over 100 drama activities - games and plays for children - aged 3 to 8

8/8/2019 Over 100 Drama Activities - Games and Plays for Children - Aged 3 to 8

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/over-100-drama-activities-games-and-plays-for-children-aged-3-to-8 1/57

Warm Up Games

Name: Magic Rocks.

Age: 3 years+.

Minimum number of participants: 2+

Resources needed: Clear space, Wand (optional)

Procedure: This is an enjoyable warm up game but it also stimulates thechildren’s imagination and creativity. Get each child to find a space. They must make sure that they are not touching anyone. The children crouchdown on the floor and make a ball shape with their bodies. The teacher

explains that all children are magic rocks and the teacher is a magic wizard. When the teacher waves the magic wand and says “magic rocksturn into dinosaurs, then all the children turn into dinosaurs and movearound the room as dinosaurs. When the teacher says magic rocks turninto magic rocks all the children get back on the floor in their spaces asquick as possible. The wizard can change the magic rocks into anything they want superheroes, animals, people, household items, etc..,

Variation: The children can take it turns to be the magic wizard.

Name: Octopus.

Age: 4 years +.

Minimum number of participants: 3+.

Resources needed: Clear space.

Procedure: This warm up game can also be used to work on co-

operation and teamwork skills. One child is chosen or volunteers to bethe octopus and stands in the middle of the space and the rest of thechildren line up along one side of the space. When the octopus shoutsout “octopus” the other children all run past the octopus to the otherside. The objective of the game is to not get caught by the octopus.

Those that are caught become part of the Octopus’s arms. As the gameprogresses the octopus arms becomes longer and longer. The gamebecomes more difficult as more and more children become part of theoctopus’s arms. Only the people at either end of the octopus can catch

the free children. They are not allowed to let go each other’s hands. Thegame finishes when all the children are caught.



2

Name: Crossing The Circle.

Age: 5 years+.


Resources: Clear space. Procedure: This game can be difficult at firstbut it an excellent way to get the children to use their imagination andcreativity. All the children stand in a circle and are numbered 1, 2, and 3.

The teacher calls out a number and everyone in the circle who has beengiven that number must cross the circle and swap places with someone

who has the same number. Once they have got use to crossing the circlethe teacher calls out a number and a way of moving such as walking,running, hopping, crawling, twirling, dancing, slow motion, zig zag, etc..,

Variation: A variation of this activity can be used for older children. Thechildren can cross the circle in role. The teacher calls out a number and acharacter such as a ballerina, an artist, a lion, a model, an astronaut, aduck, some one’s who’s stuck in mud, a toddler who has just begun to

walk, someone walking on hot sand, some one splashing in puddles.

Name: What’s The Time Mr Wolf?

Age: 3 years +.Required number: 4+.

Requirements: Clear space.

Procedure: This is a popular traditional children’s game however it canbe used very effectively in a Drama session as a warm up game. This gamealso helps children with their listening and co-ordination skills. One childis chosen or volunteers to be Mr. or Ms. Wolf and stands at one side of the space with his/her back to the other children who are standing at the

opposite end of the space. Then the rest of the children shout out,"What’s the time Mr. /Ms. Wolf?” Mr. /Ms. Wolf does not turn around.He/she replies in a rough wolf like voice, "four o'clock," The children

walk forward the number of steps the wolf calls out (in this case, four)and call again, "What time is it, Mr. Wolf?" The wolf replies "five o'clock."

The children take five steps forward. They continue to ask the questionand taking the appropriate amounts of steps. Eventually when the wolf thinks that the children are near him he/she will say "Dinnertime!" andthen wolf turns around and chases the other children. The children rushback to their starting place, and if Mr. Wolf catches one of them beforethey reach home, that child is the wolf next time



3

Name: Pppppppopcorn.

Age: 4 years+.


Resources needed: Clear Space.

Procedure: Everybody is in a circle. The children crouch down on thefloor. They jump into the air and say pop or make a pooping sound. Thissounds like popcorn popping. If two children jump up and clap at thesame time, they are out of the game.

Name: The Name Game.

Age: 3 years+.


Resources needed: Clear space

Procedure: This is an excellent way for children to get to know eachother’s names. All the children stand in a circle. The teacher has a smallball in his/her hand. The teacher will ask one child to say their name, andthen the teacher will throw the ball gently to that child. The child will

reply “Thank you, (the teacher’s name)!” The teacher will reply by saying,“You’re welcome, and (the individual’s name)!” The ball will continue tobe thrown gently around the circle making sure everyone has received theball, until the ball once again ends up in the hands of the teacher. Once achild has tossed the ball they must put their hands behind their back tostop the ball been thrown to them again

Name: Crocodile, Crocodile May We Cross The River.

Age: 4 years+.

Required number of participants: 3+.


Procedure: This another popular and traditional game that works very well as a drama warm up activity. The centre of the space is the river andon either side of the river is the river bank. Masking tape or chairs can beused to make the demarcation. One child is chosen or volunteers to be

the crocodile. The crocodile stands in the middle of the river and the restof the children stand on the bank of the river. The children on the bank all chant together “Please, Mr. Crocodile may we cross your goldenriver?". The crocodile replies with a condition - "Yes if you have black hair," or perhaps "Yes if you have a brother," or "Yes if you are wearing



4

red. Children who fulfill the condition may cross unchallenged. The resthave to try to get across without being caught, if they are caught they areout. The game continues until there are no more children left to catch.

The last child caught becomes the crocodile.

Name: Sharks And Islands.

Age: 4+.


Resources needed: Clear space, newspaper.

Procedure: This is a very popular warm up game. It helps children with

both their co-ordination and reaction skills. Place the sheets of newspapers around the space. The newspapers are islands and the rest of the space is the water. The teacher is the shark and the children areswimmers. The swimmers swim around the space, when the teachershouts out "SHARK ATTACK" the swimmers must get onto an island.

The objective is for the shark to catch swimmers who are not completely on an island. Even if there toe is off the island they become sharks. Aftereach shark attack, the sharks will tear a piece of the newspaper off so theislands gradually become smaller. This continues until all the swimmers

have become sharks.

Name: Red Rover.

Age: 4 years+



Procedure: Procedure: In this game, the class is divided into two groups.Each group hold hands and forms a line facing each other. One side startsby picking a person on the opposing team and saying "Red Rover, RedRover, send A over" A then lets go of his teammates and run towards theother line. His aim is to break through the other line. If A breaks through,he chooses one person for the opposing team to join his team, and they both go back and join in their line. If he fails to break through, Abecomes part of the other team. Each team alternates calling people overuntil one team has all the people and is declared the winner.



5

Name: Prison Break.

Age: 4 years +



Procedure: This is a warm up game that children really enjoy. Children allline up on one side of the space. One student is chosen or volunteers tobe the guard on duty and stands in the centre of the room. The rest of thestudents are prisoners. When the guard shouts out “prison break” all theprisoners must run to the other side of the space. If the guard catches astudent they also become guard. Eventually there will be more guardsthen prisoners. The last prisoner becomes the first guard on duty for the

next game.



6

Co-operative Games

Name: Counting Game.

Age: 5 years+.



Procedure: The group sits in a circle. Get the children to count from oneto ten together. Then children have to count to ten individually, one childsaying one number at a time. One child volunteers to start counting. Any of the children can say the next number however the count stops if twoor more children speak at the same time. The children have to restart thecount. If everyone works together as a team the group can reach ten very quickly. Older children can try this game by counting in reverse from tento one.

Name: Master and Robots.

Age: 5 years+.



Procedure: Divide the group into pairs. Child A is the master and child Bis the robot. The master must guide the robot around the space by giving them very specific directions. The robots can say things “go ten stepsforwards’ or ‘put your hands in the air and turn around five times. They must make sure that they do not bump into other masters and robots inthe group.

Name: Machines.

Age: 5 years+



Procedure: Divide the class into groups of 4. The teacher calls out the

name of a machine. The groups use their bodies to make the machines.Each child is a different part of the machine. Some examples of machinesare washing machine, popcorn maker, computer photocopier, toaster,



7

airplane, coffee maker, train. The teacher can ask the children formachines they would like to make.

Name: Alien, Cow and Tiger. Age: 5 years+



Procedure: The teacher shows the children the following actions:

An alien: The children hold both middle fingers up next to their headsand say `Nanu Nanu`.

A cow: The children bend forward, hold your right hand on their stomachand say `Moooo`

A tiger: The children push your right hand forward, imitating a claw androar.

When the teacher counts to three, each child must choose to be an alien, acow or a tiger. The objective of the game is for everyone to do the sameaction. This will not happen at first but if they work as team they should

manage to be in sync with one another.

Name: Caterpillar

Age: 4 years +.



Procedure: The children lie on their stomachs, side to side, with theirarms straight out in front. The child on the end begins to roll over the topof the row of bodies until he or she gets to the end. Each child gets anopportunity to be at the end.

Name: Balloons.

Age: 5 years +.


Resources needed: Clear space, balloons.

Procedure: Divide the class into groups of four. Each group gets aballoon. They must work together to keep their balloon up in the air. The



8

balloon mustn’t touch the ground. The teacher can make it more difficultfor older children. For example they must keep their hands behind theirback, kneel on the ground or move only by hopping on one leg.

Name: Co-operative Musical Chairs.

Age: 4 years +.


Resources needed: Clear space, chairs, CD player, music.

Procedure: This a version of the classic musical chairs. Everyone sits on

a chair. When the music stops everyone needs to find a chair has been but

one chair has been removed by the teacher. After each round a chair isremoved however no one is eliminated. The children have to work together and cooperate in order to find room for everyone. This may mean sitting on laps and sharing chairs.

Name: Dragon’s Tail.

Age: 7 years +



Procedure: All the children form one long line holding onto to the childin front of them. The child in the front becomes the dragon head. Thechild in the rear is the dragon tail. The "head" is to try to catch the "tail".

All of the other children are the "body", are compelled to work together with both ends and both the goal of the head and the tail at that sametime. The main objective throughout is to keep the dragon intact with no

children letting go.

Name: Crows And Cranes.

Age: 5 years +.



Procedure: Divide the children into two groups. One group is calledcrows and the other the cranes. When the teacher shouts out crows all thecrows have to chase the cranes. If a crane gets caught they become a



9

crow. When the teacher shouts out cranes all the cranes must catch thecrows.

Name: Knots. Age: 5 years +



Procedure:: The group make a large circle and all the children walk towards the centre of the circle.. Each child holds hands with two otherpeople across the circle. When everyone is holding hands the teacher

breaks the link between two of the children and the group has to work together to untangle themselves into a straight line.



10

Listening Games

Name: Traffic Lights.

Age: 3 years+.


Resources needed: Clear space, colours of traffic lights – red, amber,green.

Procedure: This is a fun game which young children love. It is also a very good activity to help with both listening and co-ordination skills. Beforethe game begins the teacher shows the children a set of traffic lights or

colours of a set of traffic lights. Ask them what the different coloursmean? Red means stop, amber means prepare to stop and green meansgo. Get the children to imagine they are different forms of transport suchas bikes, cars, lorries, motorbikes, trucks, scooters, skateboards, etc..,.

They move around the room like their chosen mode of transport. Theteacher can either hold up the colour in silence or shout out the colourand the children must do the following

"Green" - Walk/run around the space.

"Amber" – Walk in slow motion."Red" - Stop still - or lie down on the ground!

The teacher calls out the traffic light colours in any order, if the childrendo the wrong action they are out. The last child still left in the game takesover from the teacher and becomes the person who calls out the coloursof the traffic lights in the next round.

Name: Animals, Animals Where Are You?

Age: 5 years+.


Resources needed: Clear space, pictures of various animals.

Procedure: This is an energetic and chaotic game which is very good fordeveloping listening skills. Give each child a picture of animal such as acat, dog, lion, elephant etc.., There must be at least two pictures of eachanimal. The children must move around the space making the sound of

the animal in their picture. They can not tell anyone what animal they are. The objective of this game is for the children to listen carefully to noisesand form a group with the same animals.



11

Name: Reverse The Car.

Age: 3 years+


Resources: Clear space, a toy car.

Procedure: This is a good listening game which is fun and always leadsto a lot of confusion. The children sit/stand in a circle. A toy car is passedaround the circle. The teacher shouts out reverse, the car has to changedirection. When the children are comfortable with the car changing directions a second car can be introduced to the circle and then anyone of the children can shout out reverse.

Name: Everyone Who Has …. Swap Places.

Age: 5 years+


Resources: Clear space, chairs or cushions

Procedure: This game is similar to fruit basket and can also be used as a warm up game as well as a listening game. Everyone sits on a

chair/cushion in a circle. Take one chair/cushion to face out. Choosechild to stand in the middle and take away his/her chair. They (or you)can call: “Everyone swaps who …….. Is wearing a watch, supportsManchester United, who has red hair, who is wearing socks. Who likessweets, who has a nose, etc.., The child in the middle needs to find a seat.

The child left standing goes into the middle. No one can change places with the person sitting next to them. This game encourages the childrento use their imaginations.

Name: Poison Ivy.

Age: 5 years+.


Resources needed: Clear space, blindfold (optional)

Procedure: The teacher chooses one child to be a rescuer and anotherchild to be a person who is lost. Tell the rest of the class to find

somewhere to sit in the space and spread out. The rest of the children arepoison ivy bushes. Their arms are branches which can move in the breeze,but they cannot move from their place. The child who is lost has to closetheir eyes or if they want they can be blindfolded. Tell them it is late atnight and they have wandered into a forest of poison ivy. If they touch a



12

plant, or the plant touches them, they will be poisoned and will die.. Therescuer has to guide the lost child from one end of the poison ivy forestto the other, but they can only use verbal instructions. The objective of the game is for the rescuer guide the lost child from one end of the

forest to the other without being touched by the poison ivy. They mustlisten very carefully to the instructions. If the lost child dies then anotherpair gets a chance to be the lost child and the rescuer.

Name: Broken Telephone.

Age: 5 years+.



Procedure: Everyone sits in a circle. The teacher whispers a word orphrases to one of the children. The child passes on the message to thenext child in the circle. They must make sure that they whisper and noone but the child they are passing the message to can hear them. Thepassing of the message continues around the circle until it reaches the lastchild, who calls out the message he or she received. The message at theend should be the same as the message at the beginning but that usually

doesn’t happen which leads to lots of laughter. The teacher can go aroundthe circle and find out where the telephone was broken.

Name: Pop Up Story Book.

Age: 3 years +.


Resources needed: Clear space, story book.

Procedure: This is an excellent listening game that can be played with any number of children. The teacher chooses a story that the children arefamiliar with to read. Each child is given a word. For example if theteacher was reading goldilocks and the three bears one child a may begiven the word goldilocks, child B; Baby, Child C: Porridge, child D bedetc.., when each child has been given a word the game can begin. All thechildren lie on the floor. When the child hears her word she must jumpup. If they miss their turn they are out and can’t pop up anymore.



13

Name: Opposites.

Age: 4 years +.



Procedure: The children find a space. The teacher explains that whens/he calls out a command the children have to do the opposite. Examplesare stand up, sit down, run to your left, run to your right, walk forwards,and walk backwards. Touch your nose, put your hand on your head, look up, and look down. If some one doesn’t do the opposite then they areout.

Name: Duck, Duck Goose.

Age: 3 years+


Resources: Clear space

Procedure: All the children sit in a circle. One child is chosen to be “it”.He or she walks around the circle tapping each child on the head and

saying “duck, duck, duck,”. When the person who is on says goose thenthe child that is goose jumps up and case the child that is on. The childthat called goose runs around the circle and tries to sit in the goose’splace. If the goose doesn’t catch the leader then the goose is it the nexttime. If the goose does catch the leader then he is out and has to sit in thecentre of the circle.

Name: Simon says.

Age: 3 years +.


Resources needed: Clear space/

Procedure: The teacher is Simon and all the children in the group standin a line. Simon then calls out an action for the children to follow. It canbe anything such as touch your nose with your middle finger, hop on onefoot, clap your hands five times and turn around. However Simon must

say, “Simon says” before the action otherwise the children should remainand not do the action. Simon when giving an action can simply state theaction by it self such as stand on one leg and whoever does it is out andhas to sit down. The last child in the group who is standing can then be"Simon"!



14

Variations: Frosty Says, The Superman Says, The Fairy Says, ThePenguin Says, The Gingerbread Man Says, etc.



15

Observation Games

Name: Colours.

Age: 4 years+.



Procedure: The teacher calls out a colour the students must look for anobject in the space that is the same colour as the colour that was calledout. All the students run to an object of that colour and the last person toget there is out

Name: Queenie Who Has The Ball.

Age: 4 years +.


Resources: Clear space, ball.

Procedure: A child in the group volunteers or is chosen to be the

"Queenie," and that child turns her back to everyone else. The "Queenie"then throws the ball over her shoulder and one of the other childrencatches it. Everyone, except the "Queenie", puts their hands behind theirbacks so that the "Queenie" does not know who has the ball. The"Queenie" then turns around and everyone shouts:

"Queenie, Queenie who's got the ball?

Are they big, or are they small?

Are they fat, or are they thin?

"Queenie, Queenie who's got the ball?

The "Queenie" has to guess who has the ball through a process of elimination. If the person with the ball is the last one to be picked, thatperson becomes the new "Queenie."



16

Name: What’s In The Bag?

Age: 3 years +


Resources: Clear space, small bag, objects

Procedure; The teacher puts an object into a bag. The bag goes aroundthe circle and the children must feel it, smell it, and shake it. Wheneveryone has felt the bag, the teacher will ask each child to guess whatthey think is in the bag. When everyone has guessed the teacher takes theobject out of the bag and shows the children.

Name: Student Swap. Age: 6 years +.



Procedure: Everyone sits in a circle and one child is chosen to be on. The teacher gets the child to go out of sight and change something onhim/her self that is visible (i.e.-put shorts on backwards, change hair,

tie/untie shoes...). When the child is finished, have him/her walk into themiddle of the circle and turn around slowly to give everyone a chance tosee what has been changed. Then go around the circle having each personguess what has been changed. The first person to guess correctly is thenext child to change something about his/her appearance.

Name: Chick, Chick, Chicken.

Age: 3 years +.


Requirements: Clear space, balloon.

Procedure: Show the children a balloon and tell them it is a rotten egg.Get the children to sit in a tight circle with their hands behind their back.One child sits in the centre of the circle and closes his/her eyes. The childin the centre of the circle is the detective. The teacher walks around theroom and put the rotten egg into one of the children’s hands. The

detective opens his/her eyes. The rotten egg should be passed around thecircle without the detective seeing it. The detective has three goes atguessing who has the rotten egg



17

Name: Does A Bear Live In The Woods?

Age: 4 years+.


Resources: Clear space.

Procedure: The teacher explains to the class when they come across abear in the woods they must lie down on the ground and keep very still.One child volunteers to be the bear. The bear goes to one end of thespace and turns his/her back on the rest the class. All the other childrentry to sneak up behind the bear. When the bear turns around all thechildren must lie very still on the ground. If the bear sees you moving hepulls you away to join him. Then there are two bears. Eventually all the

children become bears.

Name: Kitty Wants A Corner.

Age: 4 years +.



Procedure: Get the children to spread out in a circle with one child inthe middle who is the Kitty. Kitty walks up to a child in the circle and says“Kitty wants a corner.” That child then says “Go see a neighbour,” andturns the Kitty away. While this is happening, the children behind Kitty try to swap places in the circle without Kitty seeing them. When thishappens, Kitty runs to one of the free spaces before another child does.If she succeeds, the child left in the middle becomes the new kitty. If they fail, they go up to an another child in the circle and says “Kitty wants acorner”

Name: Magical Memories Tray.

Age: 4 years+.


Resources: Clear space, 10 small objects, cloth

Procedure: The teacher puts ten small objects on a tray. Objects such as

a pen, comb, mobile phone, keys, marker, eraser, ruler can be used. Theteacher lets the children observe the tray for two minutes and then thetray is covered with a cloth. The children must call out the objects that

were on the tray.



18

Name: MIA – Missing In Action.

Age: 4 years +.



Procedure: Divide the class into two groups – Group A and group B

Get group A to look at group B for about 30 seconds. Then group A turntheir back to group B. Two children in Line B change places quickly. Line

A turn around and try to guess which students changed places. Then lineB repeats the process.

Name: Mirrors.

Age: 5 years+



Procedure: Divide the group into pairs. Child A is the mirror and child Bis looking in the mirror.. Child A must carefully copy everything child Bdoes. After a few minutes swap over so that everyone gets a chance to be

the mirror.



19

Communication Games

Name: Beanbag Game.

Age: 4+


Resources: Clear space, beanbag/ball.

Procedure: The children stand in a circle. The teacher starts off the gameby throwing a beanbag or ball to a child in the circle and asking a questionat the same time - such as "What's your name?", "Do you have a pet?","What's your favourite colour?" and so on. The child who catches the

beanbag/ball must answer the question and then throw it on to the nextchild and asks their own question. As the children get use to the game itcan get faster.

Name: Granny’s Knickers.

Age: 5 years +



Procedure: The children sit in a circle. One child sits middle of the circleand everyone in the circle takes it in turns to ask him/her a question e.g.

what did you have for breakfast? The child in the middle is only allowedto answer 'granny’s knickers”' and they must not laugh or smile. If they laugh or smile they have to change places with the child whose questionmade them laugh.

Name: If I Could Be An Animal.

Age: 3 years +.

Minimum number of participants:


Procedure: Each child in the circle takes it turns to say Hi, My name is………, and if I could be any animal, I would be a ……….. because

……… The children should be encouraged to be creative and to come up with unusual animals. They should also be encouraged to comment onand respond to the other children’s choices of animals. At the end theteacher could get the children to im



20

agine they are in the zoo as their chosen animal and people have come to visit them.

Name: The Lion’s Court Age: 5 years +



Procedure: Before starting this game it is a good idea for the teacher toask the children who is the King of the Jungle? The teacher is going toassume the role of a lion who is the king of the jungle. The children can

make a court for the lion with chairs, table or masking tape. Inside thecourt the lion sits on a throne. Each child chooses an animal they wouldlike to act out. The lion tells the other animals he is looking for animals tojoin his court. One by on he calls all the animals to m and ask them why he should he let them join his court. The child must say what type of animal they are and what good qualities they have and how they will beuseful to the Lion the king of the jungle. When they have finished theKing says you may join my court and lets them in. This is why it is a goodidea to designated area in the space that represents the court. Everyone is

invited and then there is an animal parade at the end.

Name: The Alien And The Earthling

Age: 6 years+


Resources: Cards with pictures of everyday objects.

Procedure: Divide the group into pairs. Child A is an alien who has justcome down to earth. He choose a card with a picture of an everday itemon it like a TV, house, a fridge, a truck, etc.., He describes the shape,texture and colour to Child B who is the Earthling. The earthling can ask as many questions as they want about the object but they can’t ask itsname.



21

Name: With Your Friend

Age: 3 years+



Procedure: Divide the groups into pairs. The following should be sang tothe tune of skip to the lou.

With your friend shake their

With your friend shake hand

With your friend shake their hand

Shake their hands my darling.Other verses: turn around, stamp your feet, stand and bend, shake yourhands, nod your head, march in place, etc., (and finish) GIVE A HUG.

Name: Double Glazed Windows.

Age: 6 years +.


Resources needed: Clear space, chair.

Procedure: Divide the group into pairs. Put a chair in between child Aand Child B. The teacher explains that the chair represents a doubleglazed window. They can see each but they can’t see each other. Theteacher gives A a message. A must relay that message to B without making any sound or moving their mouth. When B guesses the message they swap and B mimes a message for A. Some messages that usually work

well are: I love you, will you marry me, I need to use the toilet, I’m tired

and want to sleep, your house is on fire, your dog made a mess in my garden.

Name: One Word Story.

Age: 7 years+



Procedure: Everyone sits in a circle. The teacher starts with a word andthe each child in the circle adds a word to create a story.



22

Concentration Games

Name: I Spy (Colours and Shape)

Age: 4 years +



Procedure: This game is an old favourite. It can also be used to developcreativity and observation skills. The teacher looks around the space andsilently selects an object that can be seen by all the children. He/she says,"I spy with my little eye," and then gives some description of the object,

such as "something blue," "something round" or "something large." Thechildren take turns trying to guess what the object is. The child whocorrectly guesses the selected item picks the next object, or have allchildren take turns in a set order.

Name: Keeper Of The Keys.

Age: 5 years +.


Resources needed: Clear space, keys, blindfold.

Procedure: The teacher chooses one child to sit in middle of circle,blindfolded, with keys placed close to them. The child in the middle is a

wicked queen. All the other children are her prisoners. The queen is blindbut she has special powers. If she hears someone coming towards her shecan point at them and they turn to stone. The teacher selects one of theprisoners to creep up on the queen and try to steal the keys without being

heard. If the queen points at the prisoner, they turn to stone and anotherprisoner is selected by the teacher. They can hide behind the prisoners

who have been turned to stone. If a prisoner is successful in getting thekeys before they are turned to stone then they become the queen.

Name: Master, Master Who Am I?

Age: 4 years +

Minimum number of participants: 3+.Resources needed: Clear space, blindfold.

Procedure: All the children sit in a circle. There is one child who ischosen to be the master. He/she must sit blindfolded in the centre of the



23

circle. The facilitator then points to one of the other children. They enterthe circle and says Master, master, who am I? They must guess the child’sname by listening carefully to his voice. If the master chooses the wrong child another child gets a chance. If he chooses correctly then he swaps

play with the child that entered the circle.

Name: On Monday Morning I Went To The Shop And I Bought….

Age: 4 years +.



Procedure: Every one sits in a circle. The teacher starts by saying, "I went to the market and I bought an apple." The child next to the teacherfollows by saying, "I went to the market and I bought an apple and someeggs." The next child continues by saying, "I went to the market and Ibought an apple, some eggs, and a potato."

The game continues with each child repeating what previous children saidand adding one item to the shopping list. If a child makes a mistake thenthey are out of the game. This continues until there is only one child left

in the game.

Name: Follow The Leader.

Age: 4 years +.



Procedure: All children stand in a circle and then they start walking on

the spot. The facilitator makes a gesture, that the everyone else copies,then the facilitator shouts the name of one of the children in the groupand they must change or add to the action this can continue untileveryone in the circle has had a chance to add or change an action.



24

Name: Grandma’s Glasses

Age: 4 years +


Resources needed: Clear space, glasses

Procedure: One child is chosen to be Grandma. Grandma puts theglasses on her head and faces a wall at one side of the space. The otherchildren in the group must go to the other side of the space and try tocreep up to Grandma and take her glasses. Grandma can turn aroundsuddenly. If she sees, anyone moving that child must start again from thebeginning.

Name: Wink Murder

Age: 4 years +



Procedure: The teacher chooses one child to be the murderer andanother child is assigned the role of the detective. No one knows who the

murderer is except for the murderer and the teacher. Everyone knows which child is the detective. All the other children sit in a circle and mustdie if the murderer obviously winks at them. The detective has tocorrectly identify the murderer. In order to make this game more difficulty the detective has a limited number of guess.

Name: Sleeping Lions/Tigers/ Cows.

Age: 3 years+.

Minimum number of participants: 3 +.


Procedure; All the children are lions (tigers, cows or any animal they want to be). They lie down on the floor, eyes closed, as if they weresleeping. The teacher moves about the room attempting to encourage thelions to move. If they move they help the teacher to get the other lions tomove. They not touch the lions, but may move close to them, tell jokes or

pull faces. After five minutes get the lions who are left to wake up with aloud roar.



25

Name: A, B, C.

Age: 5 years +.

Required number: 2+.


Procedure: Divide the group into pairs. Each child must face theirpartner. They say A, B, C. between themselves several times. Each timeone of them says "A” that child stamps their feet. Then, whenever one of them says "C", they turn around. They do not do an action when either of them says B.

Child 1: "A" (Stamps feet)

Child 2: "B"Child 1: "C" (Turn around)

Child 2: "A" (Stamps feet)

Child 1: "B"

Child 2: "C" (Turn around)

Name: Fruit Basket. Age: 4 years+.


Resources needed: Clear space and a chair for each student if you donot have chairs you can use sheets of paper or cushions.

Procedure: This is a well known game. All the children sit in circle on achair or a cushion. The teacher chooses three different fruits and goesaround the circle giving each person the name of a fruit in order, e.g.apple, orange, banana. A child is chosen or volunteers to be in the centreof the circle. His/Her chair/cushion is taken away. The child in the centrecalls out the name of one of the three fruits. If the child in the centre saysapples then all the apples place, if she says bananas, all the bananas changeplace and if she says change oranges, all the oranges change places. If shesays fruit basket then everyone one changes places at once. The child whois left without a chair goes into the centre for the next.

Variations: There are lots of variations to this game and you can change

then names to go with a specific theme.

Fruit basket – apple, orange, and banana could be replaced by:

Barnyard - chickens, pigs and cows.



26

Zoo – elephants, giraffes, tiger.

Circus – clowns, ringmaster, trapeze.

Ocean – fish, mermaids, sharks.



27

Movement Games

Name: Musical Hugs.

Age: 3 years +


Requirements: Clear space, CD player, lively music.

Procedure: The children dance to lively music, and when the music isstopped, the teacher shouts out a number such as 5 and the children haveto get into to groups of five. If the teacher calls out 3 then the studentshave to get into groups of three. Children hug each other, until the music

is turned back on. They dance again, until the next pause in the music. The teacher calls out another number if there are children left over they are out.

Name: Animal/Object/Emotional Statues.

Age: 3 years +.


Requirements: Clear space, CD player, lively music.

Procedure: Choose some fast music and get the children to dance to themusic and freeze when it stops. The teacher calls out the name of ananimal or object or an emotion that they have to freeze in the shape of the object when the music stops.

Name: Stuck In The Mud.

Age: 4 years +.



Procedure: One of the children is the catcher. All the other children haveto try not to get caught. If they get caught they must stand with their legsapart until someone who hasn’t been caught goes underneath them to freethem. This can be timed. The catcher may only have one minute to try

and catch everyone in the class.



28

Name: Jelly Beans.

Age: 3 years +.



Procedure: The children should begin by walking around the room in any direction. When the teacher shouts the following commands the childrenhave to do the following actions.

Command Action

Jumping Bean: Jump up and down on the spot.

Runner Bean: Run around the room.

Baked Bean: Lie on the floor in a curved shape and freeze.

Jelly Bean: Move around the room wobbling like a jelly.

Chili Bean: Shiver and shake

Frozen Bean Children have to stand to freeze.

Long Bean Children put their two hands in the air and try tomake themselves as long as possible.

Coffee Bean All cough.Full of Beans Dance around really energetically.

French Bean Everyone says “OOH, LA, LA

Name: Cat And Mouse.

Age: 4 years +.

Required number: 10+.Requirements: Clear space.

Procedure: All children are in pairs. One child is cat, one other child ismouse, and all others stay in pairs, arms hooked together. Cat chasesmouse; when mouse is caught then mouse becomes cat and vice versa.However, mouse can escape chase by hooking into any pair of otherplayers. At that point the player at the other end of the pair becomes catand the cat becomes mouse.



29

Name: Magic Box.

Age: 3 years +.



Procedure: This is a fun mime game. Everyone sits in a circle. Ask thestudents can they see the box in the centre of the circle. Ask them whatcolour is it? What shape is it? It can be a different shape and colourdepending on where you are sitting in the circle. This is because it is amagic box. The teacher goes in first and opens the box and takes out anobject. She then mimes the object and the class must get what object it is.

When the students guess what object it is the teacher puts the object in

the box and closes it. Whoever guessed correctly takes a turn at taking something out of the box.

Name: Captain’s Coming.

Age: 4 years +.



Procedure: The teacher can be the captain or one child is chosen to bethe captain. The captain calls out orders to the rest of the children whoare the crew. If a child does not follow an order correctly s/he is out. !

Orders Action

Bow run to the left side of the space

Stern run to the right side of the spacePort run to the left.

Starboard run to the right

Man overboard lie on back and swim

Submarines lie on back and stick one leg straight up.

Man the Lifeboats find a partner, sit together, and row!

Scrub the Decks children crouch down and pretend toclean the floor with their hands.

Climb the Rigging children pretend to climb a rope ladder.



30

Captain's coming children salute and shout out "Aye AyeCaptain"

Man Overboard children on their backs waving legs and

arms in air as they drown. Walk the Plank children have to walk in a perfect

straight line one foot exactly in front of the other with arms outstretched to thesides.

Captain's daughter is coming. everyone curtseys

Hit the Deck children lie down on their stomachs.

Name: Pass The Object.

Age: 4 years +



Procedure; This is a follow on from the magic box. The teacher takes out

objects from the box mimes what it is the students guess. When they haveguessed she passes the object around the circle. The students should reactas if it there were holding the actual object in their hands. Eventually thelast person in the circle gets rid of the object and the teacher goes to thebox and takes out a new object. Suggestions of items you could take outof the box a mouse, a rotten egg, a cream cake, chewing gum, lipstick, apuppy etc..,

Name: Chain Mime.

Age: 5 years +.



Procedure: Choose a child to begin the mime. They should choose ashort mime of a simple action, such as making a cup of tea or cleaning their teeth. Everybody sits with their eyes closed. The first child taps the

second child to their right on their shoulder and shows them the mime,once. The second child taps the third child to their right and shows themthe mime. Once they have shown their mime they should keep their eyesopen. Continue around the circle until the mime has reached the last



31

child, seated to the left of the first child. The last child shows the finalmime to the whole class, followed by the first child who shows theoriginal mime.

Name: Yankee Doodle.

Age: 3 years +



Procedure: Yankee Doodle can go to town in other ways besides riding on a pony. It can be called slideroni, skiparoni, walkaroni, hoparoni,

tiptoearoni---- Yankee Doodle went to town

Riding on a pony

He stuck a feather in his hat

And called it Skiparoni

Yankee Doodle skipped to town

Skipped to town so dandy Mind the music and the step

And with the girls be handy.

Name: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star .

Age: 3 years +


Resources needed: Clear space, stars.

Procedure: The teacher shows the children a star. The children lie downon the floor and become a four pointed star. They must stretch as hard asthey can while singing

The Twinkle, twinkle, little star,

How I wonder what you are!

Up above the world high,Like a diamond in the sky.

When they finished the song the star collapses. This can be repeated asmany times as the children want.



32

Name: Wobbly Jelly.

Age: 3 years +.



Procedure: The teacher teaches the children the rhyme.

Two Jellies had a wobbling race

To see who was the wibbliest

Then the sun came out

and made them both the dribbliest.

The teacher chooses two children to be the jelly. They wobbly around theroom. The rest of the class is the sun and they melt them. This can bedone numerous times so that all the children in the group get a chance tobe the jelly



33

Role Playing Games

Name: Buzzy Bees.

Age: 3 years +.


Resources needed: Clear space, pictures of flowers.

Procedure: The teacher gets the children to buzz around with elbowsflapping searching for flowers and nectar. When they' have gathered alltheir nectar have them fly back to the hive to feed the queen bee whichcan be the teacher. The children should hum as they are collecting the

honey. The teacher can put pictures of flowers around the space.

Name: Art Gallery.

Age: 6 years+.



Procedure: The children are divided into to two groups. Group A mustbecome pictures, statues or sculptures in an art gallery. They must freezeand group B must guess what sculpts or statues they are and what theirpictures depict. When they have finished, group B become the items inthe art gallery and group A become the visitors.

Name: The Hungry Tree.

Age: 5+.



Procedure: This is an excellent introduction to role play andimprovisation. The teacher tells the children the following story and they have to improvise the movements in the story

The teacher gets the children to imagine they are an adventurer who wants to go on an adventure. They pack up their bags. Teacher asks what

they need in the bags. Children answers are usually water, sandwiches, suncream, and sunglasses etc. The children mime putting all their essentialsinto their bag. The teacher says imagine you are walking quickly becauseyou are so happy to be on your adventure. You come across a mountain



34

and decide you should climb it. The sun is getting hotter, hotter and youare getting tired, very tired, very, very tired. You wipe your brow to show how tired they are. You begin to climb slower and slower. You are very thirsty. You take out your water. You drink your water. Put it back in your

bag and climb the rest of the way up the beanstalk. Eventually you get tothe top. You are exhausted and very hot and very hungry. You decide ittime for your picnic. You see a lovely tree and you go and sit under theshade. You eat your picnic and go for a nap. Then suddenly you wake upand see the tree moving towards you. The tree grabs you and you realise itis a very hungry tree and wants to eat you. You scream. You struggle. Youfight the branches but you are getting weaker and weaker and thensuddenly the tree stops fighting for a moment. You get your chance to getaway. Quickly you grab your bag, run to the beanstalk and quickly godown the beanstalk. You get to the end you can the hungry tree running after you. You run all the way home. Lock all the doors and hide underthe table.

Name: Toy Shop.

Age: 4 years +.



Procedure: This is another fun role-play. Everyone sits in a circle theteacher tells them that they are going to imagine that they are toys in a toy shop. They must choose what toy that they want to be. Talk about if thetoys came alive how they would move and how would they talk? Then geteach one to find a space and they must move around like their toy andthen they freeze. The teacher becomes the toy maker. She spends all day making toys. The toys must keep very still. At night when the toymakergoes to bed all the toys come out to play. All the students move aroundlike their toys. The toy maker hears some noise in his toyshop. The toyshear his footsteps and they get back into their position and freeze. Thetoy maker checks to make sure the toys are all right. He then leaves and allthe toys come out to play again. Each time the toys hear the toymakersfootsteps they must return to their places and freeze.



35

Name: Superheroes.

Age: 4 years +.



Procedure: Talk about superheroes and ask the children to give youexamples of some superheroes. Ask them what type of superpowers dothey have? Then get each of them to choose a superhero and movearound the room as that superhero. After a few minutes they come back to the circle and they show the rest of group how they moved. The rest of the group has to guess who their superhero is and what their superpoweris. If they have difficulty guessing then they can ask questions.

Name: The Big Black Cat.

Age: 3 years +.



Procedure: The teacher chooses one child to be the big black cat. They

must sleep in the corner of the space. The rest of the children imaginethey are mice and they move and squeak around the room as mice. Theteacher says the following:” The big black cat is sleeping, sleeping,sleeping the big black cat is sleeping in the house.” The little mice aredancing, dancing, dancing (children dance around the space), the littlemice are dancing in the house!'' "The little mice are nibbling, nibbling,nibbling (children nibble) the little mice are nibbling in the house! Thelittle mice are resting, resting; resting (children get into a resting position)the little mice are resting in the house!”.” The big black cat comes

creeping, creeping, creeping, the big black cat comes creeping, creeping,creeping, and the big black cat comes creeping in the house! The littlemice go scampering, scampering, scampering, the little mice goscampering in the house! Big black cat comes creeping in the house! Thelittle mice go scampering, scampering, scampering, the little mice goscampering in the house! The cat chases the mice and the mouse hecatches becomes the cat.



36

Name: Wheels On The Bus.

Age: 3 years +.


Resources needed: Clear space, tape, coloured coins, tambourine, chairs.

Procedure: This is an excellent way to introduce role play with very young children. Everyone sings the song. Between each verse, everyonepretends to drive a bus and blow the horn. After the song is great time to“play bus”. Set up rows of chairs like the inside of a bus. Make a bus stopby putting some tape or rope down on the ground. Give each of thechildren several “coins”. Make a small box into the fare collection box.

The teacher can put on a bus driver’s cap and use a tambourine as a

steering wheel. “Open” the bus door and invite the children on. Ask,“Where are you going?” Elicit responses like “To the park/to the pool/tothe zoo/to the library/etc. Say, “Two coins, please.” and help the childrenpay. After all the kids have boarded, start “driving.” Sing The Wheels onthe Bus together. Turn left and turns right, having the kids lean with youas you turn. Call out the stops. “Next stop

Name: Fairy Tale Characters.

Age: 5 years +



Procedure: The teacher talks to the class about fairy tales and fairy talecharacters. Then each child must think of a fairy tale character. One by one they go into the centre of the circle and mimes part of the nursery rhyme. For example they could be eating from a bowl for Little Miss

Muffet, or sleeping for little boy blue or sitting on a wall and falling forhumpty dumpty. The rest of the class tries to guess the nursery rhyme.

The class can ask question but only yes and no answers are allowed

Name: Sleeping! Sleeping!

Age: 3 years +



Procedure: The teacher gets all the children to stretch and yawn and thenthey lie down on the floor. Tell them that they are going to sleep. Getthem to snore very loudly. The teacher says very softly "dreaming,



37

dreaming, all the children are dreaming and in their dreams they are aprincess". Then all the children get up and become princess. They candream that they are both people and objects.

Name: Ten Fat Sausages

Age: 3 years +.



Procedure: Make a shape of a pan with chairs or masking tape. Numberthe children from one to ten and then get them to lie down in the

designated area and sizzle like a sausage. Get them to say the following rhyme.

Ten fat sausages sizzling in a pan ( all children are lying down sizzling)

One went pop! and one went bang

(numbers 1 and 2 jump up and leave the pan)

Eight fat sausages sizzling in a pan

One went pop! and one went bang!


Six fat sausages sizzling in a pan



Four fat sausages sizzling in a pan



Two fat sausages sizzling in a pan



No fat sausage sizzling in the pan!



38

Plays for Young Children



39

The Lion and the Mouse

Narrator 1: One hot day a lion was asleep in a cave.

Narrator 2: Suddenly a little mouse ran over his paw.

Narrator 3: The lion woke up with a loud roar. He grabbed the mouse with his paw and said....

Lion: I’m going to kill you and eat you up.

Mouse: Squeak, Squeak, Please Mr. Lion, Please don’t eat me someday I will help you.

Lion: Ha, Ha, Ha, You help me don’t make me laugh but I’m not thathungry so I will let you go.

Narrator 1: The lion laughed and laughed and the mouse ran home.

Narrator 2: A few days later the lion was out in the jungle.

Lion: I think I will scare by friends. I am very scary because I’m king of the jungle.

Narrator 3: Suddenly he got caught in a trap and said...

Lion: Oh dear how will I get out of here.

Narrator 1: After awhile he heard some elephants.

Lion: Elephants, Elephants please help me.



40

Elephants: Oh No! We will not help you.

Narrator 2: Then a few giraffes passed by. He cried...

.

Lion: Giraffes. Giraffes please help me.

Giraffes: Oh no we will not help you.

Narrator 3: The lion grew cold and hungry and began to think he wouldnever get home to his nice warm cave. Then he heard hissing of snakes.

Lion: Snakes, snakes please help me.

Snakes: ssssssssss Oh no we will not help you sssssssssssssssss.

Narrator 1: As night came the lion began to cry.

Lion: Boo hoo, I am stuck in this trap and none of my friends will helpme.

Narrator2: Then he heard some owls hooting in the trees.

Lion: Owls, Owls please help me.

Owls: Tu Whit. Tu Who, owls owls we will not help youuuuuuuuuuu.

Narrator 3: The lion was very sad. He didn’t know what to do. Then heheard the squeaking of a mouse.

Mouse: Squeak, squeak why are you crying Mr. Lion

Lion: I’m stuck in this trap and none of my friends will help me.

Mouse: I will help you.



41

Narrator 1; the mouse began to bite through the rope and at last the lion was free.

Lion: I’m free, I’m free!!!! I never thought you could help me because you

are too small.

Narrator2: From then on the lion and the mouse were very good friends.

Narrator 3: The lesson of the story is

Narrator 2: bigger is not always better.



42

The Little Red Hen

Narrator 1: Once upon there was a little red hen who lived on a farm

Narrator 2: She was always busy!

Narrator 3: She spent all morning laying eggs for the farmer.

Farmer: Chick Chicken! Please lay an egg for my tea.

All Sing Chick Chick Chick, Chicken

Chick chick chick chick chicken

Lay a little egg for me!

Chick chick chick chick chicken

I want one for my tea

I haven’t had an egg since Easter And now it’s half past three

So chick, chick, chick, chick, chicken

Lay a little Egg for me!

Narrator 4: After the little red hen laid her egg.

Narrator 5: She found a grain of wheat.

Narrator 5: She wanted to plant it in a field.

Little red hen: I think I’ll ask my animal friends to help me.

Red Hen: Dogs, Dogs, Will you help me plant the wheat?

Dogs, Oh no we will not help you. We are too busy burying our bones



43

Dog 1: Get the ducks to help you.

Red Hen: Ducks, Ducks, Will you help me plant the wheat?

Ducks: Oh no we will not help you. We are too busy swimming.

Duck 1: Get the geese to help you.

Red Hen: Geese, Geese Will you help me plant the wheat?

Geese: Oh no we will not help you. We are too busy sunbathing.

Geese 1: Get the cats to help you.

Red Hen: Cats, Cats, Will you help me plant the wheat?

Cats: Oh no we will not help you. We are too busy washing our faces.

Cat 1: Plant it yourself.

Narrator 6: No one would help so she planted it herself

Narrator 1: The sun and the rain helped the wheat to grow.

Narrator 2: Soon the wheat was tall and yellow and needed to be cut.

Little red hen: I think I’ll ask my animal friends to help me.

Red Hen: Dogs, Dogs, Will you help me cut the wheat?

Dogs, Oh no we will not help you. We are too busy burying our bones



44

Dog 1: Get the ducks to help you.

Red Hen: Ducks, Ducks, Will you help me cut the wheat?

Ducks: Oh no we will not help you. We are too busy swimming.

Duck 1: Get the geese to help you.

Red Hen: Geese, Geese Will you help me cut the wheat?

Geese: Oh no we will not help you. We are too busy sunbathing.

Geese 1: Get the cats to help you.

Red Hen: Cats, Cats, Will you help me cut the wheat?

Cats :Oh no we will not help you. We are too busy washing our faces.

Cat1: Plant it yourself.

Narrator 3: So the little red hen cut the wheat herself.

Narrator 4: So she took the wheat to the miller.

Narrator 5: The miller turned the wheat into flour.

Miller: (gives hen the bag of flour) Here’s your flour to make bread and

cakes.

Narrator 6: The little red hen thanked the miller.



45

Narrator 1: She made bread and cakes.

Little red hen: Who will help me eat the bread?

All animals: We will!

Little red hen: Oh no I will eat it myself. If you want to eat this food what will you do next time?

All: We will share the work.

Narrators: THE END

Sing Chick, Chick, Chick, Chicken.



46

The Gingerbread Man

Narrator 1: Once upon a time a little old woman and a little old man lived

in a little old house. One day the little old woman decided to make agingerbread man.

Old Woman: I think I will make gingerbread for the old man’s tea. He willlove that.

Narrator 2: She cut him out of dough. She gave him chocolate drops for

his eyes and a piece of lemon for his mouth and then she put him in theoven to bake. After a while she said to herself

Old Woman: That gingerbread man must be ready by now.

Narrator 3: She opened the oven door. UP jumped the gingerbread man,and away he ran out the front door!

Gingerbread Man: Hello I am the gingerbread man.

Old Man: Don’t runaway I want you for my tea.

Gingerbread Man: "Run, run, as fast as you can. You can't catch me I'mthe Gingerbread Man!"

The little old woman and the little old man ran, but they couldn't catchthe gingerbread man.

Narrator 1: The Gingerbread Man ran past the cow grazing in the field:

Cow: Moo! Moo! Stop! Stop! Gingerbread man I want to eat you.

Gingerbread man: Run, run, as fast as you can. You can't catch me I'm theGingerbread Man!



48

Gingerbread man: I've run away from a little old woman, a little old man,a cow, a horse, a dog and two picnicking bears, and I can run away from

you!"

Fox: If you don't get across this river quickly, you will surely get caught.Hop on my tail, and I'll carry you across.

Narrator 2 The Gingerbread Man saw that he had no time to lose. Hequickly hopped onto the fox's tail.

Fox: The water's deep, Climb up on my back so you won’t get wet. "OH" The waters even deeper! Climb up on my head so you won't get wet!"

Narrator 3: And the Gingerbread Man did as the fox told him.

Fox: It's too deep! Climb onto my nose so you won't get wet!

Narrator 1 And the Gingerbread Man did that but then, with a flick of hishead, the fox tossed the Gingerbread Man into the air and opened hismouth but the gingerbread jumped to the other side of the river.

Gingerbread man: (to everyone) Run, run, as fast as you can. You can'tcatch me I'm the Gingerbread Man!

Everyone: So let us go home and get out the pan

And we'll make ourselves a new gingerbread man!

And when he is eaten, we'll make us some more

But this time we'll be certain to lock the back door!

A new gingerbread man, in a gingerbread pan!



49

The Boy who Cried Wolf

Narrator 1: Once upon a time there was a young shepherd boy.

Narrator 2: He lived in a lonely valley next to a great dark forest.

Narrator 3: He had to look after his father’s sheep and protect them fromthe wolves that lived in the forest.

Narrator 4: It was a lonely job, and the boy was bored.

Narrator 5: He wanted some fun and action.

Narrator 6: One day………….

Shepherd Boy: Oh boy! I’m so bored! There is nothing to do!

Sheep: Baa! Baa! Baa!

Sheep 1: Why are you so bored?

Sheep 2: Yes you can play with us.

Sheep 3: We always have fun following each other.

Sheep 4: Don’t you like us?

Shepherd Boy: Yes, But I’m bored and I want to be in the village playing with my friends?

Sheep 5: I have an idea if you want some excitement.

Shepherd Boy and other Sheep: WHAT?



50

Sheep 5: Pretend there is a wolf attacking all the sheep.

Sheep 6: Don’t listen to him. He (points to sheep 5) is always causing trouble.

Shepherd Boy: No, it is a brilliant plan. Let’s do it. Wolf! Wolf! The meanold wolf is coming.

(Enter father and towns peoples with shotguns and sticks and shovels)

Narrator1: His father and the townspeople came rushing to help him.

Father: Where’s the wolf?

T.P 1: Where did he go?

T.P 2: I’ll get him.

T.P 3: Did you see the wolf?

T.P 4: Did he go back to the forest?

T.P 5: Has he killed our sheep/?

Shepherd Boy: False Alarm, False alarm! I thought I saw the wolf it musthave been a shadow.

T.P 6: False alarm lets go home. (Exit father and the sheep returnlaughing)

Narrator 2: This excitement pleased the shepherd boy.



51

Narrator 3: It made him laugh and clap his hands.

Narrator 4: A few days later, he tried the same trick again.

Narrator 5: This time the sheep didn’t know that it was a trick.

Shepherd Boy: Wolf! Wolf! The mean old wolf is coming. (SheepScatter)

(Enter father and towns peoples with shotguns and sticks and shovels)Father Good Lad! Tell us where the wolf is!

TPs (All) Did he go this way or that way?

TP1: He won’t get far.

TP2: We could follow his footprints.

TP3: But there aren’t any footprints.

TP4: Where’s the Wolf.

Shepherd Boy: False Alarm, False alarm! I thought I saw the wolf it musthave been a shadow again.

TP 5 & 6: False Alarm lets go home again. ( TPs leave and sheep comeback but this time they are relieved.)

Sheep: YOU FRIGHTENED US

Shepherd Boy: Hee! Hee! Hee!



52

Narrator 6: The boy played the tick several more times. One day theshepherd boy thought he saw big and furry moving.

Wolf 1: Have you seen this?

Wolf 2: What?

Wolf 3: Lots and lots of sheep.

Wolf 4: Where are they?

Wolf 5: Are you blind.

Wolf 6: Look over there!

Wolf 4: Oh yes now I see them.

Wolf 1: Sssh be quiet.

Wolf 2: We could have a very good dinner tonight.

Wolf 3: You mean for the rest of week.

Wolf 5: The boy is by himself

Wolf 6: But no one is there to help him. Quick lets go.

Shepherd Boy: I thought I saw something but it is only=y as shadow.

(Yawns) I think I’ll have a little nap.

(Wolves enters and prowls around dramatically, gesturing to audience,then they take a sheep each.



53

Wolves: We are mean old wolves with a bad reputation. Time to eat ajuicy sheep for our dinner.

Sheep: Baa! Baa!

Narrator 1” The shepherd boy woke up!

Shepherd Boy: AHHHH. Help! Wolf! Wolf! The mean old wolves arehere!

Narrator 2: He called and called but no one came.

Narrator 3: They were fed up with his lies.

Narrator 4: Wolves took all the sheep.

Narrator 5: The moral of the story is …….

Narrator 6: Nobody believes a liar even when they are telling the truth.



54

Monologues for Children (Girls)

Cinderella

Cinderella: (walking around the room, dusting the furniture)

I am so tired I can hardly keep my eyes open. I’ll never get all this dusting and polishing done before they get from the ball. I wonder if I could ask some of my animal friends to help me. But they have all gone to sleep forthee night. (Softly) puss….puss…puss wake up and help me and I’ll giveyou a nice saucer of milk. Oh dear he’s too sleepy. I wonder if they all

having a nice time at the ball. (Sits down) I wish I was there. I’ll just sitdown for a moment and imagine I am there too. (Falls asleep).

Sleeping Beauty

Bad Fairy: (picks up letters from the ground and starts throwing them onthe ground).

Bills! Bills! Bills! No invitation here for me. The king and queen must haveforgotten all about me. How could they do such a thing? I bet all theother fairies have got their invitation to the princess’s christening. Butthey all goody two shoes. (In a funny voice ‘yes King! No King! Threebags full King! Oh please invite us to your daughter’s christening king”. I

will get them back for this. How dare they! How very dare they. I wonder….mmmmmmmmm……. I know what I will do. Since all the otherfairies will give her gifts. I will too. Now where is my book of magic?

(Gets her book and opens the page). Oh yes here it is! I wish…… I wish….. that on her 21st birthday the princess will prick her finger and die.Ha! Ha! Ha!

Snow White

Snow White: (puts on her shawl) what a lovely sunny day it is to-day. Ithink I’ll walk down to the shops and get something nice for the dwarves’

dinner. I wonder what they would like. Perhaps a nice juicy hamburgerand I’ll dig up some potatoes and a big bowl of chips. (Picks up comb)Oh! Look I’ll wear that pretty comb in my hair that the old lady gave me.Oh dear I feel so dizzy I think I’ll sit down for a minute. (Sits down withhead her hands).



55

The Elves and the Shoemakers

Old Woman: (Old woman is sitting at a table, reading her horoscopeand drinking a cup of very weak tea). This tea is so weak it tastes just like

water. I suppose I must have used that tea bag at least six times by now (sighs). I wonder if there is any good fortune in store for me. Now let mesee. (Looking through the paper) Leo – um- (reads) good luck and richesare coming your way shortly. What rubbish they write. (Throws down thepaper). We don’t even have enough money to buy leather to make onepair of shoes. Soon we won’t have a roof over our heads. I think I’ll justgo down to the butcher and see if he will give me a bone to make somesoup for our dinner. (She gets up and goes to a chair where her old shawland coat are lying. When she picks it up she discovers underneath it the

most beautiful pair of shoes). Oh my goodness! Oh my goodness! Wheredid they come from? They are the most beautiful shoes ever made. Why if

we sell these we can buy food and enough leather to make at least twopairs of shoes. (Takes the shoes in her hands and strokes them). Goodluck and riches are coming your way. Perhaps it is true after all.

Beauty and the BeastBeauty: I don’t know how I am going to tell you this dear beast. I had anemail from my sister Anne, she writes that my father is very ill and wantsme to come home to see him. I have been away such a longtime now. Iam sorry beast but I will have to leave you for a little while. Now don’tcry. I will come back, look, I will give you this as promise that I will return(takes a ring from her finger and gives it him). Take this. It is my pledgethat I will be with you again as soon as my father is better.

Red Riding Hood

Red Riding Hood: Hello Mr. Wolf. Isn’t it a lovely day? I am just taking some food and flowers to my granny’s cottage. Do you like the flowers?

Just smell them, they are so nice. I bet you prefer food don’t you. (Putsdown her basket and offers him some food). Look at that poor

woodcutter over there I wonder should I give him some food. Oh, he hashis own lunch. Anyway I think he is phoning someone. Goodness why arerunning off in such a hurry was it something I said. Mr. Wolf, Mr. Wolf please comes back.



56

Monologues for Children (Boys)

Jack and the Beanstalk

Jack: (Sneaks downstairs on his tip toes, takes milk and bread out of fridge and sits down) I have just come down stairs for a nice glass of amilk and a cheese sandwich. (pours the milk) I was sent to bed withoutany supper because my mother was very angry at me. You see we are very poor and we had to sell our cow Daisy. I went to the market to sell Daisy but I met an old man on the way who told me that he would give methree magic beans in return for the cow. My mother was very angry whenI showed her the magic beans. She threw them out the window. (Goes to

the door and opens it) I wonder if I can find them. (looks up to the sky)Oh my goodness the beans have grown into a massive beanstalk and it isgoing way up into the sky. I wonder …… if I could climb it.

Red Riding Hood

Woodcutter: I don’t like the look of that wolf. He is out here in the woods jumping about and hiding behind trees. I don’t think he is up and

good (sits down and takes out his sandwiches from his pocket). Ah theselook good. My wife makes a very tasty sandwich. Now where is thatfellow gone again? Oh he is over there talking to the little girl in the redshawl. I think I’ll just call the police to come and keep on eye on him.(Takes out phone).

Gingerbread ManGingerbread Man: (Runs to the river) Oh my goodness, what am I going to now If I don’t get across the river I will surely get caught. (He starts tocry). Oh you gave me fright. I didn’t see you there, Mr Fox. I am upsetbecause I have run away from, an old man, old woman, a horse, a cow and a dog because they all want to eat me. I don’t know what to dobecause I can’t swim. Do you think you can help me? If I jump on yourback you can carry me across and then I can be free. Oh thank you, thank you, Mr Fox. (He climbs on the back of the fox). Oh Mr Fox I am getting

wet. I will climb on your head. Oh my I am getting wetter I will climb onyour nose. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh



Dick Whittington

Dick: (sitting in a chair with his head in his hands, he look up and talks tohis cat). I had such a strange dream last night, Puss. I heard a voice telling

me that I was to go out and seek my fortune and that one day I wouldbecome Lord Mayor of London. What should I do Puss? If we remainhere we will starve. There is nothing left to eat in the house just some oldscraps. Look this is your last saucer of milk. (Pours out a saucer of milk).But it is such a long walk to London. You are such a clever cat; tell me

what we should do. (He listen’s to the cat’s reply). Ok we’ll go. It will besuch a big adventure. We’ll pack up everything we have in this old bag,apples and loaf bread fro me and some meat for both of us. Come onPuss best foot forward. We’ll never set foot in this place again and if I

make my fortune I’ll buy you a little gold bell to wear around your neck and a silken cushion to sleep on at night.

Beauty and the Beast

Beast: I am so ugly I don’t know how you can bear to near me. You arethe only on who has been kind to me. I never had a friend before in the

entire world. When I was young none of the children would play with me.I had to stand alone in the playground and all the other children ranaround and played football and chasing but they wouldn’t let me join inthey said I was too big and they were frightened of me. If you go away (wipes his eyes) I think I shall die I shall be so lonely.

over 100 drama activities - games and plays for children - aged 3 to 8

Documents