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Games, Exercises, & Activities

Quick activities. Real results.

Find low-prep drama exercises that build skills, boost participation, and fit into any class.

Games & Exercises

Getting Bums in Seats: Theatre Marketing Exercises

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...
Games & Exercises

Fun & Games: Human Chess

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...
Games & Exercises

Fun & Games: Create a Drama Board Game

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...
Games & Exercises

Theatre Fun & Games: Ruin a Play...

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...
Games & Exercises

Lines from a Bag

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,...
Games & Exercises

Physical Warm-Up Game: Doodles

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,...
Games & Exercises

Giants, Elves, Wizards, and More

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...
Games & Exercises

Spooky Special Effects Challenge

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...
Games & Exercises

Warm-Up Exercise: Positive Self-Talk

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...
Games & Exercises

Playwriting Exercise: Baby Photo Prompt

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,...
Games & Exercises

One of a Kind: A Getting to Know You Game

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...
Games & Exercises

Choice Board Exercise: Portraying Emotions

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...
Games & Exercises

Scene & Song Analysis Using Emojis

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...
Games & Exercises

Emotional Sound Design & Tableau Group Exercise

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...
Games & Exercises

Costume Challenge: Creative Creation

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...
Games & Exercises

Costume Challenge: One Item, Three Ways

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...
Games & Exercises

Costume Challenge: Rehearsal Blacks, Elevated

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....