 Adding drama games to your morning circle can help

students remain productive throughout the day by

allowing them to fully engage with their classroom
environment and peers.

 Dramatic play activities in this PDF are centered on

energizing or winding down students depending on the
needs and time of day.

 These games are easy and fun to play and are suitable for
all ages!

TERMS OF USE
Please note that this product is for personal classroom
teaching by a single purchaser only. You may not distribute,
copy or modify the play other than for your own,
non-commercial classroom use.
Circle Time Drama Fun © 2017 Act Academy. All rights reserved.
 CIRCLe TiME
DRaMA FUN!

INTRODUCTiON GAMeS

What better way to introduce your students to their peers at
the beginning of the year than to play a fun, little circle
game? Standing in a circle, students take turns introducing
themselves by adding a silly or strange voice and action to
go with their names. For example, a student could begin by

saying “Hello, I am (student’s name)

” in a high pitched

voice while stomping around the room. His/her classmates

must then imitate the student’s action and voice and

respond by saying “Nice to meet you (student’s name) ”.

Once everyone has introduced themselves, the game could

then easily be played by adding characters related to your
teaching unit or theme.
 
This is a great game that helps students get to know each
other a little better at the beginning of the school year! Each
student takes turns standing in the middle of the circle and
presenting to his/her peers two things that are true about
themselves, and one lie. For example, a student might say “I
have got an older brother, my

favourite color is pink and I like

spaghetti. ” The others must then guess which of the

three statements is a lie. Once, they have figured it out, the
first student chooses someone else to come up and take
his/her place at the center of the circle.

g
ENeR Y GaM S E

This drama game is an excellent way to keep your students
energized and engaged! It begins with the students standing
in a circle. The teacher starts by picking one student to call
out some instructions that the others must follow. For
example, the student could say “Let’s stand on our chairs!” In
response, the students must immediately cry out, “All
right!” and follow the suggestion. After that it might

be, “Let’s throw our pencil cases up in the air,” or, “Let’s shake our
neighbors’ hands.” Each time, all the children yell, “All
right! ” before following the instructions. After the third
time, the person shouting out the instructions chooses a new
child to call out instructions by saying, “Now (student’s name) is
going to tell us what to do,” and again, the children cry out,
“All right!
 
Another great way to keep your energized is to get them
up off their chairs. I like to call these drama breaks.The
student stand in a wide circle and the teacher is the
caller. Each type of bean called out signals a particular
action that the students must do. The teacher calls out the
different types of beans slowly at first and then gradually
mixes them up at a faster pace!

: Stretch as far as you can

String bean : Reach as tall and high as you can

: Freeze like a statue, or shiver

Jelly bean: Wobble your whole body

French bean: Say in a French accent "oooh la, la"
Jumping bean: Jump on the spot

n
CO CeNtRaTiON/ eMORY G M S m a e

The entire class stands in a circle and the teacher places
himself/herself in the middle of that circle. The teacher
points to someone in the circle and says “bippity bippity
bop” as fast as he/she can. The student being pointed at
must say “bop” before the teacher gets to the end of
his/her sentence. If the teacher points to a student and
decides to only say “bop” instead of “bippity bippity bop”, then
the student must remain quiet.
 The goal of the teacher is to get the students to not say
“bop” fast enough in the first case scenario, and to say
“bop” in the second. If the student fails to stay quiet
when the teacher says “bop” or doesn’t say “bop”
when the teacher says “bippity bippity bop”, they
he/she must sit down for the remainder of the game. The
game ends when there is only one student standing.


For this game, the students should be sitting in a circle.
The teacher begins by saying “I’m
going on a picnic
and in my basket I have got a sandwich”. Going
clockwise, the students must take turns repeating all the
previous things that have been said, and then add a new
thing that they are bringing with them on their picnic. For
instance, “I
am going on a picnic and in my basket
I have got a sandwich some strawberries”,
then “I am going to a picnic and in my basket I
have got a sandwich, some strawberries a
chocolate chip cookie”, etc. The game ends when a
student mixes up the sequence or doesn’t remember what
everyone has said.

TEAMWOrK BUiLDI G GAmES n


This is a simple game to help students work together and
stay focused. The teacher begins by asking the students to
stand and with one person in the middle.
 . The object of the game is for two people within the circle to

silently cue each other and trade

places without attracting the attention of the

middle player. The middle student’s goal is to get to
an open spot before the switching players get

there. More than one pair can switch at a time. Whoever is

left without a spot is now in the middle. Note that the
students must move within the middle of the circle, not
outside it.


This is a great game to play if having teamwork, discipline or
respect issues within a group. It’s extremely simple, but
manages to focus the entire teams’ energy on one simple
task. When the goal is accomplished, the ensemble
automatically feels a little stronger. The students sit in circle
and look at the floor. Any student can start by saying

“ one.” Any other actor will continue by saying “TWO”

and so on until you reach “ ”. If any two players say
a number at the same time the group must start again at

“ one.”

e y
CR ATIViT BUiLdINg GAmES

Standing in a circle, one student begins by making a simple action
of his/her choice, such as tying up shoelaces or eating a sandwich.
The others must then ask in unison “
” and the student’s answer must be completely
different from the action itself, something like “I am
driving a car”. The students must then pretend to
imitate the action that was mentioned (in this case, they
must pretend to drive cars). Going clockwise,
the students must continue to ask each person what they
are doing and adjust their own actions accordingly. The
game continues until everyone has had a turn.


This is wonderful winding down activity for the class. The
teacher begins by informing the students that they will tell be
collectively creating a story so it is important for everyone to
pay attention. Then the teacher starts the story off by
introducing the main characters and setting. An example of
this is: “Once upon a time, there lived two fairies in
a forest. One was named Bilda and the other was
named Gilda. They loved taking care of the plants,
trees and forest animals. One day…” and then she
points to a student to continue telling the story. The story
should be told with as little pause as possible and every
student should have a turn.