CLASSROOM

ACTIVITIES
Teaching English Through Drama
 How to use this book
Activity Name

Age group of students that

could benefit from this
activity.
The level that is connected
with our curriculum.
Notes about the activity to
keep in mind.

Short explanation and

steps to follow to use the
activity in the classroom.

A suggestion when the

activities can be used.
This activity can also be
used for Stage 2 or Wrap up.

The activities are color

coded to understand faster
when in the lesson there
are suggested to be used.
e
up

up
e2

tim
e1
rm

ap
ag

ag

ow
Wa

Wr
St

St

Sh
Warm-up Circle

Age: 3-6

Level: Act

This warm up can

be used with any
group of students.

Explanation:
Make a circle with the children holding hands. Let the children know that they should not
fall over, pull anyone’s arms or run. Once the students have formed a circle, proceed as
follows:
Let’s take little steps in, in, in. Look how small our circle is!
Let’s take big steps back, back, back. Look at how big our circle is!
Remember, don’t pull our friend’s arms.
Let’s take little steps in, in, in. Let’s say ‘hello’.
Let’s take big steps back, back, back.
And now can you make yourself stretch out wide. Stretch your fingers out as well and
reach to either side of the room.
Good, and now can you cross your arms and give yourself a big hug? Squeeze
tightly.

Stage Suggested
Warm up
Super Sophie

Age: 5+

Level: Act 3, Play

This warm up is
recommended for
groups that already
know their names,
and letter sounds.

Explanation:

Everyone stands in a circle. Tell students to think of their first name and the letter their
name starts with. Then tell them to think of a word that begins with that same letter
which they can act out. It can be an action, adjective, animal, etc.
Start with your own name as an example ie Super Sophie, showing them how to do a
movement that corresponds with your descriptive word-name combination.
Everyone repeats the word-name combination while doing the movement. You may
need to help younger students when it becomes their turn.
After everyone has had a turn, start again but this time have them as a group repeat
the word-name and movement for every person around the circle to see if they can
remember everyone’s name and action.
This is a useful activity to repeat at the beginning of class for the first few weeks until
everyone knows each other’s names.

Stage Suggested
Warm up
Imagination Stretching

Age: 3-7

Level: Act-Play

You can add

different stretches
or animals, get
creative.

Explanation:

Everyone sits in a circle and follows you in a variety of floor stretches.

Butterfly – put the bottoms of your feet together and move your knees up and down like
a butterfly. Ask students where they want to fly today, flying fast and slow as you
pretend to get there. Then land on a flower (nose to toes) and “butterflies go to sleep”.
When they wake up, ask what color of flower they landed on.
Wind shield Wipers–put your legs straight out in front of you and move your feet like
wind shield wipers, back/forth and in/out. Reach up high for the rain clouds and pull
them down onto your feet (nose to knees).
Spider – open your legs out to the sides. Hook your thumbs together to make spiders.
Have the spiders crawl all the way over to one foot, then the other foot, then all the way
out to the middle (nose to floor).

Stage Suggested
Warm up
 The Sticky Game

Age: 3-7

Level: Act-Play

This game works

well with body
parts or even
clothing.

Explanation:

Divide students into pairs and have them stand back to back with
their partner.
Tell them to try and walk around the room like their backs are
super glued together and they can’t even become unstuck from
their partner.
Repeat with target language for bod you parts.

This activity can also be

used for Stage 2 or Wrap up.

Stage Suggested
Warm up
 Pass the clap

Age: 3-10

Level: Act-Play

This warmer can be

used in any class to
promote students'
attention and reaction.
Also to be aware of
others movements and
improve rhytm.

Explanation:

Everyone stands ina circle. Start the game by turning and clapping to the student
next to you. The student should watch carefully and try to clap with you at exactly
the same time.
That student then turns to the next person and they clap together.
This continues until it gets all the way around the circle. Remind students to try
and keep a steady beat.
Once the group gets the hang of it, they can choose to switch directions by
sending the clap back to the sender instead of turning to the next person.
You can use some words to review or get some categories for older students to
say a word on the circle

You can also adapt this activity

to practice lines during Stage 2.

Stage Suggested
Warm up
 Huggie Bear

Age: 3+

Level: Act-Play

This activity works

better while
reviewing numbers.
A1 T4, A2 T2, A3 T5.
P1 T1.

Explanation:

Everyone walks slowly around the room.

Call out a number and have everyone group together into “hugging
clumps” of that number. Repeat several times with different numbers.
With older students, play with “outs” where those left out of the
clumps sit down until the next round.

You can vary this game while making groups of clothing they are wearing,
for example, groups of "t-shirts", or "using the question "Who is wearing
a t-shirt?"
For small groups you can use groups of " four feet" or "six arms" .

This activity can also be

used for Stage 2 or Wrap up.

Stage Suggested
Warm up
 Shake outs

Age: 3-10

Level: Act-Play

This activity could

be used on any level
but it will be very
useful to review
numbers and body
parts.

Explanation:

Students should stand in a circle with plenty of room in between each other.
Students follow and count with you while shaking out your right hand for 16
counts, left hand for 16 counts, right foot for 16 counts, and left foot for 16
counts.
Repeat with 8 counts, then 4 counts, then 2 counts, and then 1 count each.
Speed up as you go
along.
Remind students to direct their full energy into each body part and not be
lazy with their movements.

Stage Suggested
Warm up
Number Emotions

Age: 3-10

Level: Act and Play

This activity sh
could be use to
teach emotions.

Explanation:
Everyone sits in a circle.
Starting with the student next to you, have each person count off
starting with “1”, the next person. “2”, and so on until each student
has a number.
Call out an emotion or feeling i.e. sad, angry, or any emotion students
know.
Have “1” show an example of that emotion, then “2” express that
emotion further, and soon, with each student displaying that emotion
progressively greater, until you reach the final student.
Start with a different student and repeat with another emotion.

This activity can also be used for P5 T7

about natural disasters, for students to
react to different situations.

Stage Suggested
Stage 1
 If You’re Happy and You Know It

Age: 3-7

Level: Act and Play

You can make this activity

easier or more complicated
according to students'
language abilities.
This activity is
recommended for pointing
at body parts or learning
actions (verbs).

Explanation:
Sing the song “If You’re Happy and You Know It”. Most students are familiar with
it, or will catch on quickly.
Do the standard verses, then repeat with different actions like“touch your
nose”,“touch your ear”for body parts (Act 1 Topic 2 and Act 2 Topic 2), or “sit
down”,“stand up”for actions (Play 2 Topic 2), “sweep the floor”, “brush your
teeth”(Play 3 Topics 6 and 7). You can use any vocabulary while doing the
actions.
If students are older or have a better comprehension of the language you could
change the emotion “If you are angry and you know it brush your teeth” so
students should change the emotion and follow the action.
These simple songs are a great way to introduce students to singing in unison.

You can use other topics in the

manuals for this activities.

Stage Suggested
Stage 1
Follow the Leader

Age: 3-7

Level: Act and Play

This activity can

be used to
introduce new
vocabulary, and
for review.

Explanation:
Move the furniture to the side of the classroom to allow students with
enough space to move.
All students should line up behind you as the leader.
Explain that each person needs to follow the person that is right in front of
them (this is a surprisingly hard concept for very young students)
Explain students that they can’t get out of line.
Have the students follow you around the room doing the action that
matches the target language, these can be animals or creatures,
adjectives, adverbs or verbs.
After the groups gets the hang of it, you can select an older student to
become the “leader”.

Stage Suggested
Stage 1
ABC Shapes

Age: 3-11

Level: Act 2-Play

This activity can be

used to teach
certain letters or to
learn and practice
the alphabet.

Explanation:

Before the game starts, write out capital letters on a sheet of paper or
flashcards.
Quietly show a group of three students a letter they should form using
their bodies. Tell them to work together to make the letter.
The rest of the class tries to guess what letter they have formed. After
it is guessed correctly, switch out with a new group and letter.
You can use this activity on different ways to make the letters and to
ensure that.

Stage Suggested
Stage 1
Marching Band

Age: 3-10

Level: Act and Play

This activity could

be use to teach
any sentence
structure or lines.

Explanation:

Have students line up on one side of the room.

Clap a beat and have students march to the beat on the other side of
the room.
Teach them the sentence structure or script lines.
Do it again, this time speeding up or slowing down.
You can also repeat the activity with students hopping or skipping.
Make sure that the sentences can be followed by the rhythm of your
clapping.

Stage Suggested
Stage 1
 Run a Marathon

Age: 3-10

Level: Act and Play

This activity can be

used to teach and
verbs or
prepositions.

Explanation:
Everyone stands in a circle.
Tell the group that everyone is about to run a marathon without moving from
their spots in the circle, you can use a picture of a marathon, so they understand
the context.
Remind students to control their energy so that they do not tire out before the
race is over.
Start out by pretending you’re just behind the starting line and must warm up
first. Everyone follows you in stretching and jumping jacks.
Say “On your mark, get set, go!” Everyone begins running in place. Guide them
by having look, listen, read a sign, wave as passing cheering fans, swim through
a lake, jump over a log, and any other action vocabulary that you need to
introduce.
Finally, cross the finish line. Have them shake their legs, drink water, and
celebrate!

Stage Suggested
Stage 1
 Printable Pictures Scatter

Age: 3-7

Level: ACT1+

This activity uses the

questions "What do
you see?" but can be
adapted to other
target language,

Explanation:

Prepare different picture cards or realia about the language

target to learn.
Scatter them around the room on the wall and on the floor.
Turn off the light; the teacher uses a flashlight and leads the
students to find the things in the room, while introducing and
practicing the dialogue ‘What do you see? I see ...’
Students in pairs take turns to hold the flashlight and ask "What
do you see? The rest of the students answer "I see ...."

Stage Suggested
Suggested and tested by Aaron from Xiamen

Stage 1/2
Find Similarities

Age: 3-8

Level: Act and Play

This activity is
recommended for topics
related to face, body parts,
descriptions or clothing.
Act: A1 T5, A2 T2, A2 T6, A3 T7.
Play: P2 T3, P3 T1, P4 T3, P4
T5,

Explanation:
The group walks around the room, looking at each other carefully.
Teacher will lead by saying “Find someone who has the same ... as you” ie shirt,
shoes, eyes, hair, etc.
Students should walk around and when they "find the similarity" they should say
the sentence structure to practice i.e. "I'm wearing white shoes" "I have brown
eyes".
Have students form a group with people who share this similarity and review
each other’s names and the language structures.
Repeat until everyone has ended up in several different groups. Explain that
people can be different and the same in many ways.

You can use background music for students

to walk around to a rhythm, specially for
very active students you can use a calm
song.
You could play dress up or give them props
to find other similarities.
Remember to explain safety rules, no
running we walk, we must speak English,
Stage Suggested
Stage 2
Sleeping Animals

Age: 3-10

Level: Act-Play

A1 T7
A2 T4
A3 T3, T5
P1 T3, T8
P2 T5, T6
P3 T4, T7
P4 T4. T5

Explanation:

Ask students to sit or stand around the room. Explain to students that you
will turn the lights off and they should pretend to sleep.
Teacher then should turn the lights on and say the name of an animal and
have everyone move around the room pretending to be that animal.
Until teacher turns off the lights again, and they go back to sleep. Repeat
several times with different animals.
Remind students that their entire body and face should become the animal.
This activity can also be used for different vocabulary, emotions, actions,
routines,

Stage Suggested
Stage 2
Guided Mimes

Age: 3-10

Level: Act and Play

This activity could be

use for any Topic that
includes animals,
emotions, actions or
sentence structures
about "doing
something".

Explanation:

Explain that miming is acting without using any words or sounds.

Have students spread out around the room and guide them through
different actions that they can mime: sweeping, juggling, eating
dinner, jumping rope, picking flowers, walking a dog, climb a tree, etc.
Then choose one student to mime an action for the group to guess
(like charades). Whisper an action in their ear, reminding them to
move clearly without any sound effects. Repeat with several students.
The miming guides could be simple words or full sentences according
to the students level.

Stage Suggested
Stage 2
Mirror Mirror

Age: 5-12

Level: Act 2 - Play

This activity can be

used on topics
about body parts,
actions and
routines.

Explanation:
Divide the students into pairs, and have them start facing each other.
Assign one person to be the“leader”and the other person to be the“follower”.
Say“Action!”All the“leaders”start moving slowly, while the“followers”pretend to be a
mirror and carefully copy every movement made by the “leader”.
Say “Switch!” Partners trade roles and start again. The goal is for each pair to be so
synchronized that no one is able to tell who is leading and who is following.
Remind students to look carefully at their partner and mirror even the smallest
movements like facial expressions.
Choose a pair that you think is following each other really well. Have the rest of the
class watch them, observing how perfectly they stay together.
After students have gotten the game add your sentence structure, students should go
over the taught language the student that is a “leader” should do an action to match
the target language the student “following” should guess the action while mirroring the
leader.

Stage Suggested
Stage 2
Rhythm Leader

Age: 5-10

Level: Act and Play

This activity could

be used on any
lesson with any set
of words or
sentence structures.

Explanation:

Pick one student to leave the group/room and wait outside. The remaining
students sit in a circle. Pick another student to be the “secret rhythm
leader”.
The “secret rhythm leader” starts a repetitive sound for the others to follow
like clapping, snapping while saying a sentence structure or lines. The
“secret rhythm leader” changes the sentence, sound or line throughout the
game while the others follow along without missing a beat.
The student from outside comes back in and has three chances to guess the
leader. Once the leader is revealed, the leader become the guesser and the
game continues with a new leader.

Stage Suggested
Stage 2
 Energy Ball

Age: 3-10

Level: Act and Play

This activity can be use

to practice any
objects words and
sentence structures.
(toys, food, clothing,
transportation...)

Explanation:

Everyone stands in a circle.

Mime an imaginary ball of energy and squish it in your hands.
While you are doing this, have students make squishy sound effects to keep the energy
ball alive.
Form the energy ball into an imaginary object i.e., a backpack.
Tell everyone what you have made and then mime an action with the newly formed
object i.e., put on your backpack.
Pass the object to the new person, who must then squish it back into an energy ball
(while everyone makes squishy sound effects) and repeat the process.
You can use this activity to practice vocabulary or sentence structures, you can also use
it as a wrap up at the end of the class.

You can use this activity to practice

vocabulary or sentence structures, you
can also use it as a wrap up at the end of
the class.

Stage Suggested
Stage 2
Led by the Nose

Age: 3-7

Level: Act and Play

This activity can be

used for any topics
that has body
parts.

Explanation:

Everyone moves around the room, imagining that a string is attached to their nose and
it’s pulling them around. Tell them they’re being pulled high, then low, then fast, then
slow.
Repeat with other body parts ie head, heart, hands, knees.
Talk about how the way we walk can convey emotion, depending on if we’re looking up
or down, walking fast or slow, leading without heart or our head, etc.

Stage Suggested
Stage 2
 Broken Telephone (Create a monster)

Age: 4-8

Level: Act 2+

Notes
This activity can be used
for Stage 2 or warm up,
the topic used as an
example is Body parts
but can be adapted to
other topics.

Explanation:

1. Let Students line up or stand in a circle.

2. The student starting the game thinks of a word or phrase and whispers it
into the next student’s ear only once, with no repeats.
3. That listener tries to correctly repeat that exact word or phrase into the next
player’s ear. The last student in the line or at the end of the circle repeats
the phrase or word aloud; if not, he/she can finish the mission.
E.g., Create a monster. Pass the sentence ‘I have two big eyes,’ then the last
student should draw two eyes on the board.
For older students, we can try some tongue twisters to warm up.

Stage Suggested
Suggested and tested by Aaron from Xiamen

Stage 2
 Sleeping Monster

Age: 3-7

Level: ACT1+

This activity can be

used for any topics
about food items.

Explanation:

Students stand at one side of the room, while the teacher stands at the
other side of the room with a sleeping monster.
The teacher shows the students a food item, where students must
either name the word or use it in a sentence.
Once the students have said the sentence, students can take a step
forward toward the teacher and steal the food from the monster.
Repeat several times until students are close enough to the monster.
The monster wakes up and then scares them away.

Stage Suggested
Suggested and tested by Aaron from Xiamen

Stage 2
 Hot Potato

Age: 3-7

Level: ACT1+

This activity can be used

for any topic, so we
recommend to use it for
topics where other
activities are not so
easy to adapt to the
content.

Explanation:

Students stand or sit in a circle.

Teacher turns some music on and passes a ball, bean bag, or potato
around the circle.
Students should pass the ball as fast as possible without dropping the
ball or potato on the ground. Whoever drops the ball, is out of the game.
After the ball gets passed around the circle several times, the teacher
stops the music.
When the music stops, the person holding the ball should use the target
language.

Stage Suggested
Suggested and tested by Aaron from Xiamen

Stage 2
Jump in, Jump out

Age: 4-12

Level: Act 3-Play

This activity can be

used with any topic that
can use the sentence
structure "I like" or "I
want to be".

Explanation:

Everyone stands in a circle.

The group sings this song to call a student to the center:
Group: Jump in, jump out, turn yourself around. Jump in, jump out, and introduce
yourself!
Center Person: My name is ...
Group: Yeah!
Center Person: And I like ... science! (an activity or a subject)
Group: Yeah!
Center Person: And I’ll like ... science! (repeat activity)
Group: Yeah!
Center Person: For the rest of my life.
Make sure to use movement to accompany the words: jump in, jump out, turn
around, act out the activity.
Repeat until every student has had a turn.

Stage Suggested
Showtime
 Toy Store

Age: 4-12

Level: Act-Play

This is activity can be

used for topics with
"toys" as main language
aims (A2 T3, A3 T7, P1 T4).
But it can be modified to
match different topics.

Explanation:

One student is the toymaker and everyone else freezes like favorite toys.
Instruct the toymaker to walk around and turn the toys on and off by
pressing each toy’s button, turning its crank, etc.
When a toy is turned on, the student must act like the toy. When it’s turned
off, the student must immediately freeze.
For example, if pretending to be a ball, the student should crouch into a
tight ball and then pop up and down after being turned on.
Repeat with a different toymaker and have everyone choose a different toy.

Stage Suggested
Showtime
Pack a Picnic Basket

Age: 4-12

Level: Act-Play

This activity can be used

for packing from
packing a backpack
A1T1, and more
independently in P4T4
Having a party or P5T6
Mother Nature.

Explanation:

Tell students that you’re going on a picnic. Have everyone pretend to open up
imaginary picnic baskets and start deciding what to pack.
One at a time, have each student name something to take on the picnic. Everyone
should then pretend to put that item into his or her own basket. If there is an action
required, everyone should do the action together before putting it in the basket ie fold a
picnic blanket, make a sandwich, fill up a water bottle.
Once all the important things are packed, have everyone stand up, pick up their
baskets and walk around the room trying to find the perfect spot for a picnic. Then
unfold your picnic blankets, sit down, and start unpacking.
Ask each student to name an item that was packed. As they remember it, everyone
pretends to unpack and use it ie eat lunch, open an umbrella, put on sunscreen. If they
forget an item, give them clues until everything is unpacked.

Stage Suggested
Showtime
 The Dj

Age: 4-12

Level: Act-Play

This activity is
recommended for the
first Topic when students
learn their own and
each other's names.

Explanation:

Divide the students into pairs, except for one student who you select to be the “DJ”.
Play some fun dance music. Tell the partners to hold hands and start dancing.
The DJ will tell you when to stop the music, either by actually pushing the pause button or
by tapping your arm without the other students seeing.
When the music stops, everyone moves around and finds a new partner, including the DJ.
When they find their new partners, they should introduce themselves or do the script to
role-play.
For example
A: Hi!
B: Hello!
A: What’s your name?
B: My name’s …
The student who is left without a partner now becomes the DJ and the game repeats.

Stage Suggested
Showtime
Duck Duck Animal

Age: 4-10

Level: Level

This game requires

some space and
can be done by any
activities that
require animal
vocabulary.

Explanation:

Just like“Duck, Duck, Goose”, except students can choose any animal instead of
“goose”.
Everyone sits in a circle. The person who is “it” walks around the outside of the
circle and taps each student’s head, calling each one a “duck”, until eventually
selecting out one student by calling them a different animal.
Both students safely move around the circle (no running) back to the starting
spot, moving and making noises like the animal that was just called out.
The student who was tapped now becomes “it” and the game repeats.

If your students are too active this activity

might not be suitable for them.
Stage Suggested
Wrap up
 Shake outs

Age: 3-10

Level: Act-Play

After teaching
numbers and body
parts you can use
this activity to make
a quick summary of
the vocab.

Explanation:

Students should stand in a circle with plenty of room in between each other.
Students follow and count with you while shaking out your right hand for 16
counts, left hand for 16 counts, right foot for 16 counts, and left foot for 16
counts.
Repeat with 8 counts, then 4 counts, then 2 counts, and then 1 count each.
Speed up as you go
along.
Remind students to direct their full energy into each body part and not be
lazy with their movements.

Stage Suggested
Wrap up
Hungry Shark

Age: 3-7

Level: ACT1+

This activity can be

used for any Topic
that has food
vocabulary.

Explanation:

All students stand in a circle.

Each student is holding a different food.
Walk toward one student like a shark; that student must call out
another student’s food for the shark to change direction and
move towards the student called instead.
The second student must then call out another student to save
themselves.
Repeat until the shark eats a student.

Stage Suggested
Suggested and tested by Aaron from Xiamen

Stage 2
 Snail vs Mouse

Age: 4+

Level: Act 3

This activity could

be used for Act 3
Topic 7, or other
topics where we are
comparing animals
and speed.

Explanation:

Teacher asks all students to line on one side of the wall.

Show student the picture or toy of a snail and ask them to move slowly like a snail.
Repeat with the mouse but moving quickly.
Ask students to walk like a snail or a mouse following these lines:
Slowly slowly very slowly
Walks the little snail
Quickly quickly very quickly
Runs the little mouse
Students don't need to race just to move like following the lines, they can even stay on
the same spot trying to control their movements.

Stage Suggested
Suggested by Nina Dai

Warm up