Theatre/Drama Games
The Directing Game
One of the jobs of the director is giving the actors ideas
for how to say their lines and how to move onstage.
Pick one person to be the director.
Everyone else makes up a short scene that includes a lot
of action. (Ex:
Two kids are having a picnic in a park when all of a
sudden it begins to rain.
The kids hurry to pick up their blanket, food, and picnic
basket. Other kids
in the park hurry to the shelter to get out of the rain.
Another kid splashes in a puddle.
To begin the scene, the director yells “action” and yells
“cut” when the scene is completed.
The director then assigns a direction such as “slow
motion” and the actors do the scene again using this technique.
Other directions may include fast forward, overdramatic,
doing the chicken dance, walking through Jell-O, laughing
hysterically, on one foot, underwater, or backwards.
Tongue Twisters
Actors use tongue twisters to prepare for speaking in front
of an audience. As
you get better at them, try saying them faster and faster.
-
Peter Piper, the pickled pepper picker, picked a peck of pickled peppers.
-
A peck of pickled peppers did Peter Piper, the pickled pepper picker, pick.
-
A knapsack strap, the strap of a knapsack.
-
The big black bug bit the big brown bear and the big brown bear bled blood.
Number Game
Listening is an important skill for actors.
They must hear what the other actors are saying in order
to respond naturally and they must listen to their director.
For the number game, everyone stands in a circle and
counts off, remember their number.
The last person always begins, so if there are six
people, number six begins by saying someone else’s number (four,
for example).
Number four then calls out someone else’s number (two, for
example). Number
two calls out another number and so on.
When you hear your number, say someone else’s number.
It sounds fairly easy, but here are the rules:
1) No
pausing. As soon as
you hear your number, say another number.
If you wait too long, you’re out.
2) Don’t say
your own number. If
you do, you’re out.
3) Don’t say a
number that nobody has.
4) When
you’re out, you go to the last place in the circle, and become
the last number.
Everyone moves up one number.
The game gets tricky because everyone has to remember
their new number and can’t say their own new number.
Body Sculptures
Acting isn’t just about memorizing lines.
Actors have to express themselves with their bodies as
well. Try this fun
exercise a with the children.
Have the children evolve into frozen sculptures by
calling out ideas:
1) Things you would find in a castle, 2)
Things you would find in a classroom; 3) Things you would
find at a movie theatre, etc.
You can create your own lists.
Encourage the children to explore their imaginations.
For example, don’t just pretend to be the teacher in a
classroom—maybe you are a crumpled piece of paper.
Use your bodies to create a frozen object.
Family Portraits
A picture tells a lot about a character—the way she stands,
the expression on her face, the way she looks at others, etc.
In each group, choose one person to be the photographer.
Everyone else in this group gets together and poses like
they’re having their picture taken.
The first picture should look like a nice family
portrait. Once you
are in your family portrait position, the photographer calls out
a kind of family such as “sick family” and counts to three,
allowing the posing players to change their position.
Other family types might include “sleepy family”, “goofy
family”, “dancing family”, etc.
Remember, you are making a picture and pictures can’t
move or make sound.
Storytelling Game
Set up a chair on one side of the stage, facing the
audience. Choose
someone to sit in the chair and be the narrator of a story.
The person begins to tell a story that is made up as
he/she goes along.
The other players must act out the story as it is told including
sound effects. As
the narrator adds characters, a player should immediately jump
in and become that character.
One Word Story
Sit in a circle.
Start telling a story, one word at a time per person,
going around the circle.
Try not to pause.
There are no wrong answers in this game.
Just say the first word that pops into your head and see
if the story makes sense.
Continue the story until it comes to an end.
Pantomime
Mimes are actors who do not use words or sounds when they
act. They rely on
their gestures and expressions to show their feelings and let
the audience know what they are doing.
Try acting out the following pantomime scenes alone or
with a group:
tug-of-war game, volleyball game, baking a cake, cleaning a
kitchen, walking a dog, etc.
Paper Plate Masks
Supplies Needed:
paper plates, colored markers, scissors, yarn, glue,
decorating supplies such as feathers, buttons, sequins, etc.
Using the plate as your mask, cut out eyeholes and
decorate using markers, sequins, feathers, etc.
Cut a slit on each side and insert pieces of yarn so that
the mask can be tied at the back of your head.
Now you’re ready to perform.
All you need to do is decide on who, what, and where.
Sound Effects
Most theatrical sounds can be made by using your voice,
hands, and/or body.
Have one player call out a sound effect and the other players
must make the sound using their voice, hands or body.
Suggestions for sound effects include frog, galloping
horse, rain, thunder, doorbell, snoring, popcorn popping, train,
birds singing, etc.
Mirror Exercise
Pair up actors. One actor is the mirror and must copy everything
the other actor does.
Shrinking Box
Actors pantomime that they are in a very large box. Show
audience all the sides. Then the box gets smaller. Show the
audience how small it is getting. Then they must figure out a
way to escape. The actor must do a good job showing the audience
how they have escaped so they can correctly guess how.
Group Stop
Everyone quietly mills about the room. One person will elect
to freeze in position unexpectedly. As soon as one notices that
someone else has frozen in position they freeze as well. So the
effect of one person freezing causes everyone to freeze. Once
everyone is still the group starts milling around again. The
goal is to see how quickly the group can freeze in position.