." The next person in

the circle announces their name

and says Kevin's ingredient as well as her own. "Hi, my name is Sarah, and the

World's Greatest Sandwich has pickles and popcorn."

2. If the instructor chooses, everyone can chant along as the sandwich grows. You

could even end up with a Pickle-popcorn-meatball-chocolate-syrup-grass-eyeball-

lettuce-pixiedust sandwich! This activity helps the students build memorization

skills. And at the finale, have the kids pantomime taking a bite.

Length: 5 minutes (depending on the group size/detail

Group size: Any size, up to a maximum of around 30

Drama Warm-ups

These activities are meant to energize, focus and ready children to enter a dramatic

space. I have included warm-ups that allow students to ready their bodies, minds, and

vocal chords which they must consistently use in drama.

Physical Warm-ups

Association Jump

Association jump is a light physical warm-up game

which, depending on the attributes chosen, can

also serve as an introductory game for new groups.

Everyone should stand in a space, spread out as

wildly as the room allows. The leader calls out an

attribute and a direction, for example: “everyone

wearing black socks has to jump to the left”. As the

game progresses, combine attributes and

directions: “if you’ve got blue eyes, jump

backwards and if you’ve got brown hair jump to the right” so people with blue eyes and

brown hair have to jump backwards and to the right.

People will almost invariably end up jumping into each other sometimes, or jumping

into walls but as long as they’re not too silly about it, that can be fun — and also teaches

them about using their peripheral vision to look before they leap, an important stage

skill!

Some ideas of attributes: Years at school Age Hair/eyes/clothes colour Sex Siblings (“jump forward once for every brother you have”) Pets Hobbies – likes/dislikes

Add-on: add arm movements too – “jump forward and clap your hands if you’re in Year 9″. Group size: any size

Length: 5 minutes.

Four Corners

This is a really easy physical game for all ages. I often use it

to start a lesson as it’s simple to explain and gets the

students moving.

Time: 15 minutes

Instructions:

1. Name or number the four corners of the room. If you have a themed lesson you

can name each corner something that suits the theme.

2. Choose a student to stand in the middle of the room. You then make the student

close their eyes whilst you count down from 10. They can either spin on the spot

and stop when you reach zero, or they can stay still and then pick a corner on

zero. The latter is my preferred choice as it is more about listening to the

students moving around the room, rather than merely luck.

3. The students who are in the corner that the student in the middle picks are then

out.

4. The game continues until there is a winner.

5. The winner then becomes the one in the centre.

Mix it up!

Ask a fun question and then name each corner, for example:

Which is better? Pizza, Chicken fingers, Ice cream, or Candy?

Students must then choose their favourite. In this way this could also be a community

building game.

Guess the Word

This game works great from 6-16. It gets students

using their bodies and increases observation skills.

Time: 15-20 minutes

Instructions:

1. Split the group in half. If you have an uneven

number you may have to take part.

2. Once everyone has lined up get them to pick a

partner.

3. Gather one half in and give them a word. It is

best to use emotions for example, passion, love,

anxiety.

4. The goal is for the students to express that

word to their partners simply using their bodies for expression.

5. Try to keep the two groups in two lines opposite each other so people aren’t

running into each other.

6. The listening group then has to guess the word.

7. Go through each person in the listening group and see if they have got it right.

8. Change groups and repeat using a new word. Go till the group starts to tire, 2

goes each is about right.

Pirate Ship

Pirate Ship is another physical warm-up

game where children also take on the role

of buccaneers on a pirate ship! The

motions for this game must at first be

explained and modeled by the teacher.

Instructions:

1. Children start by forming a single file line directly in front of the teacher—their

job is to follow the commands called out by the teacher (note: boundaries must

be drawn in some way to identify what is the left, right and center of the ship).

Command (Keep in mind these are merely suggestions, you do not need to do all and you could add

more)

Action

Port Run to a wall/line on the left side of the area.

Main Deck Run back and form the original line in front of

the teacher (make sure to tell students they

do not need to be in the same original order)

Man the lifeboats Run to line on the right side – call out a

number and children must get into groups of

that number and “row” their lifeboat.

Scrub the Decks Crouch down and pretend to clean the floor

Captain’s Coming Salute and shout “Aye Aye Captain”

Captain’s Daughter Wiggle hips and blow a kiss

Captain’s wife Everyone curtseys

Stormy Weather Rock from side to side

Hit the Deck Lie on stomachs

Run to It

Run to it is a great physical warm-up for when

the blood really need to get flowing!

The group should start spread out around the

room and the teacher, or a designated person,

should call out a random series of places – which

the group have to run to as fast as possible.

The basic places are:

centre – everyone runs to the centre of the room, as tight together as possible

edges – everyone runs to the edges of the room

corners – everyone runs into a corner, packed as tightly together as possible

floor – everyone lies down on the floor

feet off the ground – everyone has to get their feet off the ground as quickly as

possible, however they want to do it

space out – everyone should find a space at least an arm’s length away from

other people

Other places can be added depending on the features of the room (eg, “stage”,

“windows”, “a door”) or by adding colours (eg “everyone runs to touch something

blue”).

Start with just 3-4 different places in the rotation, then gradually add to them to avoid

confusion.

Encourage people to react as quickly as possible – perhaps instigate a countdown — if

people aren’t in position by a count of 5, then they’re out. (Although, from a warm-up

point of view, make sure everyone has run around enough before anyone is out – and

don’t leave them sat on the sidelines for too long!)

Group size: any size – although bigger groups may need more space to run around

Length: About five minutes

Yee-Ha!

Yee-ha! is a fun warm-up game in the vein of Zip

Zap Boiiing, which encourages focus, quick thinking

and silliness! Cowboy hats are optional

The group should stand in a circle facing inwards

and someone starts passing a “yee-ha!” around

the circle – they should turn slightly, raise their inside leg, slap their thigh and shout

“yee-ha!” like an overexcited cowboy. The next person does the same and so on until

the “yee-ha!” has passed the whole way around the circle.

Once everyone is happy with “yee-ha!”ing, introduce the rest of the elements (either all

at once or one at a time, depending on the ability of the group). Passing the “yee-ha!” is

main point of the game – the other elements just modify how it is done:

“Hoe-down” – bend your knees and with your thumbs, pull out some imaginary

braces/suspenders from your chest. This reverses the direction of the “yee-ha!”.

“Clickey-click” (or “bang bang”) – shoot the “yee-ha!” across the circle with

finger guns. The recipient can then send the “yee-ha!” in which ever way they

choose. (You can not “hoe-down” or “hay barn” a “clickety click”.)

“Hay barn” – hold your hands above your head to make a sloped roof, which

causes the turn to skip a person.

Once everyone is comfortable with the actions, start eliminating people who get it

wrong (either doing the wrong action/noise or going when they’re not supposed to) or

people who hesitate for too long. Speed up the tempo every so often to make it harder

and sillier.

Length: 5-10 minutes – depending on the size of the group and whether or not you play

until there is just one person left

Group size: Any size from about six people upwards

Vocal Warm-ups

Projecting your voice is an essential skill for any

actor no matter what age level. In early elementary

it is very important that we focus on vocal warm-

ups to allow students to practice their vocal

projection.

Short introductory exercises

Few people use their full lung capacity for breathing or speaking in day to day life –

these exercises should remind the group what it feels like to do so!

If there is room, have everyone lie down on the floor on their backs. We use chest/torso

muscles when we stand/sit up – but for these exercises, we want to use every possible

muscle for controlled breathing!

Ask everyone to take a deep breath in – remind them that they should use their

diaphragm – that their chest/stomach should go out as they fill up, not their shoulders

hunch up. Hold the breath for a few seconds then let it go. Repeat.

Next, ask them to take a deep breath in again but ask them to expel it in a different way

as below. Repeat each of these exercises at least a few times until you feel the group is

making the most of them:

HA! – expel all the air out of your lungs in one “pop” by saying “ha!” This should

get louder as it is repeated and whenever anyone is talking too quietly in the

future, remember how loud they got with this!

Hiss it out – hiss for as long as possible, until you’re all out of air

Ahhh – a variation on the hiss again held until you’re out of air. This is usually

faster than the hiss.

Count it out – a steady count as a group for as long as people can on just one

breath. Make sure the numbers are strongly projected to use a good amount of

air each time.

Patter songs

Depending on the knowledge/experience level of the group, it may be worth giving a

short introduction about patter songs before you start this section – about how they’re

designed to be fast & tricky but fun because of it.

Stand in a circle and read through the patter song verse together as a group. The first

read-through should be slow to let people become familiar with the words – let them

breath however they want – demand clear diction at this stage to encourage it to

remain for the later, faster rounds! Next, speed it up a bit, and ask people to count how

many breaths they need to take to get through it – many people will have to take two

breaths in the middle. For the third time through, go a bit faster still and see if people

can get through it with just taking one breath in the middle (funnily enough, usually at

the word “lung”!). For the last run, go lickety-split fast and ask everyone to stop when

their first breath runs out — after so much deep breathing and the speed increase, a fair

proportion of the group should be able to get through it or nearly get through it before

they run out of air.

Good patter songs to use

The Nightmare Song from Iolanthe – From “you’re a regular wreck” to “haven’t

been sleeping in clover”

The Major General’s Song from The Pirates of Penzance – the first section

from “I am the very model of a modern Major-General” to the

next “I am the very model of a modern Major-General” inclusive.

“My eyes are fully open

to my awful situation”

from Ruddigore – Robin

& Margaret’s verses

Tongue Twisters

Tongue twisters are a great (and fun!) voice warm-up game – but can also be used for a

longer voice exercise to encourage articulation and clear diction.

Standing in a circle, start by saying the tongue twisters together as a group in normal

speaking voices – repeat the same phrase again and again a number of times. Staying as

a group, you may want to ask them to

try:

whispering it

stage whispering it

shouting it

singing it

saying it as quickly as possible

saying it as slowly as possible

saying it as clearly as possible

ridiculously over-pronouncing each syllable

saying it/singing it as a round

Volunteers/individuals may also wish to try saying it in certain styles (such as different

emotions).

Tongue twisters also usually have a strong rhythm so they can be used as a way into

other rhythms (such as iambic pentameter). Encourage the group to step (or hop or

jump) together on each syllable as it’s said out loud.

Make sure you use a selection of different tongue twisters, focusing on different

letters/sounds.

In big groups, participants may need to cover their ears to help focus on what they’re

saying rather than being distracted by those around them.

Examples of good tongue twisters

Unique New York, New York Unique

Peggy Babcock

Leave the lazy lion alone

The lips, the teeth, the tip of the tongue

Six thick thistle sticks

Mixed biscuits

Red leather yellow leather red lorry yellow lorry

Wild winds and wet weather

Frothy coffee

Rubber buggy bumpers

Any noise annoys an oyster but a noisy noise annoys an oyster most

Will Willie wedge the window with the white wooden window wedge? Or will

Willie wedge the window with the white rubber window wedge? Why worry with

which window wedge Willie wedges the window? Whether Willie wedges the

window with the white wooden window wedge or Willie wedges the window

with the white rubber window wedge, the window will be wedged. (!)

Focus Activities Maintaining focus is an essential skill in drama that will help students in every

aspect of their lives. It is important that they develop focus skills early on so they do not break character or get distracted during performance. Furthermore, these focus activities will hopefully aid students in focusing in other aspects of school such as in their core subjects.

Count to 10 This game helps students to focus and work together as a group. They must practice patience and listening skills. It can often be difficult for younger children however. It can be tried in grade one but often will not work until about grade two. Instructions:

1. Everyone stands in a circle. 2. The group must count to 10. Only one person can say one number at a time. 3. They cannot say more than one number in sequence and they are not allowed to set up

systems to complete this task.

4. If more than one person speaks at the same time the group must start again.

Change it up! For older grades it is suggested that you try to have them count higher than 10 once they’ve mastered counting to 10.

Guess a Minute This game is perfect for focusing and calming a group. Instructions:

1. Invite everyone to sit in a circle and then stand in front of their spot or chair.

2. Tell the group that in a moment you are going to start the clock and everyone must close their eyes.

3. Their task is to guess when a minute has passed and they must sit down.

4. Stop the watch when everyone has sat down and as far as you can, let people know how much time elapsed at the point that they sat down

Kids love this surprisingly simple activity and it really puts them in a quiet and focused place to begin drama class.

Honey, if you love me…

The Purpose is this game is to allow actors to practice their focus even in the face of

distractions.

Instructions:

1. Students stand in a circle or a line and are instructed to try their best to maintain

focus.

2. No smiling, no giggling.

3. It is the job of the person who is “it” to go around the circle and say the words

“honey, if you love me, would you please please smile?” in order to elicit a

response from the student they are speaking to.

4. The student who is being spoken to must respond with “honey, I love you, but I

just can’t smile!”

Whoever is “it” may make faces, do silly things, speak in a funny voice, but

cannot touch the person they are speaking to.

Whoever is being spoken to, must keep a perfectly straight emotionless face.

If they do not they then become “it”

Mirrors

“Mirrors” helps children to learn focus and

understanding of the give and take of creativity

and action on stage.

Time: 5-10 minutes

Instructions:

1. Pair each student. If you have an odd

number of students you as leader may have a partner.

2. Each pair faces one another while standing. Assign one of the pair to be the

leader and one to be the follower

3. The leader should make slow deliberate movements that the follower can easily

mirror.

4. Switch the follower to leader and vice versa. Repeat.

5. Switch again but have the leader increase the pace.

6. Switch again and increase the pace once more

7. Now call NO LEADER. The pair must focus and feel together what movement they

would like to make.

Opposites Game

This is a really good game to start with when working with a big group. Basically this game is for warming up and getting you thinking. This game helps students to work on their listening and focus skills.

1. Get the students to walk neutrally around the space 2. If you say stop the students must go and vice versa. Explain this to the students. 3. Do this a few times to get them warmed up. 4. Then teach the kids the swap of jump with clap. Then do this with the students a

few times. 5. Now freely change between all the options, trying to catch them out. 6. Carry on until the game begins to tire

Creativity

The following pages feature a selection of my favourite activities that I used to

help my students explore their creativity. Allowing drama students to practice

exploring their creativity will facilitate their growth as actors. They will be better

equipped to bring characters to life and engage in dramatic story telling.

Animal Scenes

Students are encouraged to find a creative solution to the

scene proposed. They must create a scene using only their

bodies.

Instructions:

1. Players find a partner; partners separate and run

around.

2. The leader calls out a phrase and the players must

find their partner and depict the scene.

3. The last pair to depict the scene is out.

Examples:

Frog on a log: One student gets down on all fours (log) and the frog sits gently on

their back.

Bird on a perch: One student gets down on one knee (perch) and the bird sits on

the perch.

Lion in a den: One person stands with their feet apart (den) and the lion lies

down on the floor.

Fortunately, Unfortunately

“Fortunately, Unfortunately” is a game that

allows children to explore their creativity.

They must cooperatively work together to

create a story that has both fortunate and

unfortunate moments. This game prepares

children for improvisation and

characterization!

Time: 10 minutes

Instructions

1. The instructor begins the story however they choose, for example:

Once upon a time there was a beautiful princess who lived in a tower

There was a boy who could turn invisible

There was a little girl who learned how to fly

2. Alternating turns, students will say “fortunately…” and add one sentence to the

story

3. Then “unfortunately…” and add another sentence to the story.

4. Once the story has circled the group once, I as the instructor usually wrap up the

story with a happy or “fortunate” ending.

Note: It may be necessary depending on the group of children to give

examples of what is appropriate when it comes to story development.

Not what it seems!

Time: 25 Minutes

1. Have a few different objects (i.e. household

objects) set up.

2. Explain to students that they will come up in

front of the group and use that object in a way

it’s not usually used (i.e. using a fork for a

comb etc.) without using words if possible.

3. This game works well for large groups: Split them into smaller groups and have at

least one object for each group and repeat the same process.

Improvisation

Improvisation games and scenes give students the opportunity to create characters and

stories in the moment. They challenge students to work collaboratively in a positive

environment. In early elementary however, improv work will be at a beginner level,

with activities being of an introductory and basic level. To start, it is important that

children understand the 8 rules of improvisation.

The 8 Rules of Improv

Don’t negate or deny the other player-follow where they're going Don’t ask questions Make choices based on actions Do make assumptions Do give and take Listen, watch and concentrate Work to the top of your intelligence

Note: Some of these rules will need explanation, especially from K-3

Accepting Circle

This is an excellent warm-up, and great introduction to accepting when another actor

makes a suggestion in an improvisation scene.

1. Put everyone in a big circle. One player starts by making a little gesture, perhaps with a little sound.

2. His or her neighbor then tries and does exactly the same. This continues around the circle. Although we expect the gesture/sound not to change, it will!

3. Watch for movements that suddenly change left/right arm or leg. This is not supposed to happen, but it will. Once happened, it should be accepted by the next player.

4. Also watch/listen for little moans or sighs that players might make before or after their turn - these should also be taken over by the next player.

Add a Freeze

This games works as a great warm up for more extensive

improvisations and is a good beginner activity for K-3

improvisational skill development.

1. Get the students into pairs.

2. Student A must create a pose (a frozen image with

his or her body).

3. Student B must then, without thinking about it too

much, create their own pose that compliments

Student A’s pose. For example Student A may

have posed doing a karate chop, and student B

may then freeze in a scared/defensive pose.

4. Student A then unfreezes and creates a new pose that compliments Student B’s

pose that they are still holding.

5. This then continues in the same way until you feel the group begin to tire. I have

noticed that it works very well with high-school kids and older.

Sit, Lie, Stand

Instructions:

1. Participants are in 3s and at any one time one of them has to stand, one other sit

and the other lie.

2. You can give a scenario e.g. a doctor’s surgery and then they have to improvise a

scene following the physical constraints.

3. If either of the students changes their position they must between the 3 of them

have someone sitting, standing and lying.

Encourage participants to take their time over their scene to avoid a hurried

scramble over positions.

Change it up! You could change the constraints to different physical ones or verbal ones

e.g. shout, whisper or laugh. © 2010-2011 www.dramatoolkit.co.uk

Yes, lets!

This is an excellent warm-up, and great introduction to accepting when another

actor makes a suggestion in an improvisation scene. It was listed as well in our move

with me activities but can be altered as follows in order to suit improvisational skill

practice.

Time: 15-20 minutes

Instructions:

1. Pick a group activity, such as throwing a party or organizing a picnic.

2. One player starts, saying,” Let’s ______" filling in what he/she wants to do.

3. Then he/she actually starts doing what he/she said she wanted to do.

4. A second player jumps in, saying "Let’s________." (It’s doing something else-- to

advance the group activity)

5. Both players say "Yes, let’s do that" and start doing whatever was suggested.

6. The third player jumps in and suggests what to do--- and again all the players

loudly agree to do it, and actually do it. Continue till everyone has suggested

something.

Lesson Plans

First Time Drama

Hand Animals

This is an activity where the students are generally Kindergartners, but the activity works with somewhat older children as well. It serves as an introduction to the structured use of the imagination and to the idea or character. It's also great fun and gives all of the students a chance to "perform" on the first class.

Look at your hands.

We begin by examining our hands. Coach in the following vein: "Hold your two hands up and look at them. Use one finger to trace the lines and the shape of your other hand. Wiggle your fingers. Open and close your fists. Except your face,

your hands are the most expressive part of your body. Look at all the different things they can do! Try to find as many different ways to move your hands as you can."

The students spend several minutes (or until they're done) closely examining the infinite possibilities of hand movement.

Animal Characters

Next I show them that I can make my hand or hands into an animal. Usually I show them a spider. One hand becomes the spider, and it "crawls" up my arm, across my chest, and finally over my head, as I make comic-terrified faces and generally react as I would were a real spider crawling on me. The children love this, but they also get the point. I am able to make my "hand-spider" real for them.

I then coach the children to invent their own hand animals. By raising their hands, children volunteer to show their new creations to the class. After we have seen and admired each character, the whole class tries to make it. (This reinforces for each child the worth of his or her creation, and gives the whole class practice in observation and mirroring.)

If the group is sophisticated enough you may coach discussion in some of the following ways:

"Look at this particular bird (or dog or wildebeest). For this performer, what do you think is the most important characteristic of a bird?" (I'm looking for the primary feature-a bird can be mostly wings and flight, but it can also be mostly beak and pecking motions. I've even seen birds whose principal characteristic was their distinctive hopping walk.)

"What do you think this character would do if he saw that character?"

"Is one character "better" than another?" (NO-just different.)

"What is a puppet? In some ways can we call these hand animals puppets?"

Once you have all made many different hand animals, use this activity as a springboard

into using more of our bodies to create characters.

Nursery Rhyme Charades

You may use this activity with really little ones--Pre-Kindergarten--when they are

learning about nursery rhymes and Mother Goose. It is very simple, and a lot of fun for

students.

Begin by discussing nursery rhymes in general, and by naming as many of them as you

can. Then we play the game.

Each student in turn goes to the center of the circle and pantomimes an element from a

nursery rhyme. (For instance, he might pantomime someone sleeping for "Little Boy

Blue.")

The rest of the class tries to guess what nursery rhyme is meant.

When dealing with very young students--although I suppose this activity would work

with older kids as well--it is very important for the teacher to carefully guide the acting

and guessing, and to make positive comments about the performances ("Wow! that's a

really interesting way to act out Bo Peep!") and about the guesses ("Well, no, that isn't

what he's doing, but I can see what you mean. He does sort of look like he's jumping

over a candlestick, doesn't he!") so that everyone feels a part of the learning.

A Tree Grows (narrative pantomime)

You may use this lesson with Kindergarten and even grade one classes, often as the first

lesson in which you use your whole bodies to create drama. It is a narrative

pantomime--a story which is told by the leader and enacted by the students

individually. I start with this activity partly because it allows a very full range of

movement and physical sensation while keeping the students anchored to their

respective spots on the floor--it takes a while to build the kind of safe environment in

which it is wise to have them moving all at once. The main focus here is on creating real

sensory experience from the imagination. Students really enjoy it, and it seems to

connect for them on a very visceral level. Here it is:

The Story

(Be sure to narrate this story slowly enough, and with appropriate pauses, so that

the students are able to fully experience their own physical discoveries as they

enact the story.)

Everyone find your own personal space* on the floor and make yourself as small

as possible.

You are an apple seed, crammed tightly into your hard seed pod, and buried

under the cold ground. It is winter, and you are barely awake. Above you, snow

covers the ground. It is totally dark under the ground.

Now it is spring. The earth around you is growing a little warmer, and you start

to feel more awake. The snow above you melts and the water soaks into the

earth around you. It feels good. The earth feels warmer, and you seem to be

able to pull energy out of the soil.

It is time to come out of your seed pod. You feel strong and energetic. Using all

your strength, you push up against your seed pod and break through, like a bird

breaks out of the egg. You reach upwards into the warm earth with your

tendrills. The earth around you is moist, and you soak in the life-giving

moisture. You don't know why, but you know you want to push upwards.

Finally, with one great push, you emerge from the soil and see, for the first time,

the SUN!

The sun's energy flows into you and you feel stronger and stronger. You stretch

upwards and outwards until you are a healthy seedling. The gentle spring rains

nourish and refresh you. Just take a moment to enjoy it.

(Take a longer pause here.)

Now let's move ahead a few years. You have grown into a strong young sapling--

a tree about the size of a young person. You have beautiful green leaves that

soak up the sun and make you strong. But you want to grow taller. You want to

be a tree. So you summon all your energy and you push out and up. As the years

go by you become a strong, handsome apple tree. You stand proud in the sun

and enjoy your own strength and beauty.

Now it is fall. You have grown succulent, nourishing apples all over your strong

branches. The apples contain seeds which might someday become new apple

trees. The apples are heavy. Your branches are strong, but there are so many

apples. You feel weighed down. You feel as if your branches might break.

Here come some children. You can't talk to them, but you know they are coming

for the apples. They have bushel baskets. They are laughing and singing. The

children pick your apples, and your branches feel light. You know they will take

them away and eat them. You know they will throw away the seeds, and that

some of those seeds might grow to be new apple trees.

Almost all of your apples are gone. But you know you will grow more next

year. You feel grateful to those children. You hope they will enjoy the apples.

(Take a longer pause here.)

Now it is winter. All of your leaves have fallen. But you know you will grow more

next spring. Now it is time to rest. You rest.

The end.

* Personal space is a concept all of our students learn in gym, so use it. It just means

find a space in which you can turn around with outstretched arms and not touch

anyone.

Discussion

After the story is done, ask students questions about the experience. I focus on "how

did it feel" questions, and when, as invariably happens, the students have clear answers

to these questions, I use this to demonstrate how powerful is the imagination. Below

are some sample questions. (Note: In each case, the first question is the important

one. Ask that question and get as many original responses as you can. Only if necessary

do I then coach by asking the follow up questions.)

How did you feel when you first broke through the seed pod? Who felt a sense

of accomplishment? Did anyone feel a little afraid?

What was it like when you first saw the sun? How many were happy? How many

were proud?

How did it feel to become a big strong tree?

How did you feel when the children picked your apples?

Most of you felt a very strong emotion when you first saw the sun. How is that

possible, since we were all right here in the classroom and the sun doesn't even

shine in here?

What part of your mind did you use to see the sun?

Did you know your imagination was so powerful?

(Clearly these are only a few of the questions you could ask.)

Grade 1-3 Drama

The Lion King’s Court

This lesson connects

quite well with grade one

curriculum in science

when they are learning

about the needs of

plants and animals.

Obviously it need not tie

in with curriculum-that's

just something I like to

do when I can.

Preparation

Introduce the activity like this: "Everyone knows the Lion is King of the Jungle. But

every good King needs a court. A King needs to have people around him who are

his friends, whom he can trust and upon whom he can rely. These people are

called courtiers. What qualities should courtiers possess?"

We discuss this question. Students usually come up with "strong," and "brave,"

and "helpful." With a little coaching they are usually able to add "kind," and

"loyal," and "clever." After the group accepts each new adjective, I ask them to

think about which animals exemplify each quality. (For example, elephants are

strong and helpful, dogs are helpful and brave, cats are clever and brave, horses

are loyal and helpful, etc.) We discuss the sort of animals who would make good

courtiers until a fairly sizeable list has been generated.

Playing the Game

Next, tell students that we will now act out the selection of the King's court. Each

student chooses an animal to portray. (It need not necessarily be one that was

mentioned earlier, although of course most will be.) The teacher, in role as the

King, calls each "animal" forward. "You, animal. Come forward into the presence

of the King." The animal moves forward. "What sort of animal are you?" The

student announces what animal he or she is portraying. With older students I

usually want them to use an appropriate animal voice. "Why should I have a

(blank) in my court?"

The student then describes the qualities of her/his animal that make that animal

good courtier material. The King responds, "Wonderful! You may join my court."

I usually have an area defined, around myself, for the "court," so that the

students can physically enter my court.

Obviously everyone must be invited to join-even snakes.

I usually end this session by having a parade of the King's court, with each animal

moving according to its way. Then the whole group (if the walls are sufficiently

thick) "roars"-each according to species-to announce the presence of the greatest

Royal court in the land.

No! You can’t take me!

This game teaches confidence, pantomime, and critical thinking. It's also a lot of fun. It

can be used with children from Kindergarten to Middle School - obviously with varying

levels of sophistication. It looks more complicated than it is.

Preparation

After explaining the game a little, break the class into small groups-three to five or so.

Each group is given a room in the house--the bedroom, the living room, the kitchen, the

basement, the garage, etc. (You can use the bathroom as well if you think your students

can handle it.) If you want to, you can put the names of rooms on cards and have each

group draw one. Don't let the students know what rooms the other groups have.

Within each group, each student chooses one thing that would be found in the room.

(For example, if the room is the kitchen, one student might be the refrigerator, one the

stove, one the sink, etc.) Side-coach as necessary. After choosing an object, each

student practices "being" that object.

Each student must think of at least one--or with older kids, several--good reasons that

their object is important. Side-coach them to ask themselves what would happen if the

thing were not there.

Playing the Game:

Work with one group at a time. The other groups become audience--which is

incidentally an opportunity to practice being a good audience.

The teacher goes to the first group and exclaims, "My, look at all this useless stuff! I've

got to get rid of some of this junk!" (Or some such.) The teacher selects one student and

says, "I think I'll take THIS thing away."

The student replies, "NO, YOU CAN'T TAKE ME!"

"Why not?"

The student answers, without mentioning the name of his object, in this form: "If you

take me away. . ." followed by something that would go wrong without the object. (For

example, if the student is pretending to be the bed, she might say, "If you take me away,

no one will get any sleep." A student pretending to be a wastebasket might say, "If you

took me, there would be trash all over the place.")*

Once all the students have had their say, the audience tries to guess what room they are

in, and then what object each student is. Then the teacher moves on to the next group.

* With younger children, I usually stop at one answer. But with older students, I don't

give up so easily. I improvise some reason that the student's first answer isn't

compelling enough. "Well, I never sleep anyway." "I like trash on the floor. I'm taking

you anyway." In this way I ask the students to think of more than one reason that

something is important. If the students are sophisticated enough, encourage them to

think of creative answers. A student pretending to be the bed might say, "What would

the kids jump on?" A student pretending to be a lawnmower once said, "We'd get our

feet wet walking through the yard." He meant that the long grass would hold water

when it rained.

CHANGE IT UP!

Kids love this game but it can get old if you always use a house. Try having them exercise

their imaginations and have them in different places. For example:

A castle

Different habitats

A school (music room, gymnasium, art room, drama room etc.)

A mall

I found this game at childdrama.com. I fully expected it to be a little bit over my grade

one’s heads but decided to try it. They LOVED it and begged to play it again and again.

Rhyme Charades

It's very simple, but because it deals with rhymes, which can be very complicated indeed

if the players are creative enough, it works with just about any age.

Everyone sits in a circle. The teacher says, "I am thinking of a word that rhymes with

'Cat.'" (For instance.)

Anyone who thinks they know the word raises their hand. When called on, they do NOT

say the word they think is right. Instead, they go into the center of the circle and

pantomime their guess. (In other words, to stick with our example, a child might get

into the circle and pantomime "bat" by flapping his arms and swooping.)

The others in the circle try to guess what the child in the center is miming.

The teacher must be careful to explain that even if someone in the circle says the actual

word, if that is NOT what the child in the center is miming, it doesn't count as a correct

guess. Once the mime has been guessed, the teacher reveals whether it is the right

word. If it is, the round is over and a new word is picked. (With older kids, I let the

correct pantomimer pick the new word.) If it is not the right word, another volunteer

comes into the circle to act out her guess. Continue until the word has been correctly

mimed and the mime correctly guessed.

(In my experience two rhyme sounds presenting especially wide scope for this game are

"oat"--boat, coat, goat, float, note, wrote, gloat, moat, tote, etc.--and "air"--bear, wear,

stare, stair, chair, where, aware, mare, dare, care, fair, fare, glare, hair, lair, pair, pear,

rare, square, tear, etc.)

Variations

Alphabet Charades

I'll sometimes substitute this version with very young students who have difficulty with

the concept of rhyme. "I'm thinking of a word that begins with 'A.'"

Association Charades

With older or more sophisticated students play a version of this game in which some

theme or connecting idea takes the place of rhyme. For example, "I'm thinking of a

person in Revolutionary America." "I'm thinking of something to eat." "I'm thinking of

an animal." The connecting concept can be as simple or as subtle as the sophistication

of the students allows.

Web Resources: Child Drama: This website provides links to:

Lesson Plans Fantastic Plays Monologues Useful Books Evaluations Classroom Rules Drama Games

Link: Childdrama.com Improv Encyclopedia:

Improv Encyclopedia is the largest collection or resources for Improvisation Theater on the web. Here you will find tons of stuff related to improvisation theatre. For those not particularly looking for improv-related material they also feature:

Icebreakers: games or activities that help "break the ice" Warm-ups: games to get kids in a playful mood games and exercises to promote group Group Trust exercises and games to encourage Spontaneity lots of drama and theater Games

If you want access to the material when you're off line, you can download the whole site as a PDF Booklet. And best of all, it's free! There is no particular grade level and these games are for Improv in general, but many of them can be adjusted for younger levels.

Link: improvencyclopedia.org

We Heart Drama We Heart Drama is a free resource site for drama teachers. Showcasing the best drama warm-up games, longer exercises, lesson plans and book/show reviews, it aims to be the go-to place for drama lesson planning. Link: weheartdrama.com Stage Milk “Stage Milk is a website for Actors and Theatre lovers. If offers practical resources as well as a wide variety of information on everything to do with Theatre.”—Stagemilk.com I personally enjoy stagemilk as it offers a wide variety of resources for every age group. While it is geared more towards adults, they offer a lot of sources that are valuable for any drama teacher. Many of the activities in this resource were found on this website. Link: stagemilk.com