In the drama classroom, if students aren’t actively engaged, they become distracted. It is up to the teacher to serve as a bridge between the lesson and the student. One way to do that is by changing your approach to drama by introducing your students to new drama activities that develop valuable theatre skills.
Look no further, we’ve developed a comprehensive resource that includes a collection of drama games that includes a collection of warmup exercises, ideas for improv, and age-appropriate activities for middle school students.
1. Story, Story, Die!
This theater game is best for a group of students. The pointer must pick someone to start the story and randomly switch between people. Students must tell a cohesive story, picking up where the last person left off, without messing up the story or hesitating.
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2. Silent Scream
Silent Scream is a fun game where students utilize drama techniques to express emotion without making a sound. The purpose of this activity is to help students tap into creative expression without having to rely on the use of words or sounds.
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3. Fake News!
The Drama Teacher will provide magazines or pictures of characters that students will use for storytelling. Students will select an image and create a backstory about this character to present to the class.
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4. Self-Check
This drama class warm-up activity gives students the opportunity to build a connection with their bodies. Students can remain in their seats or lay on the floor to complete this activity. The goal is to allow students to analyze their bodies and check for discomfort before beginning activities requiring movement.
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5. Stage Director Says
This class warmup follows the traditional “Simon Says” rules but with a twist. Students can only do what the caller says after they say “Stage Director Says …” If they do not put “Stage Director Says” in front of the instruction and the student does it anyway, they are eliminated.
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6. Pump-It!
This aerobic warm-up is great for getting students prepped for physical activity before going on stage. It focuses on any activity that gets the body moving. Aerobic exercises have many benefits like reducing the risk of injury, boosting your mood, and improving brain power.
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7. Road Trip
Road trip is a drama exercise that tests a student’s ability to keep up with a scene. A student says, “I’m going on a trip, and I need to pack …” and another student will complete the sentence with a word that begins with the letter “a.” The next student will repeat the sentence with the items listed before while adding a new object with the following letter.
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8. Monologue Mania
This character development activity involves giving each student a character and emotion from a hat. The students will be given time to prepare a monologue that accurately portrays the given character and emotion.
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9. Park Bench
Park Bench is a drama activity that helps students control their reactions. Pick two students to sit on chairs in the front of the class. The second student’s job is to get the first student to laugh. If the student laughs, a new student is selected.
10. Party Time!
This is a character creation game that involves students serving as hosts and party guests. The rest of the class suggests characters for each guest. The guests must stay in character at all times. At the end of the activity, the host must correctly guess each guest’s character.
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11. Grimreaper
Grimreaper is another drama activity that tests students’ reaction control. One student will be the grave keeper, and the other students will lie on the ground. The grave keeper’s job is to try to make each person laugh. Anyone that laughs will join the grave keeper to make the other students laugh.
12. Director
This is one of the drama games suitable for groups. In teams, each actor gets a director, the directors give the actors instructions, and the actors play out the scene.
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13. Learn How to Run
In pairs, one will play a low-speed person and the other a high-speed person. Both students have the same objective. Students must create a scene based on the conflict that arises.
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14. Bodies!
The instructor will select a body part and emotion from a bag. The students must act out the feeling provided about the given body part without using sound to convey the feeling.
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15. Question Mark
Students will select three items. Based on the items, students will create a character and be given a few minutes to make a story about that character. Each student will introduce themselves to the audience, sharing where their character came from and where they are headed.
16. Fairly Odd Parents
Students must think of one character from a fairy tale and a scene from the fairy tale that includes the character. Students will be given a short list of questions to answer. After students have gathered their information, they will create short improvisations in groups of four using their characters.
17. Teach Kids to Apologize
Here’s an activity that doubles as a drama-based game as well as an emotional learning opportunity. Have one student approach another and apologize for something at random. The learner on the receiving end can react in any way they like. Whatever the first student apologizes for, the second student should go along with it in either an agreeable or disagreeable manner. Once the improv session ends, the second student should pick someone else and apologize for a new issue.
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18. Surprise!
This fun improv game gives students will be given a bag full of random props. They will have two minutes to get out of the car, grab the suitcase, and improvise reactions to what is inside the suitcase.
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19. Duck, Duck, Cereal!
This drama activity requires two students. The first student tags another while giving an item category. The second student has to name three items in that category before the first student runs around the circle. If they don’t list all items, the first student sits in the circle while the second student chooses another student and category.
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20. Taxi Cab
One student will be the cab driver and they will create a character to begin the scene. A second student enters the cab and interacts with the driver as a new character. The students must interact with each other based on the character of the first student.
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