Games, Exercises, & Activities

Something teachers notice frequently when working with middle school students is that when the students are performing a two-person scene onstage, they tend to turn their bodies directly towards...

What is the difference between marketing and advertising? Marketing is the process of identifying potential customers and getting them interested in your product or service — in this case, the show...

In Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (or Sorcerer’s Stone, for our American friends), one of the exciting and challenging tests for Harry, Ron, and Hermione was to play a game of wizard’s...

In this activity, students will demonstrate their knowledge of a selected play or musical and combine it with their creative and artistic skills to make their own theatrical board game. They’ll...

Take this article’s title with a grain of salt — we would never want to intentionally ruin any play or musical! We’re just going to have a little fun with show titles by adding, removing, and...

This rehearsal exercise takes its name from one of my favourite improv games, Scenes from a Bag. If your actors are feeling a bit shaky or uncertain with their lines during the rehearsal process,...

The following is a quick, simple warm-up game that works for virtually any age range and skill level. All you’ll need is a stack of Post-it notes or a pile of scrap paper, some writing implements,...

Giants, Elves, Wizards is a classic game used in drama classes, sports, Scouts, and more. It’s basically a life-sized version of Rock, Paper, Scissors (or “Roshambo” in some areas) with a chasing...

Live special effects are exciting! They create memorable moments onstage that audience members will talk about long afterwards. But how is this theatre magic created? What elements go into bringing...

It’s easy for students to downplay their accomplishments, brush off compliments, and outright tear themselves down mentally or verbally. Negative self-talk can seriously affect students’ confidence...

In this article you’ll find instructions for a playwriting choice board exercise. For this exercise, students should bring in a photo of them as a baby or toddler. It needs to be a physical copy,...

Many getting to know you games consist of students sharing interesting facts about themselves and their personalities. In this game, students will discover things they have in common with their...

Here’s a choice board exercise that’s all about emotions. You can use this list for students to complete single tasks (just have students select one assignment out of the many advertised below), or...

If you have a smartphone, it’s a guarantee that you’ve used emojis. Emojis are more than cute graphics on your phone — they’ve evolved into a unique visual language. While emojis themselves are a...

This group exercise has layers. It combines planning, teamwork, performance skills, and introductory sound design. Students will create three tableau scenes to tell stories that evoke various...

This costume challenge builds on the costume design skills that students practiced in two recent blog posts: Rehearsal Blacks, Elevated and One Item, Three Ways. Students will work in pairs to...

In our last post, we challenged students to create elevated costume looks using only black clothing and accessories. This time, we’ll have one costume item and challenge students to style it...

If you’re working on a show with a tiny budget, one way many drama teachers have saved funds is by having student actors wear “rehearsal blacks” onstage — plain black pants and long-sleeve shirts....