Engaging middle school students in drama activities not only helps improve their acting skills, but also encourages creativity, teamwork, and self-expression. Here are 20 fun and engaging drama activities that you can incorporate into your middle school drama lessons.
1. Improv: Divide students into pairs or small groups, and give them a scenario to act out spontaneously. This helps them think on their feet and hone their improvisation skills.
2. Mime: Students must communicate a story or message to the audience without using any words. This activity develops non-verbal communication skills.
3. Tableau: Groups of students have to create a still image with their bodies that represents a scene or theme.
4. Monologues: Each student has to memorize or create a monologue and perform it in front of the class.
5. Character Interviews: One student acts as a talk show host who interviews another student who is in the role of a character from a play or book.
6. Freeze Frame: When the teacher calls “freeze,” students have to stop moving and hold their positions while the teacher poses questions about their scene.
7. Role Reversal: Assign roles from famous plays or movies, but have students switch characters within the scene to explore different perspectives.
8. Voice Projection Exercise: Students practice projecting their voices across the room without shouting.
9. Emotion Walk: The teacher calls out various emotions, and students must walk around the room expressing that emotion through their body language.
10. Storytelling Circle: Each student adds one line to an ongoing story that is passed around the room.
11. Costume Design: Have students design costumes for characters from existing plays or their own original creations.
12. Script Writing: Have students write short scripts based on prompts given by the teacher.
13. Stage Directions Game: Teach students common stage directions and have them practice by following commands given by the teacher.
14. Two Truths and a Lie: A student shares three facts about a character, two of which are true and one of which is false. The class must guess which is the lie.
15. Movement Exploration: Have students move around the room in different ways (e.g., crawling, rolling, tiptoeing) to explore physicality in acting.
16. Acting With Props: Provide random props for students to create scenes and stories with.
17. Play Review: Show students a recorded performance of a play, then have them write a review, discussing what they liked and didn’t like.
18. Sound Effects: Divide students into groups and provide them with specific sound effects to include in their scene.
19. Puppet Show: Have students create puppets and perform a short puppet show for the class.
20. One-Word Scenes: Students can create an entire scene using just one word as their prompt.
These 20 drama activities will not only keep your middle school students engaged in learning about theater, but also help them develop essential skills they can carry with them throughout their lives.
