CONCENTRATION CLAPS
A Great Warm-up to Focus Your Cast

This is a challenging drama game played in a circle requiring precise rhythm and rapid response. Suitable for older elementary ages and above, the game can be used as a warm-up to help a group achieve a unified focus.

Step-by-Step Instructions

• Students stand in a circle, with one student selected as the leader. 

• The leader makes eye contact with another student in the circle and starts to walk toward them, clapping their hands three times in a slow rhythm. On the third clap, the second student claps in unison with the leader, and the two switch places.

• The new leader immediately makes eye contact with a third person in the circle and walks toward them, clapping their hands three times in a slow rhythm. On the third clap, the two students clap in unison, and then switch places. 

• The pattern continues, with each new leader making eye contact with someone in the circle and clapping their way toward them, clapping in unison on the third clap. 

• Stress that the students must make eye contact before walking toward another student, and the third clap must be in precise unison in order to switch places. This requires everyone to be concentrating at all times, ready to clap when approached. Try to work toward a group rhythm with smooth transitions. 

• When the group has mastered this pattern, tell them, “Now, we’re only going to clap twice, and you have to clap together on the second clap.” Again stress that they must make eye contact first, and insist that they clap in unison before switching places. 

• When the group is comfortable with this rhythm, tell them: “Now we’re going to go down to just one clap. So make eye contact, and clap together on the very first clap. The rhythm will be: Eye-contact…CLAP, Eye-contact…CLAP, Eye-contact…CLAP…” etc. As the group masters this rhythm, encourage them to increase their speed and see how fast they can go.

MORE DRAMA GAMES AND THEATER ACTIVITIES YOU MIGHT ENJOY:
CONCENTRATION POINT - A very quick warm-up that encourages attentive listening and concentration.
COUNT TO TEN - With eyes closed, students count to ten as a group with only one student speaking at a time.
DROP AND GIVE ME TEN - A physical warm-up where students go from standing to lying on the floor and back on a count.

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.