BODY SCENERY
CURTAINS UP ACTING STUDIO
BODY SCENERY
A Creative Drama Game
Where Kids Play the Set
In this inventive theater activity, a game leader names a random object and a team of 6-8 young actors work together to represent the object with their bodies. It’s a great way to get everyone physically involved in telling a story.
Watch a Demonstration of
Body Scenery:
Step-by-Step Instructions
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 on to 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.
MORE DRAMA GAMES AND THEATER ACTIVITIES YOU MIGHT ENJOY:
GROUP SCULPTURE MASTERPIECE - Students form a group sculpture based on a prompt from the game leader.
MACHINE - Actors work together to create a single machine with mechanical movements and sounds.
SCENE SETTING - Actors improvise a mimed scene that includes both characters and scenery, building it one actor at a time.
© 2023, Friends of the Groom Theater Company
Curtains Up Curriculum by Friends of the Groom Theater Co. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Curtains Up is a training program designed for young actors sponsored by Friends of the Groom Theater Company.
It is available to the general public for free under the terms of the Creative Commons License above.