WARMUP ACTIVITIES THAT HAVE WORKED FOR ME.
Tim Walton
1) Movement through space – I use this frequently. Students simply move around the room always
looking for a space to move through, and freeze on the command “freeze”. A freeze must be exactly
that – eyes, body, focus fixed. The movement comes from the students actually becoming aware of
space and looking for empty space to move through. Variations include:
a) When students are frozen call out a number from one to three – only that number of students
may be moving at any one time while others remain frozen. If one of the moving students stops,
someone else has to take over. This requires students to use all their senses to sense when
someone has stopped moving, and encourages a sense of team play.
b) While moving watch how someone else moves. The teacher then requires a student to move like
the person they were observing, while the others have to guess who it is.
c) When students are frozen teacher calls out a number and students are to lock themselves into a
group of that number with their arms around each other, anyone not “locked” into a group may be
stolen by another group trying to reach the right number. This is also useful in preparing for a group
activity.
d) Focus on an object, keep focus and move to it and touch it. Focus on another object, hold focus
while moving to it and touching it...... A variation can be to do this but if you catch someone’s eye
shake their hand while both students emit an enthusiastic “aaaahhhh”.
2) In total silence students to arrange themselves in a line according to a) height b) month of
birthday c) foot size or what have you. Give them a deadline e.g. 25 seconds
3) In a circle introduce yourself to your neighbour, then vice versa. Then present your neighbour to
the group e.g. name, age plus two other details.
4) Ball game. Form a circle, call a person’s name then throw the ball to them. That person then calls
someone else’s name (who has not yet received the ball) and throws to them until it has been right
around. Hold up your hand once you have received the ball. When it has been right around repeat in
the same order. Try doing it with the students moving freely around the classroom. Variation – call a
sport instead of someone’s name when throwing it to them. Try using two different balls and moving
around with the two variations running concurrently.
5) Shake right hand while counting 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8. Shake left hand with same count, then right foot,
then left foot. Repeat same sequence this time counting from 1 to 7, then 1 to 6 until and finish on
one alone.
6) Face a partner, hands held at waist height, one person’s hands on top, the other person’s
underneath. Move around in that position to a drumbeat, when the drum stops the person
underneath has to bring their hands around and slap down onto the top person’s hands – before the
top person can pull them away.
7) Class to move around in a circle. Move as close as possible to the person in front but absolutely no
physical contact. Freeze on “freeze”, change direction on “change”.
8) Banana chant - form a circle. Teacher says , “Bananas of the world unite”. Students raise arms
straight above their heads, like a banana. Whole class then speaks the words and does the following
movements:
“And peel bananas, peel peel bananas, peel bananas, peel,peel bananas “ (bring arms repeatedly to
sides and back up again)
“And chop bananas, chop chop bananas,, chop bananas chop, chop, bananas” (chopping/slicing
motion with hands vertical)
“And mash bananas, mash mash bananas, mash bananas, mash mash bananas” (move feet as
though mashing/treading
“And smooth bananas, smooth smooth bananas, smooth bananas, smooth smooth bananas” (long
sweeping motion with hands horizontal
“And eat bananas, eat eat bananas, eat bananas, eat eat bananas” (chewing motion of mouth with
tongue pushing into cheeks)
“And go bananas, go go bananas, go bananas, go go bananas” (shake whole body, limbs, go mad)
9) Form groups. Teacher calls out an item and the groups have five seconds to form that shape then
freeze. This works well with no talking. Shape ideas – numbers, letters, Sydney harbour bridge, a
comfortable armchair, cup and saucer, fish on a line, surfer, letters....... Teacher chooses the best
group each time.
10) Levels – chair, floor, standing. Give students a title or object and students have to develop a
scene – there must always be someone at each level and students must change their level regularly,
with a valid reason within the scene for the change. I would use this after more physical warm-ups
and later in a class’s development.
11) Captain’s Coming – students obey the following commands “North” (touch North wall) , “South”
(touch South wall), “East”, “West”, “Captain’s Coming” (face teacher, stand to attention and salute),
“Man overboard” (sit facing each other and make rowing motion), “Shark” ( climb, sensibly, onto a
partner’s back), “Climb the ropes”. On each command the last person to complete it is out.
12) Bang – students stand in a circle. The teacher calls a student’s name, that student has to duck
down while the student on each side has to shoot the other student and yell “Bang!” Whoever of the
three gets shot is out.
13) Face partner – A speaks very slowly, mouthing words carefully. B concentrates on A’s mouth so
that they are both saying the same thing at the same time. Then reverse roles.
14) Find a partner. A closes eyes or wears a blindfold, B leads them around, exploring the room.
15) Face partner and stare into each other’s eyes. Stand still but move hands around slowly, A leads
movement and B has to follow keeping hands as close as possible to A’s without actually touching.
At all times the focus is on each other’s eyes. Reverse roles.
16) Hold soft eye contact with partner and move together around the room, keeping one metre
apart.
17) Eye control – find a partner and one is master, command with eye contact e.g. move, pick that
up etc.
18) Charades - * I have attached a list of ideas in appendix B.
19) Noughts and crosses – put out nine chairs or boxes in noughts and crosses layout. Divide class
into two teams. When teacher gives command or uses a certain word one person from each team
must run and touch the wall then sit on a chair with arms crossed (if crosses) or in a circle above
head (if noughts). First to sit down gets the position.
20) Charades/Noughts and crosses combo – my students love this. Class is in two teams, each team
is working on their own charade. Each time a team guesses correctly the team member who was
performing the charade gets to sit on a noughts and crosses chair until either the noughts or crosses
team has won.
21) Face a partner and count “1,2,3, 1,2,3,1,2,3......” , alternating between partners e.g. A says “1”, B
says “2”, A says “3”, B says “1”... Then repeat but this time the words are “1, (hand clap),3, 1,
(handclap), 3,1....”. Repeat but sequence becomes “1, (hand clap), (jump),1.....”. Final sequence
becomes “(nod), (hand clap), (jump).......”
22) Biddi biddi bop – students stand in a circle with teacher in the middle. Teacher moves around
addressing individual students, if teacher says “Biddi biddi bop” the student has to say “bop” before
teacher has finished. If teacher says “bop” the student makes no response. If the student is beaten
they are out. Other variations to introduce (I give students a quick count of five to complete the
appropriate response or they are out):
- “toaster” – student jumps up like a piece of toast while the students an each side join arms to form
the popup toaster surrounding the toast.
- “Charlie’s Angels” – student and one on each side form the classic Charlie’s Angels pose holding up
hands like guns.
- “Girl Guide Biscuit” – student drops to knees, holds out hands and says “Would you like a girl guide
biscuit” in young girl’s voice. Student on each side raise arms above to form a door.
- “Shortland Street” – the student puts both hands out as if to apply a heart defibrillator, all other
students do same and pull hands back while everyone yells “Clear!”
- “Panda” – push cheeks up with fists to make a panda face
- “Washing machine” – student revolves while students on each side link hands around the student
to form a washing machine tub.
23) Twentyone – Students form a circle and stare at floor and have to count to 21 in a group without
anyone interrupting. Only one student can say a number at any time, cannot say two numbers in a
row. Start again if someone interrupts or two students say a number at once.
24) “Yes let’s” – Someone says “Let’s .......(pick an activity e.g. brush our teeth, clap hands, ride a
bike)”. Whole class yells enthusiastically “Yes let’s) and performs action until another student makes
a different suggestion - “Let’s......” and so on.
25) Auditions – Students form a line and individually “perform” in front of teacher. The moment the
action becomes boring or repetitive teacher yells out “next” and next student runs into space and
performs.
26) Zombie – Students are in a circle. One student calls another student’s name then moves towards
him or her in a zombie fashion with arms outstretched. The student whose name was called then
calls another student’s name and does the same. If a student is caught they are out, students must
call the names of students on the other side of the circle (not too close).
27) What are you doing? – Students form a line, one steps in front, performs an action (e.g. brushing
teeth) and the class asks “What are you doing?” The student responds with a reply that is a different
action (e.g. pushing a pram). The next student in line steps out and performs that action (pushing
pram) and when asked “What are you doing” names a new action. The next student steps out and
performs the new action......
28) Raising the dead – the class lie down on their fronts with eyes closed and absolutel y silent.
Teacher quietly taps one student on the shoulder, that student gets up very quietly and taps another
student on shoulder then stands to the side. That student then taps another and so on until there is
only one left. The students then all surround that student without a word and, as silently as possible,
all yell “Boo!” This can be very effective in developing team work.
29) Slide shows – groups of four or five. Explain to students that slide shows are like showing family
photos on a data projector. One student in each group then becomes the projectionist and will
describe a scene/photo e.g. “Oh yes, this is that time when John was little and he was swamped by a
wave”, the others then have five seconds to form the scene and freeze.
30)Hand slap – find a partner and stand facing each other, hands close to body at waist height. A has
hands on top of B’s facing down, B has hands underneath A’s facing up (but hands not quite
touching). Students move around to a drumbeat, when the drumbeat stops B has to bring hands
around on top of A’s and slap downwards on to top of A’s hands. A, of course, has to pull hands out
of the way before B has time to slap them.
31) Hunter/hunted. Class forms a circle and two students are blindfolded in the middle. A piece of
paper is placed on the floor and the two students have to find it. If a student gets close to the edge
of the circle the student in the circle says “boundary”. Whoever of the two students finds the paper
first becomes the hunter and has to catch the other student. Whenever the hunter claps their hands
once, the other student must respond instantly by clapping hands twice.
32) Students stand in random positions around the room (e.g. just use a freeze after moving through
space). Teacher places a piece of paper on the floor close to the centre of the room. The object is for
all the students to be as close as possible to the paper, but no student can move without
“permission”. Teacher gives initial student permission to move to start activity, that student then
claps in the direction of another student to give them permission to move before taking one step
(closer to the paper). The student who received the clap then claps at another student before taking
their own step. And so on until all the students are as close as possible to the paper.
33) Protector and enemy. Each student chooses two people, without telling anyone else who they
have chosen. The firs t person becomes their protector and the second person they chose is their
enemy. The object of the exercise is at all times to keep their protector between them and their
enemy. Juniors love this as a physical warmup.
34) Stick game. This is a great exercise. Each student has a stick (I use broom handles but you can go
into the bush and cut some branches). Students stand in a circle holding their sticks in one hand. If
the teacher says “maui” they move to the left but leave their stick where it is, the object being to
grab the stick of the person on their left in their right hand before it falls over. If a student drops a
stick they are out. If the teacher says “matou” students move to the right (again leaving their stick
upright where it is) , grabbing the person’s stick on the right with their left hand. Variations are to
take a step backwards to make the circle bigger or to turn facing outwards for a couple of calls.
When only two students are left they stand facing each other and have to grab the other’s stick
when the teacher says “tukua”, keep on increasing the gap until there is a winner.
35) Identification – students study their partner’s face for 30 seconds. Partners then go and kneel
behind a curtain, pushing face into the curtain. Partners then have to move along the curtain to
identify their partner’s face. Use this once a class is well settled into the term.
36) Copycat – students stand in a circle in a neutral position (arms by side, feet same distance apart
as shoulders). Count the seventh person around and imitate everything that person does, but it is
every student’s job to try to hold a neutral stance. This works a bit like Chinese whispers.
37) FREEZE TAG:
1. One person moves around in a certain way while the others freeze. Clap to take over.
2. Same but add a sound to the movement.
3. Move and talk (with self e.g shopping list or conversation with imaginary other). This time
shout “Freeze” to take over.
4. Person in middle of a circle goes to someone and starts a conversation. Someone shouts
“Freeze” and can go to existing talker(s) or start a new conversation. Groups cannot be more
than 3.
5. Two people in circle start a scene. Someone says freeze, must go in and tag someone and
take the actor’s exact position , then justify it for a new scene.
38) Eastenders – students to use East End accent. All movements and voice must be enthusiastic and
dramatic. Form a circle.
Pass the word “Oy!” around the circle clockwise gesturing to the person next to them with the left
hand, then pass it around anti-clockwise, gesturing with the right hand.
To reverse the direction shake hands in air and say “Get out of my pub!”, the Oy/gesture then goes
back the other way.
If the student receiving the Oy/gesture says “You’re not my father” the whole class responds with
“Oh yes I am” before the game continues.
If the student receiving the Oy/gesture says “Nice earrings” everyone bends over and shakes their
shoulders while saying “Jingle jangle” before the game continues.
If the student receiving the Oy/gesture says “Ricky I’m moving out” every student has to change
their place in the circle in ten steps while the whole class counts (10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1) before the
game continues.
39) Statues – half the class freeze into a statue/shape. The other students then each select a
student’s statue to study and then stand in front of them and take on that student’s statue. Once
this is done the original student is then free to move and copy another student’s shape. And so on...
39) Status change – give students a scene title or activity and put in groups of 2,3 or 4. Students have
to quickly prepare/improvise a scene in which the status of one character changes and the change is
justified.