Drama Activities For Children

“I am god, and you are the priest. Worship me and I shall grant you a boon.” Is your five year old, by the porch is playing “god” again? Or is it house-house where she/he imitates your catastrophes in the kitchen to perfection or she/he magically becomes you and talks to an imaginary her/him about how she/he should finish her/his veggies. Kids have an amazing way of understanding the surroundings they live in and imitation is an art that is so inherent in them, that they reflect reality in these innocent little games. Every child likes stories, they like weaving them, enacting them and creating that beautiful world of make believe where everything is possible. Drama is a window to that world. It is that wonderful place where for the briefest while, you enter that magical domain called a stage. A stage is where reality is recreated, more like a parallel universe or a topsy-turvy interpretation of an otherwise mundane affair. Let your child experience the magic of drama, and the immense joy one feels on stage. Here are some drama activities that will make the discovery of drama a real fun affair for your child.

Creative Drama Activities For Children

The simplest and the one that comes most naturally to kids, is role-playing. It is that fun filled activity where each child enacts out any person they would want to imitate. You could divide them into pairs and give them a situation like, two cowboys talking, or two astronauts talking. This will teach them how to work together in pairs.
Another simple game that will expand their creativity is improvisation. This is a technique that is practiced by everyone, from great Hollywood actors to humble beginners. This is a more spontaneous activity and will teach kids action-reaction; one of the most pivotal aspects in drama. It mainly involves giving a boundary in the form of a very well defined situation and asking them to come up with an ending. It teaches them how to work without a script and purely based on instinct.
Drama requires uninterrupted speech and action. The best way of helping your child to get rid of Umm and Err is this activity. It is popularly called as the Umm monologue, divide the kids into partners, and ask them to discuss on any topic of their choice like colors, cartoons etc one word at a time. After the discussion, ask them to close their eyes and collect their thoughts, frame proper sentences in their heads about the topic. Then each child is given a minute to talk about the topic. An umm counter is appointed by the class who counts the number of interruptions. This activity helps build confidence and teaches techniques like voice projection and clarity in speech.
The next activity is to improve their movement. It is called dance drama. In this activity, kids are broken into groups of six. Each group is given a collection of props and asked to sit around it. A song is also given to them, they are asked to weave a story that includes the song and uses all the props. This is more like a mini drama production, where the kids take in responsibility on their own to create a show. They also give movements to each other and learn to co-ordinate.
Another very popular activity is mime, in mime the kids are given a situation and asked to enact it out without the use of any words. This activity emphasizes more on expressions and makes them more aware of what can be done with just plain old gestures and facial expressions.
Another popular game is called “mirror images” where kids are divided into pairs and made to stand opposite to each other. Of the two one of them is made the mirror and asked to replicate, every action the other child performs. This is an exercise to improve observation and imitation.

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