Mirror Mirror

In this activity, your students will continue to build confidence in

using their body (movement) to create a role and communicate
meaning.

1. Students break into pairs.

2. Allocate, or let students decide who will be A, and who will
be B.
3. On the teacher’s signal, student A begins to move very
slowly.
4. Student B has to copy the movement exactly as if they are
the reflection Student A sees in a mirror.
5. Continue for some time, and then swap, having Student B
lead Student A.

Encourage students to move slowly, with the aim being that

anyone watching the pair wouldn’t be able to tell who is leading
the movement and who is following.

Human Knot

Working collaboratively is a foundational skill for life and drama

students too. This fun game helps students to build awareness
and understanding of group work and is a great way to introduce
the concept of ‘ensemble’ (a group that works together to create).

1. Break students into small groups (4-6 students per group is

a good start).
2. Students form a circle in their group.
3. Walking to the center with hands outstretched, students
each grab two hands (however, it cannot be the person next
to them, nor can they grab both hands from the same
person).
4. Students ‘untie’ their human knot, without ever letting go of
any hands.
5. When a group has finished untying their knot, the whole
group sits down.

Shazam!
An absolute favorite of mine, this is a drama game for kids that
works with a concept similar to “Rock, Paper, Scissors.” It is
fantastic for exploring role, voice, movement, tension, and focus.
In “Shazam!” the three characters and parameters of play are:

 wizards beat knights by casting a magic spell over them

 giants beat wizards by stomping on them
 knight slay giants with their magic sword.

Students enact each character in the following way:

 wizards step forward with one leg, push both hands forward
as if shooting a magic spell through their hands, and shout
“Shazzam!”
 giants stamp their feet and say “Fee! Fi! Fo! Fum!”
 knights pull an imaginary sword out of their belt and shout
“En garde!”.

Play “Shazam!” as a whole group game, following these

directions:

1. Split students into two even groups, standing in two parallel

lines.
2. Have the groups face towards the center of the space.
3. The teacher counts down from ten to zero.
4. Each line quickly huddles in a group and decides which of
the three characters they will be during this round.
5. By the count of zero students must have returned to their
straight line, facing their opponent line.
6. On zero each line enacts their chosen character and the
‘winning’ line is decided by the above parameters (wizards
beat knights, giants beat wizards, knights slay giants).

Play round after round, keeping the pace up and keeping a tally of
each team’s number of winning rounds. The first team to ten are
the winners!

Zip, Zap, Zoom

Speaking of zaps, “Zip, Zap, Zoom” is another great collaborative

game that teaches focus. Students “pass the energy” around a
circle, using action and a variety of vocal commands. In the
traditional game, students stand in a circle and send the energy
around the circle saying either Zip, Zap, or Zoom.

 “Zip” sends the energy in a clockwise direction

 “Zap” sends the energy in an anti-clockwise direction
 “Zoom” sends the energy to someone across the circle
 Students cannot do more than one Zap or Zoom in a row
(they must be broken up by a Zip)

Every command is done with an action, the easiest being to clap

and point to the person the energy is being sent to.

Twenty-One

“Twenty-one” is one of those drama games that get even the

most fidgety of students concentrating with laser focus.

Sitting in a circle, students attempt to count to 21 in a random

order, without two or more people speaking at the same time.
One person begins by saying “one”, then another person says
“two.”

Continue the group count until you reach twenty-one. If more

than one person says a number at the same time, the count
begins again.

Change the Content:

This game can be used with any familiar content that has a
sequence. For example:

 skip counting (e.g. threes, sixes, eights, etc.)

 using the alphabet
 musical scales or “Do Re Mi”
 counting in intervals with units (e.g. in tens, and
dollars/cents 10¢, 20¢… $1.20).

Body Sculpture Olympics

Also known as “10 Second Object”, this activity gets students to

use their bodies to create freeze frames (like a real-life frozen
image) that depict an object or a situation. Use this activity to talk
about how we can communicate meaning through movement.

1. Break students into small groups.

2. Call out an object or scenario (such as the North Pole,
peacock, at the beach, washing machine, etc.)
3. Count down from ten to zero
4. While you are counting down, students have to create the
object, character, or situation using their bodies.
5. When you reach zero, shout “Freeze!”
6. Give each group a thumbs up or thumbs down depending on
if they have represented the stimulus in a way that makes
sense.
7. Continue, keeping the pace up to ensure students are
engaged and thinking on their feet!

You can decide on a “scoring” method that feels right for you
(such as giving scores out of ten or choosing one winner per
round), or you may prefer not to “score” at all, and just use the
activity as a confidence and group awareness building exercise.

Layer in Context:

“Body Sculpture Olympics” can be adapted as a drama activity

linked to most any content at all. Simply create a list of
characters, situations, or objects that are related to a familiar
topic. Or better yet, let the students create the lists.

This activity means students use movement and space to

establish a dramatic meaning (they communicate situation, role,
and relationships through their frozen image).

The Expert

This activity is great for older students, using both their prior
knowledge of a topic and their imagination. It requires students to
use role, relationship, situation, voice, and movement to create
dramatic meaning.

1. Break students into small groups (3-4).

2. Allocate a letter to each student within the group (i.e. every
group will have a person A, person B, etc.).
 3. Call out the letter of the person who will be ‘The Expert’ first.
4. Announce the topic that the Expert specializes in.
5. The Expert must speak with authority about the topic for an
agreed amount of time (e.g. 30 or 60 seconds).
6. The teacher counts down from three to begin the time and
calls “Stop!” when time is up.
7. The teacher then announces which letter/person will go
next, and the new topic of expertise.

What makes this game extra fun, is that there is only one rule –
the expert can never stop talking, even if they run out of facts
well before their time is up. Students should just keep talking,
making up anything at all about the topic, no matter how absurd
or far-fetched.

Not all drama is based on fiction! This activity is a great way to

explore how drama-makers (playwrights, actors, dramaturgs,
directors, set, and costume designers) can play with the ideas
related to a “real” topic in order to create an artistic, symbolic,
absurd, or stylistic representation of it through Drama.

One Word Story

Create a whole-class story in this imaginative drama activity that

is for practicing individual and group focus.

1. Students sit or stand in a circle.

2. Establish who will begin the story and which direction the
story will travel (clockwise or anti-clockwise).
3. The first person begins the story by saying a single word,
e.g. “There.”
4. Whoever is next in the circle says another single word that
makes sense following the previous word, e.g. “was.”
5. Continue around the circle, with each person saying a single
word with the aim of building a coherent story.

Luggage Surprise - The leader needs to have a suitcase and a

trash bag full of random props. Before each actor comes on stage,
sneak props into the suitcase. Either as individuals or in pairs, have
 actors arrive at a destination and give them two minutes to get out
the suitcase and improvise reactions to what is inside.

Luggage Surprise - The leader needs to have a suitcase and a

trash bag full of random props. Before each actor comes on stage,
sneak props into the suitcase. Either as individuals or in pairs, have
actors arrive at a destination and give them two minutes to get out
the suitcase and improvise reactions to what is inside.

Story, Story, Die! - Choose four students to be storytellers and

one pointer. The pointer picks one person to start the story and then
randomly switches between people. The goal is to continue telling a
cohesive story, picking up where the last person left off. A
participant "dies" if they make a continuity error or if they hesitate
too long before picking up the thread of the story. The audience can
be the judge and participants can "die" an exaggerated stage death
for more fun. The last person standing wins.

6. Taxi Cab - Set four chairs in two rows of two (like a car). You can
divide your group into fours. Actor one is the driver. The driver
creates a unique character and begins the scene. Person two gets
"picked up" and interacts with the driver as a new unique character
(for example, someone who just got their wisdom teeth removed).
The twist is the driver must take on the character of who they pick
up and they begin to interact together (as in the example, now they
are two people who just got their wisdom teeth removed). Then the
third person gets picked up with a whole new character and the two
people in the car become that character that just got picked up and
again for the fourth person. After a minute or two (and the comedy
unfolds), the fourth person gets "out" of the cab and the three
remaining characters return to the third person's character and so
on, until only the driver remains and ends the scene in their original
character.

7. Fake News - Bring magazines with lots of people or print pictures

of characters that will make for good storytelling. Have actors select
 a picture and give them a few minutes to create a backstory about
this character and one minute to "become" that person for the
group, whether just introducing themselves or putting the character
into a situation. For added fun, have another actor get up and have
their characters interact together for some fun improv.

8. Cross the Street - The leader gathers the actors on one side of the
room. Each actor is instructed to cross the street as the character
the leader calls out, "Cross the street as _____." These can be
famous people, animals, even inanimate objects. For a twist, the
leader can also call out if there is heavy traffic, rain or another
factor influencing the scene.
9. Memory Train (Musical Theater Version) - The group sits in a
circle and the leader selects a commonly known musical such as
"Aladdin." The first person says, "I am putting on 'Aladdin,' and in
my show I will need ____." They can pick prop items, backstage
equipment, costume pieces or even something obvious like the
script! Each subsequent person repeats the phrase and adds an
additional item, those that drop an item are out and scoot back out
of the circle until a memory wizard is found.
10. Lights, Name, Action! - Form a circle with your actors. Each
one must share their name and a unique four-beat action such as
tapping an elbow four times, patting their head four times, etc. After
everyone has gone, have your first volunteer make eye contact with
someone else, say their name and action, then switch places with
that person. That named person continues the pattern as quickly as
possible with another name and the four-beat action. This is a great
way to get to know names, you can start each session with this
activity and speed it up as your time together goes along.

21. Drama Circles - Drama circles are done with a set of cards
which set the story into motion. The "Start Card" usually says
something in a narrator's voice, explaining the story. Card two
continues on the story with something like, "When you hear (or see)
_____, say (or do) _____." That word or action is the clue to set the
 next card in motion and so on and so on. You can search for card
ideas online.

22. Animal Scramble - Players find a partner; partners separate

and run around. The leader calls out a phrase and the players must
find their partner and depict the scene. The last pair to depict the
scene is out. Examples:
o Frog on a log - One student gets down on all fours (log) and
the frog sits gently on their back.
o Bird on a perch - One student gets down on one knee (perch)
and the bird sits on the perch.
o Lion in a den - One person stands with their feet apart (den)
and the lion lies down on the floor.

23. Background Quiet - Often actors are asked to "converse"

silently in the background while the action is out front. Have some
fun with this by having one actor do a simple pre-selected
monologue (or they can sing happy birthday). The challenge is to
have two background actors have a silent conversation, trying to
add to the scene, but not distract from the main actor. Have
audience members give constructive feedback on whether they
added or distracted from what was going on out front. Throw the
audience for a loop by having the actors try to interrupt the action
or actually start interacting with the main action and chat about
what that does to the scene.

Emotion Examples

 Fearful
 Bored
 Excited
 Depressed
 Anxious
 Hysterical

Situation Examples

 Doctor examining a patient

 Teacher scolding a student
 Talk show host interviewing celebrity
 Mechanic delivering bad news to car owner
 Detective interviewing suspect

LEAD WITH BODY PARTS

Invite the entire class to get into a big circle and have them start
walking while in a circle. First, ask them to start walking as they
normally would. Next, ask them to imagine that there is a string
attached to their nose, pulling it slightly forward. After a minute
or so, coach them to walk normally again. Then, call out different
parts of the body, always returning to normal walking in-between.
(Examples of parts of the body to call out: chin; forehead; toes;
knees; chest; stomach; pelvis; arms.) After the activity is over,
gather students and ask them what sensations they experienced.
Ask if different types of walks evoked different attitudes. Write
down the various parts of the body and ask the class for
suggestions on which types of characters would lead with that
part of the body.