Our favourite drama games that you too can play at home

At Jigsaw we believe that drama is an important tool in any child’s development. From helping students to develop their concentration and creative thinking, it also teaches children to share ideas, listen, communicate efficiently and problem solve. Just like any other skill, we become better at all these things with practice, but there’s no need to rush for the pen and paper or the traditional classroom setting. The wonderful thing about drama as a subject is that you are learning without even realising it, because many drama games and exercises are fun and social.

So, if you find yourself wondering how you are going to entertain your children this weekend or simply need to fill 5 minutes on a long car journey, try some of these handy drama games! We can guarantee that your child will have fun and be developing their social skills all at the same time.

Magic box 

Jason, our drama teacher at Jigsaw Balham, who is currently in his second year at university studying for his degree in Drama and Theatre Studies, recommends Magic Box. This is an excellent drama game for a play date or for birthday parties. 

“Sitting in a circle, the leader mimes a box being detailed showing its size, shape etc. You then pass the magic box to the person next to you and that person has to take out what they think is in the box, with no talking, they mime the object they are holding with as much detail as possible until someone can guess what it is. The box is then passed on and the game continues. You can use themes if you want to add a focus. But it’s a fun, simple game to get imagination working!”

Advert Creator

Jigsaw Ealing drama teacher Joe suggests Advert Creator, a great game to stimulate the imagination and to encourage students to work as a team and share ideas. The results are often hilarious and is a great way to get children to discuss social issues.

“Think of the product to promote first and then come up with the storyline to do that.  You can use voice-overs, dialogue, mime, etc.  Just remember you need to be visual and succinct to get the story across quickly!” 

Buzzy Bees

If you have little ones maybe you would like to engage your child’s fast thinking language skills with drama games? Joe suggests Buzzy Bees; however, you may need to clear a space in the living room for this! 

“For this game there are two options, in the easy option children run around flapping and buzzing until you shout out a letter of the alphabet and count down from five – they all have to become something beginning with that letter.  

The trickier option is essentially the same thing, but you shout out two letters and the children have to become something beginning with the second letter but now with an adjective in front of it – e.g ET could be an energetic tractor, an empty toaster, an exhausted teacher…”

Count to 20

We like the sound of that! But what about drama games that encourage focus? Jason suggests: 

“This is a simple focus game which works by simply getting in a group, closing your eyes and one by one counting to 20. The group must do this without talking over each other and if two people say the same number at the same time, you must start again. It works better with more people, as it becomes more challenging, but you can, of course, feel free to include over 20 if it goes well. This keeps students calm, focused and tuned into the group.” 

One Sentence Story

Suhayla, our performing arts teacher from Jigsaw Bexleyheath, has a great drama game for family gatherings or long car journeys. 

“This game requires focus, good listening skills and creativity. Sit in a circle or around a table. Nominate a person from the group to start the story. They may start it with… “Once upon a time…” and then each person takes it in turns to add only one sentence each to the story.  So, for example: 

Alice:  Once upon a time…

Jack:  There was a scary monster

Grace: And a princess 

The rules are simple: You can take the story anywhere, you can’t tell someone else what to say and your sentence has to roughly take the story forward.”

And there you have it, our top drama games that you too can play at home. We would love to hear your favourite games too! Let us know on Facebook or Twitter. 

Jigsaw Performing Arts is dedicated to developing performance skills, promoting self-expression and building confidence. We offer performing arts classes for children aged between 3 – 18. Find your nearest school by entering your postcode into the search on our home page.