Drama for when you're short on space

When you’ve got an empty hall and plenty of space to move around, ideas for a drama lesson are endless. But what happens when you want to introduce drama activities into your normal class time?

This was a question that came up in discussion during our last CPD event in the autumn. As a group we shared our thoughts and ideas for getting creative when you’re in amongst desks and chairs. And here are some of our creative teams’ top tips: 

Speaking Activities 

The physicality of characters is super important to how we understand them. Body language is as much a form of communication and words. But that doesn’t mean words aren’t useful in drama! 

• The translation game

  In pairs, take a section of Shakespearian text or a play using archaic language and translate it into modern text. Practice delivering this dialogue with your partner. How many different ways can you find of expressing the same point? 

• Alien interview

  In groups of three, assign one person to be the interviewer, one to be the alien expert and one to be the translator. Decide what topic the alien is an expert on - this could be something your class is studying such as the Victorians or it could be total make believe like the alien’s home planet. The interviewer asks the alien expert questions on their topic and how they became an expert in this field. The alien responds in their alien language which the translator translates into English. 

• Exploring intention

  In pairs, pick a phrase - this could either be something very ordinary like ‘it’s my turn’ or it could be a line from a book or play you’re working on - take it in turns to give your partner an ‘intention’ and have them deliver the line back to you with that intention. If you’re using a line from a book, decide which intention was the most suitable, and why? For example, try to say the line:

  • With anger

  • With joy 

  • To tease

  • To surprise 

In Front of the Class

For these activities just one child at a time is up and active whilst the rest of the class watch and join in with the guessing.

• Charades (because you can’t beat a classic!)

  Take a few key moments of the story you’re working on, write them on pieces of paper, and place them into a hat or bowl. Ask children to take turns coming to the front and acting out the moment - in silence - on their piece of paper. Can the rest of the class decide which moment from the story their peer is demonstrating?

• Adjective blast

  Ask one child to come to the front and put a minute on the clock. During their minute they pick the name of a character from a story you’ve been working on and use only adjectives to describe that character for everyone to guess. Who can accurately describe the most characters in one minute? 

• Statue and sculpture

  Ask two children to come to the front, one to be the clay and one to be the sculptor. Whisper a character or a specific moment from a story to the sculptor, then ask them to transform their clay person into a statue representing that moment. Can everyone tell what moment from the story they have made? 

All at the Desk

These activities are ways to bring in some drama into the room with all children still sitting at their desks. 

• Active Storytelling

  As a class decide on one action or gesture that is appropriate for each of the key characters in your story. For example, Max in Where the Wild Things Are might cross his arms and pull a grumpy face, or Mrs Trunchbull from Matilda might wag her finger angrily. As you retell your story, every time that character’s name comes up everyone in the class should do the gesture associated with the character. You may want to add in gestures for key moments or repeated phrases in a story too, such as ‘that’s me!’ from Stick Man. 

• Fingerplays and Poems

  Itsy Bitsy Spider and other such nursery rhymes are great examples of fingerplays - poems or short stories that have a sequence of gestures to accompany them. For young learners this is a great way of introducing new language and helping children to remember words and rhymes. However, it can be equally valuable for older children. Try giving the class a passage of text or poetry, for example the Witches’ opening lines in Macbeth. As a class (or split into groups) decide on gestures that would fit with each line. Can you perform the gestures while the whole speech or poem is read aloud? How about if there’s no words and you just use the gestures to communicate the speech? 

  This could also be a good opportunity to introduce some sign language into your classroom!

Of course there are plenty of other drama related activities that can be done in the classroom:

• Costume design

• Mask making

• Puppets

• Script writing

• Set design 

It may be trickier to introduce drama when you are short on space but hopefully these activities give you some ideas for creative warm ups or 15 minute activities that can enhance a normal desk-driven lesson.

If you’d like some more ideas for drama activities perfect for the primary classroom, take a look at our blog series ‘A Guide to Teaching Drama’ that provides a step by step guide for getting started!

-Katie