Drama Activities

Role Playing | Improvisation | Dance | Mime | Sociodrama | Masks

Role Playing

Ask children to spend 5 mins thinking about what they would like to be,.e,g
prime minister, famous character, slave, and ask them to act it out.

Acting in pairs

Think up a pair of characters, e.g two nurses, two burglars, two astronauts in
space, etc. and they have to work out how to work together .

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Improvisation:

Examples of activities for under 10's :

Wind Em Up:

Pretend game that involves asking children to be "wound up" by the pretend
crank on their back. They can be any object, e.g. a robot, a kitchen appliance

etc. which has been wound up. Then they slowly act out becoming unwound, and
eventually coming to a stop.

Life Saving

Children pretend to be a team of doctors, firemen, paramedics etc. fighting to

save a life.

Um Monologues

Reference:

Edwards, L. (1999). Exploring Dance and Drama, Book 4. Primary Arts, South
Victoria, Australia.

Time - 30-40mins

Grade - 5 / 6

Skill Development: Oral language, public speaking, voice projection,

improvisation

Procedure

Ask children to sit back with a partner. Take it in turns to brainstorm different
topics, one word at a time, e.g. colours, the universe, school, etc.

First round is practice, second round is scored by counting the number of words
they got,

Third round you loose a point every time you make the sound um, er, ah.

Fourth round, the children can pick one of the topics they brainstormed, and
have exactly one minute to talk about it. Appoint an Umm counter for the class,
equipped with a class list to count off the umms.

There's no need to count how may umms each child got, just make them aware
that they say it.

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Dance:

Reference:

Edwards, L. (1999). Exploring Dance and Drama, Book 4. Primary Arts, South
Victoria, Australia.

Time: 40 mins

Grade: 4 to 6

Skill Development: Listening, Movement, Props, Discussion, Cooperation,

Performance, Interpretation.

Picture the story:

1. Break kids up into groups of six and ask them to sit in a circle on the floor.
Place a few props in the center of the group, e.g scarves, hats, feathers, ropes,
money etc. It is a good idea to have one prop per child.

2. Ask each group to focus on the props put infront of them without discussing
them.

3. Ask the children to close their eyes and try to imagine the story that is being
told using these props. Play a piece of music while their eyes are closed.

Music: An instrumental piece is best. Movie soundtracks can be good for creating
mood.

Discuss the story:

When the music is finished, ask the children to share their stories and images
with one another. Ask each group to choose one person's idea, or combine
several ideas to put a movement piece together to tell a story, using the props to
perform for the rest of the class.

Allow 10 mins to piece it together.

Story Dance:

Allow each group to perform their piece using the props while the music is
playing, incorporating the rhythm into their performance. At the end of each
performance, allow the audience to describe what they think they saw.

Remind children that no interpretation of a performance piece can be wrong.

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Mime:

Reference:

Edwards, L. (1999). Exploring Dance and Drama, Book 4. Primary Arts, South
Victoria, Australia.

'Pairs on Chairs'

Time: 20 mins

Grade: 4 &endash;6

Skill Development: Concentration, Mime, Focus, Body awareness, creativity,

cooperation.

Ask the children to find a boy/girl partner, collect a chair and find a place in the
room. Each pair needs to improvise a scene where one person would be sitting in
a chair and the other offering them a service. The only catch is that you are not
allowed to speak.

E.g hairdresser, dentist

Watch each performance quickly, and discuss which ones were effective and why.

There may be a number of groups who pretend to speak without sound. This is
not mime, but pretending to speak.

Use one example and discuss how you could design a scene where you never
had to speak.

E.g. person sitting on a seat, pretending to be on a moving bus. Old person

struggles up the isle, young person stands up, smiles, and motions for the older
person to sit. Both continue the journey looking forward as though on a moving
bus.

Ask each group to design another mime scene using the chair.

Watch each and discuss the difference.

Quick Games/Ideas

'A day in the life of...'

'Changing Shapes' - children are given a pretend shape to hold, e.g a square,
which turns into a cylinder, circle, etc.

'Mirror images'

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Sociodrama

Improvisation

Primitive tribe in a remote area is visited for the first time by an outsider....

Your town is engulfed by nuclear radiation,.....

You live in the 'slums' of downtown Big City, you are trying to support your
family....

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Masks

The power of masks

This lesson plan was developed by Curriculum Corporation.

Learning areas

The Arts

Level

Middle to lower primary

Description

Students move through a series of study centers to examine cultural contexts for
masks. They design and build a mask for themselves. This activity is a part of the
unit Behind the mask'. The unit explores the idea of masks, from facial
expressions and mime, through face painting and tattooing to more formal
masks.

Purpose

To develop an appreciation of the various purposes for masks and the skill to
make a mask for a special purpose.

Duration

2&endash;3 sessions

Possible outcomes

In relation to The arts &emdash; a curriculum profile for Australian schools, work
in this activity could lead to the achievement of outcomes in the following
strands:

Visual arts

Creating, making and presenting

Arts criticism and aesthetics

Past and present contexts

This also has links to other learning areas such as Mathematics and Studies of
society and environment.

Materials required

Each student will need paper, pencil and coloured pencils or textas.

The class will need:

face paints
cardboard and white paper
elastic or tape
staples

glue or sticky tape

strips of newspaper
papier-mch glue
A range of work stations presenting a variety of materials, for instance:

examples of face decoration;

party masks, and pictures of cartoon super heroes in masks
masks from other countries such as Europe, Africa and Indonesia
pictures and artifacts showing animal masks including those of Ancient Egypt
and Indian totems
Many of these may be brought to class by students as a result of the resource
hunt in step 1 below.

Procedure

The following focus activities could run concurrently in the classroom, or

sequentially, as listed here. If organised as a set of learning centers, student
tutors and/or parents may facilitate the learning. Students make several masks
and contribute to a class exhibition.

1 Introducing masks

Discuss students' ideas about masks, encouraging a broad range of views. Invite
students to participate in a resource hunt and contribute to establishing the
learning centers. With the class, label, describe and categorise the items
collected (for example, masks or face designs; masks for fun, for hunting).

2 Focus on painted faces

Students examine examples of face decoration and are challenged to think about
people who decorate their faces, how it is done and why.

Ask students to draw a picture of their partner's face, design a pattern and draw
it on the picture. Encourage them to think about patterns, lines and colours and
then write about their design, explaining their choices of pattern and colours.
Students finish by decorating their partner's face. Extra care needs to be taken
when painting near the eyes.

3 Focus on disguise and deception

Students examine masks used for disguise or deception, and discuss why people
wear these masks, and when. Have students design, make and appraise a party
mask for themselves. It should keep their identity a secret but still allow them to
speak clearly and eat easily.

When the masks are completed use the following questions to help with
appraisal.

Did you stick to your plan?

Did you have to change anything?
What was the most difficult part of making the mask?
Were the materials you used right for the task?
What would you change if you made another mask?
4. Focus on masks for magic

Have students examine pictures, artifacts and/or masks from other countries
where masks are designed to scare away evil spirits or invoke the power of the
spirit world to protect the owners or wearers. Focus discussion on the feelings
aroused by the mask in the person wearing it and someone looking at it.

Students design, make and appraise a tube mask. Begin with a piece of cover
paper rolled into a cylinder big enough to fit snugly over the head, and stapled
when it fits. Explain and model techniques such as curling, pleating and fringing
paper. Invite students to write about their masks, giving them names, deciding
who would wear their masks and when, where and why they might be worn.

5. Focus on animal masks

Using stimulus material, explore animal masks. Explain to students that many
cultures have made masks to represent admired animals, in the hope of taking
on some of their attributes, such as strength, cunning, swiftness.

In groups, have students list animals they think represent strength, cleverness,
sneakiness

Individuals then choose an animal with a particular quality they think is

sometimes a part of their character and design, make and appraise a papiermch mask of that animal.

Provide strips of newspaper, white paper and papier-mch glue. Instruct

students, as necessary, in the techniques of making papier-mch. Depending on
the shape of the animal's face, they could put the papier-mch over a balloon,
or on one side of a blown-up (empty) wine cask.

Physical activity for younger children

For Fathers

Daily physical activity is good for young children in so many ways. Getting your child
moving is easy when you make activity fun and part of your childs play.
Daily physical activity: focusing on fun
When youre choosing physical activity for babies, toddlers and preschoolers, focus on
activities that are fun.
If children enjoy what theyre doing, theyre more likely to want to keep doing it. And all the
activities children enjoy increase their ability to move well.
Physical activity can just be part of your childs everyday play and can start very early in life.

Physical activity for children 0-2 years

Babies aged 0-12 months need plenty of opportunities for free movement, so long as they can do
it in a safe environment. An environment that encourages your child to explore and develop skills
such as reaching, rolling, sitting up, crawling, pulling up and walking is great. This can be inside
or outside.
Before baby can walk
Even tiny babies like to stretch and play. A large blanket on the floor (or on the grass outside) can
be a safe, clean and welcoming place for babies to practise lifting their heads and develop strong
muscles during tummy time.
A blanket on the ground or floor is also a great place for baby to learn to roll, creep, crawl and sit.
If you put a toy or object just out of reach, it encourages your baby to make an extra effort to
reach it. This can help physical development.
Great low-cost tummy time toys include things to grab and hold like old boxes or containers, or
pieces of wood and wool. Another idea is plastic containers with things that rattle inside. The lid

needs to be on very tight so baby cant get to the little things inside. Bright colours, drawings of
dots or squares or stars, shiny surfaces, changing textures and different sounds can also interest
your child.
Before putting baby on the floor, take a look for potential hazards down at the babys level. Stay
with your baby at all times to keep things safe.
Playing lots of games is also rewarding. Even simple games, like pat-a-cake and peekaboo, can
do a lot to help your babys learning and movement skills.
Movement opportunities also come from responding to sound. Singing, clapping, little rhyming
games and talking are great ways to get baby moving.
When baby starts to walk
Once your child is walking, you can encourage her just by letting her be free. This means plenty
of time out of the pram.
This is a great time to look for toys and activities that encourage movement. For example, when
you help your child climb a slide at the local playground, youre building self-confidence and
balance. Youre also paving the way for your child to climb stairs.
Playing with your child and praising him as he learns to run, hop, dance and throw encourages
him to keep going.

Physical activity for children 2-5 years

Toddlers and preschoolers need plenty of time to just run around and play. Backyards, adventure
playgrounds, parks, trails and the beach are all great places for children of this age.
Here are some ways to keep physical activity fun:

You can use a large, soft ball to practise catching, hitting, bouncing and kicking.

Throwing can start with something small like a bean bag or tennis ball. When
spaces arent safe for balls, an old pair of socks can be good for this.

You can get your child to chase bubbles, walk along chalk lines and jump over
cracks in the ground or puddles.

Playing different music, or making sounds with your voice or instruments, can
encourage dancing and a sense of rhythm.

Invent some silly walks and runs with your child, such as running like a monkey,
hopping like a bunny and flapping like a bird.

Your child might enjoy learning to ride a bike, scooter or tricycle under your
supervision, of course and playing with push toys such as trucks, doll prams and
toy lawn mowers.

You could make up games that involve rolling, skipping, hopping and chasing.

Leave the car at home sometimes and try walking to local places like the library,
park or shops. If youre feeling really adventurous, you could even go without the
pram.

Organised physical activity and sport

When is the right time to sign your child up for organised sport? When your child is ready is the
simple answer.
If your younger child is interested in organised sport, it might be worth looking for an organised
non-competitive sport. Most sporting codes offer modified versions for younger children for
example, In2CRICKET, Aussie Hoops basketball, NetSetGO netball and Auskick football. Other
options could be gymnastics, swimming or soccer.
With modified and junior sports, the focus is usually on developing skills and getting everyone to
have a go. Thats because theres no need to pressure young children about perfect technique,
or winning and losing. Its more important for them to learn about the fun of playing, being active
and trying hard.
Australian guidelines say that children are generally ready for organised competitive sport at 810 years. This is when most children understand the value of fair play and are ready to cope with
winning and losing.
If you think your child is ready for organised sport, you could talk to other parents about sports
clubs and programs in your area. Also talk to people at the club and even the coach for your
childs age group. Go along and watch other children playing the sport. A sign of a good program
is children having fun.