• Role Plays
Role playing games give kids practice in “being”
someone else. There are hundreds of ways to begin—
scenarios to act out, themes to guide the dialogue,
choosing animate or inanimate characters, using verbal
or non-verbal responses. Here is an example of a role
play game children love. Bus Stop: one child sits at the
bus stop and another joins the first. Both have chosen
secret roles and speak to one another in character. All
playing try to guess their identities.
• Improvisation
In the world of drama, improvisation is a form of live
theater in which plot, characters and dialogue of a
scene or story are made up in the moment. The entire
activity is spontaneous. Often the topic is suggested
by an audience member and the actors take it from
there. Each performance is unique. Improv can be a bit
intimidating for those new to it, but improv games can
take the fear out of the process through exposure and a
“no fail” attitude.
In improvisation games for kids, the leader selects
players, and they draw a topic or scenario from a
basket. There is no right or wrong, just responses.
Skills will improve with opportunities to take part
in the game. Children will become more and more
comfortable with quick responses and actions.
Improv is often funny because of the surprising
responses.
• Pantomime
Pantomime exercises are non-verbal responses to
prompts. They make for great drama guessing games
and practice in thinking creatively. If the prompt
is office work, the player must think of a way to
portray that, possibly by typing on a virtual keyboard
or making copies at a virtual copy machine. If the
topic is jungle, the actor might act like a monkey.
There are literally hundreds of theater and drama
games. Check the resources below to find the right
ones for your children.
Try Puppet Theater
Sock puppets, paper puppets, wooden spoon
puppets, paper bag puppets—kids love to make and
use puppets to tell their stories. Turn over a table and
crouch behind it or cut out the back of a cardboard
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box and you have a puppet theater. Write your own
script from a favorite fairy tale, folk tale, myth or
legend. Or write a script using family members as the
characters.
Puppet theater extensions make a great response to
a story book that is the current favorite. Children also
enjoy writing the exploits of their favorite superhero.
The choices are endless as long as you see the
opportunity to guide your children toward a hands-on
response to something they know, love and are excited
about.
Skits
You’ll remember skits from summer camp days. Skits
are short dramatic responses to some topic or scenario.
Write your own or purchase skits from one of the
resources below.
Retelling Stories
If you’ve read my book, Homegrown Readers , you’ll
know that retelling stories is one of the best ways
to increase reading comprehension. The process of
remembering the beginning, middle and end of a story,
mentioning details about the characters and setting