Games with a Purpose

Sometimes, it is helpful to have a quick way to focus a group of kids in a fun and purposeful manner. For those times, I love to use drama games (also called theater games). Here are three of my favorites.

Dr. Know It All
Two or three people sit in chairs facing the audience. These kids are the “Doctor” who knows everything. The doctor answers questions from the audience, but the answer can only be stated one word at a time from each kid in turn. For example, a question might be, “Doctor Know It All, how do you make a sandwich?” The Doctor, which in this scenario is three different kids, then answers by each of the three kids saying just one word at a time,  “First - you - take - a - piece - of - bread…” The kids playing the Doctor have to answer using just one word per person, and they cannot confer before answering. It is a lot of fun.

Two Truths and a Lie
The person who is “it” has to tell three facts about themselves. Two of these facts have to be true. One has to be false. The rest of the group then tries to guess which fact is the lie. Once this is done, another person is selected to be “it,” and the game continues.

Crazy Family Pics
This one involves the entire group. It helps if the director has a camera. (A phone camera is just fine for this.) The entire group is told that they are a strange family who will be having their family picture taken. On the count of 3, the group must strike a pose that represents the family “business.” After the countdown, the group freezes. The leader then quickly snaps the picture with the camera. The leader then lets the group know the new “family business,” and the process begins again. Ideas include, circus workers, fire fighters, thieves, super heroes, baseball players, etc.

Drama games are a lot of fun, but they also serve an educational purpose. They teach the students to be expressive, creative, and confident in their speech and actions. This carries over to other artistic aspects including drama, speech, and music. There are many books available for drama/theater game ideas. Search Amazon for options.