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Introducing Theatre Skills to Young Actors

Games to practice the building blocks of acting 

By Grey Pratt, Customer Service Rep, Pioneer Drama Service 

Grey Pratt has been involved in theatre for 16+ years, starting from when they were a small child.  Through the years, their participation has included acting, tech, directing, designing, writing, construction, and much more.  The theatre arts have a special place in Grey’s heart, and they invest themself in any facet they can, which has led to the exciting opportunity of being employed with Pioneer Drama. 

I’ve taught youth theatre camps for years, and even though some of the kids have previous experience, a lot of children are starting from scratch when it comes to learning about theatre.  If you’ll be running your first theatre program this year or if you simply want to incorporate more theatre into your classroom, I’m sure you’re wondering where to start.  How do you go about it?  You want to give the kids enough freedom — but also enough structure — to explore the world of theatre.  Below are eight games I like that help kids develop the building blocks of basic theatre skills such as tuning into their emotions, listening and responding, communicating both verbally and non-verbally, projecting, and working as a team.

Before I go into the exercises I use and why I use them, I first want to iterate how important it is for you to find some help.  This is not a one-person job, believe me!  Ideally, have one adult for every half dozen kids.  If you can’t get adults, there are probably teens who would love to help and learn to lead.  Just make sure that you have some help — the last thing you want is to be drowning in (or drowned out by) kids.

Introducing theatre to kids is fun but challenging.  You’ll find kids who are very shy, some who are very loud, some who won’t stop moving, and some who can’t get along.  It’s important that you allow them to express themselves, but in a constructive way.  Hopefully these exercises will help kids be themselves while learning how to use their body, face, and voice.  Along the way, they’ll hopefully also learn how to be a member of an ensemble.

Feel a Color

This exercise helps kids think about other feelings other than the “big seven” (happy, surprise, bad, afraid, angry, disgust, and sad).  For example, tell your student, “I want you to feel pink.”  Then, show them that “pink” could mean feeling bashful, embarrassed, playful, or even dizzy.  Make them think of other things that a color could mean.  For instance, instead of anger, red could be pressure, exhaustion, or even love.  This exercise helps a child expand their knowledge of emotions that they possess by attributing them to colors they can physically see.

Emotion Bus

This exercise helps establish the golden rule of acting:  for every action there is a reaction.  To start, make two lines of chairs, like seats on a bus, and have an adult be the driver.  Pretend to drive the bus to its next stop.  Then, have one passenger board with an emotion of their choice.  Everyone on the bus must take on that emotion.  The driver repeats this until the bus is full, with everyone on the bus experiencing a new emotion every time someone new boards the bus.  This helps teach kids to react spontaneously, to be aware of their emotions, and to react appropriately.

Story Circle

In this exercise, sit in a circle small enough that all can be heard.  Have a young player start a story with a single sentence, then pass the story to the person on their left.  That person then continues the story with one sentence of their own and passes it on to their left.  This goes on until it comes back around to the first player, who ends the story.  This exercise can help excite the imagination and show that individuals drive the bigger story.  Everyone is important to the story being told, and without them, the story would not be complete.

Pass the Clap (or Snap)

This exercise encourages focus, eye contact, and synchrony with fellow actors.  Again, form a circle and choose a “starter,” who will turn to their left and make eye contact with the actor next to them.  Then they both must clap (or snap) at the same time, effectively “passing” to the next person.  That actor then turns to their left and repeats the exercise.  This continues around the circle, getting faster and faster as connections start to build!  Remember, eye contact is a must and that the clap/snap cannot be passed on if it’s not in sync with the other actor.

Telephone

We all know this game — whisper a message in someone’s ear and have them pass on what they heard to the next person, who passes it on to the next, and so on.  This one’s an oldie but a goodie, helping kids work on enunciation, clear communication, focus, and memorization.

Synonym Telephone

Unlike regular “Telephone,” this exercise is said aloud.  The first person could say to the next the word “apple,” to which the next person might say a related work like “fruit,” and the next could say “food,” and so on.  This exercise helps simulate the train of thought that goes into conversation.

Megaphone

For this exercise, have actors come to the front of the stage while you and your helpers sit in the back of the audience.  Have the children introduce themselves — first whispering, then yelling, and then projecting.  Be sure to show actors what it means to project and show them the difference between projecting and yelling.  This exercise helps them learn to project while releasing pent-up energy by “yelling it out.”

The Knot

This final exercise is a favorite among kids!  Make a circle and have actors put their hands in the middle.  Then, everyone grabs the hand of someone else — anyone else — that is not standing next to them.  Once everyone has a hand to hold, start untangling!  The goal is to get untangled and back into a full circle, but the trick is you cannot let go of each others’ hands.  This will encourage teamwork, listening, and leadership.  Plus, it’s a great way to get out the wiggles!

Using these exercises will help your young actors start understanding the many facets of acting beyond memorizing a character’s lines.  And coming from experience, teaching young actors how to express themselves will impact their lives positively even outside of the world of theatre.