For printable copy of BODY SCENERY instructions, click on the word: INSTRUCTIONS
To see a video of BODY SCENERY being taught, click on the word: VIDEO

This is fun group building activity that can also be used when acting out Bible stories. 

As a Group Building Activity

•     Ask for a volunteer team of six to eight students. Explain that you will be calling out the name of an object and
  the team must work together to make that object using their bodies.

• As an example, ask to see a snake. Then help the team to quickly form a single file line with each member holding
  onto the shoulders of the student in front of them, (except for the student at the front of the line.) Then say, “Make it
  a rattlesnake!” –and encourage the last person in line to shake an arm or leg. 

• Once the students understand the basic concept, start calling for specific items for the team to make, e.g., a piano, a
  toaster, a tree etc. Coach the students to work quickly and without discussion. Tell them, “As soon as any member of
  the team has an idea for how to start an object, they should immediately take a position and the other team members
  will join in to support them as quickly as possible.” 

• After the volunteer team has demonstrated how to make three or four objects, you can divide the rest of the students
  into teams and instruct them: “Now when I call for an object, I want each team to work together to make their version of
  that object–and we’ll see which team can make it fastest and best.” 

Suggested Items to Make: A milkshake in a glass, a car, a dog, a television set, a spider, a roller coaster, bacon frying in a pan, an elephant, a chicken hatching out of an egg, a flying saucer with an alien inside, etc.

For Use with Bible Stories

• First, familiarize yourself with the Bible story you want to tell ahead of time—to the point where you can tell it from
  memory, or read it with a lot of animation.

• Identify what characters you need to act out the story.

• Decide what scenery you could use when you tell the story, and plan how your group can make that scenery with their
  bodies.

•   When the time comes, tell or read the story to your group. Then say, “Now we’re going to act it out.” 

• Choose which children will be characters in the story. Tell them when their part comes in the story, they should make up
  lines that fit and say them. 

• With the remaining children, rehearse them in using their bodies to make the scenery you planned.  

• Retell the story, encouraging the children to make the necessary scenery at the right times, and prompting the characters to improvise fitting lines when it’s their turn to speak. Often, the children will remember what you said during the first telling, and can use that as a guide for their dialogue. If they get stuck, you can simply offer a line for them to repeat.  

 Body Scenery allows everyone in the group to take part in the story, even if there are only a few main characters to act out.

© 2025, Friends of the Groom Theater Company

Activities and techniques in the Friends of the Groom Theater Company Resource Center are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.
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with creative worship and Christian Education.
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