Classroom Exercises

Looking for a quick activity, a skill-building exercise, or a fresh way to get students on their feet? This collection of classroom exercises is here to help.

Explore practical, ready-to-use drama exercises designed to build focus, creativity, collaboration, confidence, and performance skills. Whether you’re warming up the room, introducing a new concept, or giving students a chance to explore character, movement, voice, or ensemble work, these exercises are a great place to start.

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Games, Exercises, & Activities Classroom Exercises

Reality vs Illusion Exercise

How do people create illusion out of harsh reality? In the play A Streetcar Named Desire, Blanche Dubois works hard at creating an illusion. She tells lies about her past so that others see her in...

Games, Exercises, & Activities Classroom Exercises

I Would Never…. A Pre-Study Romeo and Juliet Exercise

“Shakespeare is too hard… Shakespeare is too old… I can’t relate to Shakespeare….” It’s one thing to tell students that they should study Shakespeare, it’s another thing to get them engaged in the...

Acting Technique Character Development

What’s in Your Bag?

Characters come alive in the smallest details: a favourite food, a disliked type of music, a fear of spiders, an allergy to plums, a scar from a fall at two years old, a love of reality television....

Games, Exercises, & Activities Classroom Exercises

Expression Exercise: Instagram Journaling

Today’s students are visual learners. They look at screens all day long, it makes sense that they are going to be grabbed by a picture instead of something they hear or read. So why not bring the...

Games, Exercises, & Activities Classroom Exercises

Exercise: Positive/Negative Post-Its

Jessica Stafford of Owensboro Middle School was in the middle of rehearsing Hoodie for the KTA middle school festival. She generously shared this “Positive and Negative Post-it Exercise” she used...

Technical Theatre Sound & Lighting

Location Sound Exercise

Sound is a powerful sense. Many objects and actions are clearly identified by the sounds they make. Sound also triggers powerful memories. When I hear a screen door slam, I am instantly brought...

Playwriting Playwriting Exercises

Exercise: Shakespearean Insults

If you have a Shakespeare unit or play study planned for your class, start with this exercise; it’s a great doorway to engaging with the Bard. The key to Shakespeare is to get students up and...

Games, Exercises, & Activities Classroom Exercises

Classroom Exercise: Fear In A Hat

One of the keys to Classroom Management is getting students to work well together. Group work is tricky if students don’t know one another. Why should I share something with this guy who doesn’t...

Games, Exercises, & Activities Classroom Exercises

Creative Thinking Exercise: Character Names

When it comes to analyzing a character, names are extremely important. In a play, character names are always specifically chosen by the playwright to give clues on personality, status, identity,...

Games, Exercises, & Activities Classroom Exercises

Classroom Exercise: Whaddya Know?

One of the keys to Classroom Management is getting students to work well together. Group work is tricky if students don’t know each other. Why should I share something with this guy who doesn’t say...

Games, Exercises, & Activities Classroom Exercises

Classroom Exercise: Verbatim Theatre

If you’re looking for a great cross-curricular activity for your drama classroom, delve into verbatim theatre. Verbatim: in exactly the same words, word for word Verbatim theatre uses a process in...