Why are drama games important?
Drama games and activities allow students to have fun whilst growing in confidence and learning valuable theatrical skills. Within the structure of a Drama or English class, drama games can be used to focus students’ attention, facilitate team building, deployed as a tool for developing communication and receptive skills, or simply to foster enjoyment of drama.
Drama games: a resource for teachers
This free resource groups together the most useful drama games for use with Key Stage 3 and above, as suggested by drama teachers. We've included newer games, and old favourites that are popular with students and teachers.
Browse the range of drama exercises below, including warm-ups, games aimed at encouraging team building, improvisation and devising, or activities designed to improve students’ understanding of texts. Each section contains handy, downloadable 'how-to-play' PDFs and links to videos of many of the games in action.*
Games that are more inclusive of any students with movement issues are highlighted, along with those which can be adapted easily to be socially distanced, if needed. We’ve also provided links to three online sources of scripts, which you can browse for inspiration when considering a text to introduce to your students. We hope you enjoy using this resource to help deliver engaging sessions and to develop your students' appreciation of situations and emotions, as well as their understanding of specific texts.
At Trinity, we believe that creating dramatic work in groups is a fundamental part of an actor’s development. This is why the majority of our drama syllabus specifications have pair, group and In Production exams as options.
Developing collaborative communication skills fundamental to group performance work will help to prepare students for their wider lives, further education and employment.
Find out more in our free Guide to Group Assessments
The guide outlines:
Exercises to warm-up or cool-down
Warm-up activities are a great way to energise the group, release any tension and limber up ahead of a lesson or performance.
Games that focus on unity and collaboration
These activities are designed to build community and a sense of trust within the group, supporting the team-work skills of students.
Activities to hone students’ creativity
An excellent way to explore ideas and develop performance skills. With improvisation you never know where the game might lead.
Group collaboration in response to an idea
Games that encourage students to get inventive and deeply consider characters, dilemmas and emotions from a stimulus.
Using drama to make texts relatable
Exercises to further develop understanding and interpretation of a text, including character and dramatic tension.
Text suggestions for teachers
From Trinity’s free online Anthology to the National Theatre’s Connections plays, check out the our top three resources for text suggestions.
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