Games, Exercises, & Activities

A mixed message is when someone communicates two conflicting ideas at the same time, making it unclear what they really mean. This can happen through: • Words vs. actions (saying one thing, “I’ll...

Communication skills are important in life and in the drama classroom. Whether you want your students to be focused on their scene partner, active listening in an improv scenario, or doing both in...

Communication is not just what we say – nonverbal actions play a huge part as well. How we stand, gesture, make eye contact, all of these physical choices communicate. Use this nonverbal exercise...

This is a great classroom exercise to not only have fun with Shakespeare but to also see how well students can re-frame which ever Shakespeare play they are studying. Take a character from one...

Sometimes it’s the simple games and the ones we’ve played over and over again that can offer the most learning. Take The Human Knot. It’s a game that’s been played in playgrounds, camps, and drama...

Many productions are based on a pyramid structure : Stars at the top, supporting cast in the middle, chorus at the bottom. Even though there are more actors involved at the bottom of the pyramid,...

How do you get students to work together in a creation? Try this pre-exercise to have students practice collaborating to make a finished product. It’s an exercise that has been around for years but...

If you want your students to devise a theatre piece in class, it’s important to practice the act of collaboration as much as possible. Ideally, you should use the month beforehand getting students...

Todd Espeland, instructor of the Drama Teacher Academy course Serious Play: Theatre Games and Warm Ups for Rehearsal and Ensemble Building, uses Big, Tiny, Twisted as the last warm up before moving...

Jennine Profeta, instructor of the Drama Teacher Academy course Yes… And How to Teach Improv always uses the game Job Interview in her classes. In this game, one student has more knowledge than the...

Here are some great improv games to work on collaboration skills. Word at a Time StoryStudents sit in a circle. Give them a title for a story. “The Best Birthday Ever.” The story is told one word...

How does your class collaborate in a crisis? To collaborate is to work together as a group to produce something. In this case, each group has to work together to create a list. But it’s not just...

Use this exercise for the first week of class, especially if you have a group of students who don’t know each other very well. The point of the game is to get students to not just talk to each...

The mirror game is a great stand-by in the theatre class. Students are grouped in pairs and face each other. One acts as the leader, moving their arms, legs, head, face, in a slow steady pattern so...

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...

Todd Espeland, instructor of the Drama Teacher Academy course Serious Play: Theatre Games and Warm Ups for Rehearsal and Ensemble Building, includes the game One To Twenty as among his favourite....

“Go, counsellor: Thou and my bosom henceforth shall be twain.” Juliet, Act III, scene v There are more relationships in Romeo and Juliet than just the one between Romeo and Juliet. We have...

Need a quick creative exercise? Have your students analyze titles, write titles, and come up with titles based on descriptions. A title is an important part of an artistic product. It acts as a...