Drama Activities

PUPPET PLAYS

Characters:

•Teddy Bear

•Doll

•Soldier or Robot

•Fairy or witch or wizard

•Child (is a real person)

Doing the activity

· Make groups of students and distribute them some puppets

· Present a story

· A group of students must act the story

The Story:

The toys are all in the playroom one night. They hear strange noises. They discuss amongst themselves whether these noises are normal. They send one of their number – probably the bravest of the group – to investigate. The report comes back that there are burglars in the house. The toys decide they have to wake up their owner – boy or girl. They must find a way of doing this without revealing to the child that they are ‘alive’ – their big secret. They take turns in trying to wake up the child. Finally, the child wakes. They all freeze. The child hears the noises, and raises the alarm. He/she then returns to the playroom – mystified by the dream of talking toys. The child goes back to sleep. The toys ask the audience not to reveal their secret.

TEN SECOND OBJECTS

This is an activity for small groups. It is suitable for participants from 6 years old to adults. The activity could last from 10-20 minutes. The skills participants develop are mime and movement, and cooperation.

Instructions:

· Divide everyone into small groups (4-6).

· Call out the name of an object and all the groups have to make the shape of that object out of their own bodies, joining together in different ways while teacher count down slowly from ten to zero.

· Usually, every group will find a different way of forming the object.

Words to try: a car, a clock, a washing machine, a volcano, a fire.

Draw an Object

In this activity, students will be guessing vocabulary based upon drawings done by their classmates. Though it sounds like the popular picture drawing game, it’s actually a double header activity, with two teams guessing at the same time. This is another activity that’s great for vocabulary review.

Setting up.

-Draw a line down the middle of the blackboard.

-Divide the students into two groups and have each group stand on their side of the board.

-Have on hand:

        Vocabulary flashcards

        A timer

Doing the activity.

Pull aside one member from each group to the back of the room. Show these two students the same flashcard. They must then rush to the board and will have one minute to draw something that will get their group to figure out the word. However, they cannot draw the item that was on the card!