By Kat Smith, Stephanie Dinshaw and Catherine Soby

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Foundation Stage
Use language to imagine and recreate roles and experiences
Year 1
Explore familiar themes and characters through improvisation and roleplay
Act out their own and well-known stories, using voices for characters
Discuss why they like a performance
Year 2
Adopt appropriate roles in small or large groups and consider alternative courses of action
Present part of traditional stories, their own stories or work drawn from different parts of the curriculum for members of their own class
Consider how mood and atmosphere are created in live or recorded performance
Year 3
Present events and characters through dialogue to engage the interest of an audience
Use some drama strategies to explore stories or issues
Identify and discuss qualities of others’ performances, including gesture, action and costume
Year 4
Create roles showing how behaviour can be interpreted from different viewpoints
Develop scripts based on improvisation
Comment constructively on plays and performances, discussing effects and how they are achieved
Year 5
Reflect on how working in role helps to explore complex issues
Perform a scripted scene making use of dramatic conventions
Use and recognise the impact of theatrical effects in drama
Year 6
Improvise using a range of drama strategies and conventions to explore themes such as hopes, fears and desires
Consider the overall impact of a live or recorded performance, identifying dramatic ways of conveying characters’ ideas and building tension
Devise a performance considering how to adapt the performance for a specific audience
(Referenced from http://www.dramaresource.com/teaching/primary-dramalessons/primary-literacy-framework )
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The following are drama games that I have tried and tested over the years and have experienced in a variety of workshops. Drama games fall into two categories for the most part – high energy and low energy. I have split the following into these two types and added hints that others are ones teachers enjoy such as the “Yay! Now they’re quiet!” games and the “at least they’re not next to their friends now” games! Most are circle games because they are about working together. You do need space to do these games, though the classroom may be big enough for the low energy games. Don’t forget
– you can go outside!!
Obviously drama games are great for if you’re doing drama or if you’re doing PE sessions, and in the Early Years they can be a great way to break up a session or to do just before or after a break time. Don’t forget you can use drama sessions whenever – to break up the time, to inject some activity in the classroom, to get children working together or listening, anything. And if there are ways to adapt the games for topics
I’ve included this also.
I think it comes down to personal judgement what age of children you play these games with – I think young children can play a lot of them, but perhaps the quicker games where its all about reaction should be thought of for age 6+. At the end of the day though, you’ll know the children so it’s up to you if you think they’ll enjoy it!
High Energy Games
These games are good for when you need to inject fun into a session and get some movement going and some voice work. The games are decided to great excitement, maybe nerves and adrenalin and a lot of them involve competition – don’t do these if you’re trying to calm children down!
Zip Zap Boing
Everyone stands in a circle. There are different movements for the game – zip can be passed left to right, zap is passed across the circle and boing repels the movement and sends it back in the other direction or back across where it came from. You cannot boing twice in a row or boing a boing!! The arm movements are meant to be really big and you should say it as loudly as you can. For zip and zap move both arms pointing the direction they’re going and for boing, act like a big wibbly jelly like something has just bounced off you. Very fun, especially if you try and do it as fast as possible! If anyone messes up, the game starts again from them.
Stop, Walk, Jump (Traffic Lights)
This is one many will have experienced. You get the children to find a space first. The commands are as follows: Stop, walk, jump (on the spot), which you should demonstrate.
Start with walk and then give the commands however you want, as quickly as you want.
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This can also be done with traffic light colours for each command instead. To mix it up, keep the same commands but mix up the movements, e.g., jump – stop, stop – walk, walk
– jump. Obviously this can get very confusing, so maybe use this with older children unless you’re really trying to test them!
Fruit Salad (good for mixing the children up!)
Children can stand, sit or sit on chairs in a circle for this game. Go around and label the children a banana, apple or peach. When you shout on of the fruit names, any children labelled that have to get up, run right round the circle and find a new space to stand in
– not their original one. You can yell two fruits of a time if you really like chaos, or even three! The good thing about this game is not just that it mixes the children up, but that it works for any age. You can also label the children whatever you want depending on your topic, for example names of planets, types of plants, whatever you fancy! And you don’t have to stop at three labels, use as many as you need to mix the class up!
Enlightened Beings
The children stand in a space. Everyone starts out as an amoeba. There is no set action for being an amoeba – normally waving arms around and mumbling “amoeba” over and over. Amoeba’s move around the space and when they find another amoeba, they stop, count to 3 and play “rock, paper, scissors”. Whoever wins then evolves into the next agreed animal – this can whatever you choose. With young children, maybe keep it simple: Amoeba – mouse – cat – dog. For older children they could agree collectively, or again you could link to a topic – the obvious one is life cycles or food chains. The last evolution is onto an “enlightened being”, which involves sitting cross legged on the floor with your eyes closed and humming. Once as many people as is possible have become enlightened the game is over – there may still be some un-evolved amoebas or other creatures walking around the space.
Wizard, giant, dwarf
Definite EYFS/KS1 game. Split the class in to two teams, one at either side of the room – their “home” (ideal to be in the hall or outside for this!). Between them, the teams have to decide if they’re going to be wizards, giants or dwarfs. Once both teams are decided, they form a line and walk up to the imaginary middle line. The teacher counts to 3 and the children morph into their chosen characters. Dwarfs get on their knees and hold little hammers, wizards stand with their wands ready to attack, and giants stand on their tiptoes and try to look at big as possible. Its like “rock, paper, scissors” – one character beats another. Wizard beats giant, giant beats dwarf and dwarf beats wizard (he can bite at his ankles – don’t doubt him!). Whichever team beats the other has to chase the opposite team back to their home, trying to catch them before they get there. Any who are caught have to join the other team. The game repeats until one team has captured all of the other team or until the teacher thinks it’s getting out of hand!
Tin can pulse
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Class in two teams, sat in rows facing each other, holding hands in their rows. At one end of the row is an object – anything you want it be but it has to be ideal to be quickly grabbed, so nothing breakable. At the other end the teacher sits with a coin. The two people at the end with the teacher look at the teacher as they have to watch the coin.
Everyone else has to sit facing the object at the end of the line. The idea is that the teacher flips the coin – if its heads, the two captains send a squeeze along the line by squeezing the persons hand until it reaches the end of the line – the last person has to grab the object before the other team. If they do, they all move up the line one place, so there is a new captain. When a team are all sat in their original order, they win they game.
Grandma’s keys
Can be played in a circle or with everyone at one end of a room and grandma at the other. Someone is chosen to be grandma and they have a set of keys (or any object that makes an obvious noise) which they place at their feet. When they have turned around, the rest of the group tries to sneak up on them and steal the keys – they have to get them back to their base to win. Grandma can turn around at any point – if she catches anyone moving, that person is sent back to the start and if she guesses correctly whoever is holding the keys, everyone has to go back to the start. It is a game of stealth and works best if you work as a team – but let the children work out their own strategies and beware of cheaters in this game!
Zombie/chair game
This game has many names and versions. Everyone has a chair in a space. One person is then nominated to come up the front and be the zombie – zombies can only walk slowly and clumsily – this character can be adapted as necessary! The zombie has to get to the empty seat, but to stop him, someone else can sit in it – but then their seat is empty!
The group has to work together to make sure the zombie doesn’t get to sit down.
These games are good for encouraging focus and concentration – they are often team games but some can be competitive or strategic.
Name Games/ball games
There are a thousand different names games you can use, so here are a couple to give you the simple to the complex. Use them to break the ice, to get children focussing or just to give you a chance to learn some names!
1) Name and action – in a circle. The teacher starts saying their name and doing an action at the same time. The next person repeats their name and action and then adds their own. This continues and builds until the last person has to do everyone’s names and action
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2) Name and ball – in a circle. Everyone puts their hands up to start. The teacher says someone’s name – they put their hand down and say another person’s name.
When someone has said your name, make sure your hand goes down. You have to remember who’s said your name because that’s your cue and whose name you say as well. This gets confusing so it’s good to practice a couple of times.
To really confuse the situation – add a ball! It’s the same starting technique as before but with a ball – you throw it to someone, they then throw it on. You have to remember who threw it you and who you threw it to. Then combine the two!
Start off with the names and after it’s been going for a while, start the ball.
This gets confusing and balls get dropped and rhythms develop. If this is too easy, add another ball, throwing to the same people. This really focuses the
3) children and soon there will be no laughter or noise other than people saying names and the ball being thrown.
Stand up if you...
Very easy game to play with any age. Everyone sits in a circle, with one person standing in the middle – there is no spare chair. The person in the middle has to say something true, as in, “Stand up if you are wearing jeans” – they have to be wearing jeans to say this. Those who are stand up and rush to find another seat, as does the person in the middle – there should then be a new person in the middle. It’s just a quick game that mixes everyone up. BEWARE! Some children can take to telling lies if they become about personal traits and some children can actually share too much, so make sure to create some rules if you are worried about this happening.
Embarrassing story
The children find a space. Ask them to think of their most embarrassing moment, it could be small or big, but it needs to be a story they can share. Then ask them to walk around the room. Give the command to get into pairs – they must now share their story with the other person. Once both stories are shared, tell them that if they think the other person’s story was more embarrassing than theirs, they then adopt it as their story. This repeats, each time getting into a different pair and sharing stories. If any pair share the same story they must stop and put their hands up. The idea is that one or two stories will be the only remaining and will have been chosen as the best by their peers.
This works with other types of stories so if you are sharing an emotion pick that kind of story – happy, sad, exciting, family related – anything. This could link well to a PSHE topic.
Yes No
Get into pairs. They need to label themselves A and B. A must start with some sort of opening scenario given by the teacher, for example “We should go the beach today”. B must answer with “Yes and”, A must reply with “No because” and so on, creating an
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argument between them which they can’t agree on. This game is good for thinking of different ideas and reasons, as well as developing angry emotions! The idea is for the conversation to flow as quickly as possible, with no time to think – you just have to say!
The outcomes and arguments can be pretty hilarious. Probably best for KS2!
BANG!
This is a personal favourite. You all stand in a circle, with one person in the middle – if playing with younger children this should possibly be the teacher. The person in the middle makes their fingers into a gun. They take their time... then point at one person and shout “BANG!” The person being pointed to must duck immediately and the people standing on either side have a “shoot off” – the first one to shoot the other is the winner and the other person is out. This continues on and on until there are only two people left. They then have a back to back shoot off – they walk away from each other, one step at a time. The ringmaster shouts “BANG” and they have to turn quickly – the first one to shoot the other is the winner of the whole game.
This game is good fun and the whole group ends up rooting for one person at the end to win – it gets very tense sometimes and is good clean fun! If not comfortable with the gun scenario, you can change it to another signal that is agreed on by the group.
G’day Bruce
Standing in a circle. The teacher starts, either turning to the left or right. It’s a conversation game, so for the sake of clarity the teacher is person A and the person they turn to is person B.
A: G’day Bruce
B: G’day Bruce
A: (pointing to the person next along in the circle) Say g’day to Bruce, Bruce
Person B then becomes person A and this repeats all the way around the circle.
Australian accents are a must!! If any one gets it wrong, they have to change to calling the person they talk to Sheila. If the same person gets it wrong twice they sit out.
This game can be adapted to other accents and other greetings if you’re doing a topic it can be related to, or changed to the language of you’re school!
Clapping Game
Everyone in a circle, on their hands and knees. Overlap the hands on the right, so that someone else’s hand is in-between your own. The idea is to pass a clap on the floor around the circle, hand to hand – but don’t get fooled and do your own hands in turn, there is someone else’s hand there! To change direction, you clap twice on the floor, to miss a hand you clap three times. Take time at first and then build up once and get faster once you’ve mastered it!
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These are short activities that can be used with contexts that are being explored. For each of the, I will explain in the context of a scenario. They can easily be used in a classroom, probably lending themselves more to PSHE, English and Citizenship topics.
For EYFS they link to CD, PD, PSED and CLL.
Ripple Effect
The ripple effect is looking at the effect an event can have on other people. The easiest way to explain this is if you start from the scenario of a child who has been really naughty at school and are being expelled. Someone takes the role of the child and stands in the middle of the space. You have to imagine that out from them are many ripples of effect – close family, friends, the school, the wider community.
Children then suggest who else might be affected by this child being excluded, for example the mum. Why they are affected is discussed as a group, then that person takes the role of the mum and decides how close they will stand to the child in the centre. The roles of friends, school teachers, the Head teacher, people who may employ him etc can be discussed in turn and take their place in the ripple effect. It is a way to look at how actions and events can affect not just yourself but others too and why we must consider the consequences of our actions.
Tableau
Using whatever source relating to a topic – usually a story or poem, the children are split into groups and are asked to pick a certain number of main points of their source.
This could simply be points in the narrative, or points of emotion, main points for a certain character or whatever you choose to focus on. They then create still images for each of these points to demonstrate what is happening – these can be acted out alongside the poem, or the group could use a caption or part of script for each. There could be a narrator that is outside of the action. This is interesting to do with a story, because different main points will be taken out depending on children’s views of the characters and plot.
Tunnel of Thought
This is good to use when a character in a story has been discussed. You pick a point in the narrative where the character has to make a decision, and discuss what advice you might give to the character – you can either advice them to carry on, or you can suggest something else they might do. For example, using The Jungle Book, Mowgli has to make a decision about whether to stay with the animals or live in the village with the other people. The children could take on the roles of the animals or the villagers, and either ask Mowgli to stay with them or go to the village. Once they have decided who they will be, they line up in two rows facing each other. One person is Mowgli and they walk slowly between the rows – as he passes, the children express their views and tell
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him what they think he should do. “Mowgli” then talks about how it made him feel and what he thinks he will do.
This can also be used to solve dilemmas, such as what you would do if you found a purse with money in it and no name or details inside, or how you would spend your last 10 pounds on the whole earth. It’s a good way to hear lots of people’s opinions and see how they influence your own.
Swimming pool metaphor
In the classroom or whatever space you are using, set up a “swimming pool”. Decide where the entrance will be, mark the edges of the pool with chairs; decide where the changing rooms are etc. Then ask the children to place themselves in the swimming pool depending on how the feel about a certain question – a good one is how they are feeling about starting a new school year of topic – if they are in the entrance, they are looking forward to it, if they are in the deep end they are worried and might be out their depth etc. This will make more sense for older children and they will be able to express themselves using this sort of metaphor. You can use a different setting for the metaphor if you wish!
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I created and used this workshop for my degree, doing it in a Primary School with Year
2 children. It was really fun and worked really well and could definitely be adapted and used with even younger children, or older! Different elements of this work shop could be taken and used for any story – they are simple activities, the workshop overall took about 30 minutes.
Warm-up:
Go on a Bear Hunt – but this time it’s a Lion Hunt! Use the same words as the book, but remember to say Lion! Get the children to all stand in a space, facing you and use call and answer to go on your Hunt. Make sure they use different tones of voice and make the actions big and small, slow and fast as appropriate. The idea is to get them excited and ready for the workshop!
Pictures and words:
Get the children sat on the floor and get out two boards – one with a picture of a mouse, one with a picture of a lion on. Have a selection of words to show the children – big, small, scary, brave, quiet, shy etc. Ask them which word they think describes which picture and put the word where they tell you – this should work out that the words go with the stereotype. If the children have any words they want to suggest, write these under the pictures as well – have spare pieces of card to stick!
The Story:
Tell the story of “The Lion and The Mouse”. I did this in a group of four – one person was the narrator, one the hunter, one the mouse and I was the lion. The narrator read the story and we acted it out – this doesn’t take much and the children could help you to act it out if you wanted to be narrator, just ask who would like to be the character as a new one is introduced and they can do the actions that you read.
Questioning the Lion:
As I was the Lion, I kept up the character and the children got to ask me questions about the story. They were split into three groups, each with a member from my company and they discussed the questions they would ask before I came back to answer them. They then asked me questions about why I was so mean, why it was so important to be the King, etc. This is called teacher-in-role hot seating if you were to play the
Lion as the teacher. You don’t require much, just answer the questions as the Lion – I ruffled my hair up slightly and didn’t sit down, instead I wandered around them, sniffing them occasionally and using big actions and a big voice.
Story Stick:
The narrator has a story stick and she can make you become any part of the story that she wishes – this helps children to explore all elements of the story, the setting as well
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as the characters. The children became the plants and trees of the jungle, they became the lion, the mouse and then other creatures they thought could be in the jungle. They moved around the room as these different things, creating noises and movements that fitted. We got them to use different heights and speeds to really use all of their bodies.
Pictures and Words repeated:
To finish the workshop, we looked again at our pictures. The words had been taken down and we talked about where we had placed each word before – did we still think this was true? Was the mouse really shy? Was the lion really brave? It shows how children’s ideas have changed and they can suggest other words, such as friendly, caring etc. It is a good way to reflect on what the moral of the story is without having to tell them.
Of course, always end by asking the children if they have enjoyed themselves and what part they enjoyed the most!
Workshops don’t have to be the biggest spectacle and they don’t have to take a lot of time. I’ve seen workshops done on several topics, such as Victorian Workhouses and
Evacuees.
Victorian Workhouses
A factory line was set up and the children given a specific job to do on the line or around the factory – they washed metal, polished it, sanded it, dried it, and packaged it. Others swept the floor. The teacher can either be the workhouse boss or a boss within the factory. It is to give children idea of the conditions and responsibilities children their age used to face. At points, they can be yelled at, singled out for doing a bad job and be denied a break when everyone else is told to rest for five minutes – as harsh as you think the children can cope with. I’ve witnessed one where half the children got sacked, including the teacher, and they sat outside the factory, complaining how it wasn’t fair – they started a strike, got others who were still working to support them and they started negotiations to get their jobs back. They had been so sucked into the role play that they had started a trade union without realising and it was a good way to discuss human rights, because they felt really emotion and felt mistreated themselves.
WW2 and Evacuees
Get the children prepared to go on a journey – explain they will be leaving home to go somewhere which is safer. They will live with a new family and will be split up according to who wants to take which child. The children get split between two families – one which is kind, where the children play all day, the other which isn’t so nice, the children sleep on the floor and have to do chores. They can swap over after some time.
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Afterwards, discuss how it would have felt to have done this for real and not being able to go home when you had had enough or really hated it.
 Music
 Poems- good poems to use are those with a central character or a strong theme/issue
 Stories – books with plenty of speech are a good starting point as children can read the dialogue in character.
 Pictures or photographs – good for cross curricular links
 Newspaper Headlines
 Objects/Artefacts
 Quotations
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Role Play links to stories
It’s really important for children of all ages to be able to explore meaning and increase their learning through many forms. Role play is something that children within the Early
Years Foundation Stage and KS1 really do improve their vocabulary, imagination and communication skills through using such creative areas. However, it is up to us as teachers to provide this enabling environment to ensure this can take place. One of the best methods to use is create a link to role play through stories the children explore or themes that you are following across the curriculum. Modelling the language and stories is an important way to start this process so that children have somewhere to start from.
Below are a few stories/themes that us as teachers may explore within the classroom and how you can create a role play area for the children to explore further and improve these skills as highlighted earlier.
After the Storm - by Nick Butterworth
Role Play Area
Make this in to Percy’s Hut including all the accessories such as wheelbarrow, jacket, hat, wellies, animals. After reading the story to the children, they can then make up their own stories or even interpret the story in their own way. The children can really get in to the role of Percy.
The children will develop real sense of character which can therefore lead on to hot seating, where the children once modelled by you can get in to the characters and explore how they feel and respond to certain questions.
Alongside this, they can explore feeling by playing stormy music so that the children can act out a dance to how the music makes them feel thus developing imagination.
Whatever Next- by Jill Murphy
Role Play Area
Adults can read the story and act to model to the children. They can then place a box of resources for the children to act it out themselves using their own interpretation.
Provide vocabulary used in book so the children can comprehend new language.
Turn role play area in to a space station, the children can dress in space suits and create a space ship where they can pretend to be going up in t o space. Providing visual aids such as a countdown, various onomatopoeias and speech bubbles will influence children to explore language and act out how they may be feeling once they arrived on space. This again develops their interaction with others, negotiation and imagination all vital when developing their story writing and communication skills.
Space can be linked in to Physical Education where they can be practicing to walk on the moon, creating large strides/lunges, gymnastics- where they can act out a space journey. This again can be applied to music and then video recorded. The children can use these experiences to write their own stories about their visits to the moon using
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this lesson and use the extended vocabulary that they have used within the role play to make their stories more interesting.
We’re Going on a Bear Hunt- by Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury
Role Play
This is a children’s classic story where role play can really make the story come alive.
Firstly you as the teacher can act out the story with the children in the outdoor area.
A woodland area would be great if accessible. If possible learning the story would be fantastic. You can lead the children through the story by recalling it and pretending to walk through the various terrains the book takes you through. When wading, you encourage the children to make large steps. As a teacher it is best to be as animated as possible to make it as real as possible. I have actually carried this out with children and it is fantastic. The children really get in to character and will act it out on their own accord.
The children can later be split into small groups where they are each given a part to act out, you as the teacher can narrate the story and the groups each act out their own part of the story in sequence. They can decide amongst themselves how they are going to do it which encourages negotiation and teamwork.
The children really develop their descriptive words when acting this story out, they learn how powerful repetition can be.
As for the role play area, this can be set up as a cave where the children can act out the story in their own way, encouraging them to use different descriptive words to the story. You can give them different scenarios for example, pretend that the bear is a good, friendly bear and get someone to act as the bear. Use hot seating to see how the bear might feel about the children being scared of him.
As well as making a large world for the children to play in for example the role play area. Set up a small world play where there are resources such as a dark cave, a bear and small puppets for the children. The children then have to use the resources to develop their imaginative play.
Handa’s Surprise by Eileen Brown
Role Play
This is a fantastic book to use to help children gain an understanding about how other people live in different areas of the world, how their day to day lives are so different from ours. There are so many cross curricular links you can get out of this book when setting up a role play area.
You can set up the role play area in to a fruit stall where they can buy exotic fruits mentioned in the story. This develops their math skills as well as developing their role
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play skills. The children can have baskets that they can fill and then walk along with them on their head.
The children can go to the fruit stall and buy certain fruits for their friends, they can decide why they want to buy the fruit for them and then use their money to buy the fruit.
They can act out their favourite animals and think of reasons as to why they chose to take the fruits from Handa therefore encourages creative thinking.
General Role Play ideas/Resources
You can use a table or a bench for this or even an outdoor shop (market stall)
Resources: Shop counter, money, purses, old food packages (cans, cereal boxes, plastic bottles etc)
Effective Vocabulary: open, closed, list, money, please, thank you, good morning
Writing links: Shopping lists, prices, labels, notices.
Cafe
Resources: Tables/chairs, cutlery, utensils, crockery, menus, trays, apron, chefs hat, pans, price lists, open and closed signs, food (if you use as many real containers as possible this works best, for example an empty ketchup bottle and fill it with red fabric to make it look like sauce)
Effective Vocabulary: Please, thank-you, order, choose, bring, take, how many?, what would you like?, wait, table, menu, next etc
Literacy Links: prices, menus, notices, orders
Vet/Doctors
Resources: Vet/doctor’s bag with instruments such as thermometer, chairs for the waiting room, toys for the pets or dolls for the patients, phones, prescription pads, telephone, carry boxes for animals, signs, scales, leaflets from a local vets, plasters, bleeper, doctors/vets coat.
Effective Vocabulary: names of different pets, waiting, medicine, what is wrong with he/she?, symptoms, thermometer, injection, instructions, bandages,
Literacy links: Files and notes, prescriptions, posters, opening and closing times, speaking and listening, turn taking, phone book, notebook.
A Cave
Resource: Dark fabric to make a cave for the floor and roof, torches, spiders, cobwebs, bats, any animals you may find in a cave, music playing to make it eerie (sounds of the animals)
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Effective Vocabulary: dark, scary, spooky, hang, shadow, wall, feel, what can you hear?, what is that?, senses, look, night, day.
Literacy Links: We’re Going on a Bear Hunt, other spooky stories, light and dark, feelings.
It is always a good idea to visit places like charity shops to build up a variety of resources that can be used for various role play ideas. There are quite often small animals, role play costumes and other toys that would be an ideal resource that just may make your role play area come alive. It is important to be creative when creating your role play area as it is important to make it seem as real as possible. Resources such as cardboard boxes are a great resource that can easily be turned in to vital objects to put in to the area.
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http://www.dramaresource.com/ http://www.creativedrama.com/theatre.htm
http://www.primaryresources.co.uk/pshe/pdfs/dramawarmups.pdf
www.childdrama.com
http://ehlt.flinders.edu.au/education/DLiT/2001/drama/edtheory.htm
House of Games by Chris Johnston
Beginning Drama 4-11 by Joe Winston and Miles Tandy
Pirates and Other Adventures (Role-play in the Early Years) by Jo Boulton
Play Time: A selection of plays by the best-selling author of THE
GRUFFALO by Julia Donaldson
101 Drama Games and Activities by David Farmer
Getting the Buggers Into Drama: A practical guide to teaching by Sue Cowley
100 ideas for teaching drama by Johnnie Young
Drama games for classrooms and workshops by Jessica Swale
Starting Drama Teaching by Mike Fleming
The Little Book of Role Play by Sally Featherstone
Stories by Pat Gains
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Do not forgot to ask your local theatre’s about anything they can help you with and if there are any local companies that come and do work in schools. Often you can borrow costume from local theatres and they are more than happy to do educational tours of theatres for you. Getting practitioners in to work with the children isn’t a cop out – its great to do it yourself and you gain as much confidence as the children by doing it, but if they’ll benefit from something someone else can provide then do it!
And don’t forget – children enjoy going to see drama as much as doing it, so take advantage of any productions that come to theatres near you and go on trips if you can, even if they have nothing to do with your topic – it’s a great treat for the children who might never get to go otherwise!
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