Acting Fun

Today I’m going to let you in on a fun activity to try with your children. This will be especially fun for those families with a drama king/queen, but more reserved children will benefit from the practice. The name of the book is On Stage: Theater Games and Activities for Kids by Lisa Bany-Winters, and it is full of real improv projects to teach drama skills. They not only help with acting, but self-confidence and quick thinking.

Here are a few examples to give you an idea of the fun your family could be having.

• Play the Talking Ball Game—Players sit in a circle with a ball. One player begins a story and tosses the ball to another player who then continues the story line where the first player left off. This continues until the story comes to an end. Only the person holding the ball may talk.
• Divide into groups. Each group comes up with three unrelated words and gives them to another group who then has to use those things in a scene they create.
• Choose one member of your group/family to be the “photographer.” The rest will be the family members in the photo. The photographer calls out a kind of family like “the sleepy family.” Everyone then poses as that sort of family would. The family must be ready to change position and expression as the photographer changes family types.
• Play the Dubbing Game. Choose two players to be actors and two to be their voices. The actors begin acting out a scene, but they only move their mouths as if they are speaking. The other two must provide the voices based on what they believe the actors are doing.

These are just a few of the 100+ activities detailed in the book. Give it a try—but be sure to have your video camera handy. You won’t want to miss recording the fun!