Three young students performing emotions in the drama game, "Mime Emotion."

MIME EMOTION

CURTAINS UP ACTING STUDIO

MIME EMOTION: A DRAMA GAME for KIDS
Acting Emotion without Words

 
 

Students take turns silently acting out an emotion while their classmates try to guess what they are expressing
in this theater exercise for young people.

 

Watch a Demonstration of
the Mime Emotion Drama Game:

 
Download Printable Instructions

Step-by-Step Instructions

  • Place a chair on the stage facing front.  Explain to the students that our body language speaks volumes before we even open our mouths. 

  • Discuss the different ways our body reacts to emotions. What happens to your body when you’re angry? Depressed? Happy?  Excited? Sad? Explain that there are many ways to show anger, etc. – not just one generic stereotype. 

  • Write a list of emotions on a whiteboard or pass out a printed list of emotions.  Ask each student to pick an emotion and think about how to show that emotion using only their body and facial expression.  It helps if they think of a situation where they might be feeling that emotion. 

  • Each student then takes a turn walking on to the stage and showing the audience 30 to 60 seconds of the emotion they chose. They are free to use the chair as part of the scene or not. 

  • After each “scene,” the rest of the class will guess what emotion the actor was projecting. Talk about why the class was able to guess it, or not guess it.  What did they observe? 

  • Emotions List
    Fear Boredom Pity
    Sadness Shyness Love
    Disgust  Awe Determination   
    Anticipation Paranoia Confusion
    Envy Amusement Pride  
    Anxiety Anger Embarrassment
    Hatred  Joy Calmness 
    Guilt Surprise Disappointment        

 OTHER DRAMA GAMES AND THEATER ACTIVITIES YOU MIGHT ENJOY:
BODY WALK - Students increase body awareness by walking with different body parts leading.
MOTIVATED MOVEMENT - Actors improvise the motivation behind 3 actions assigned by the game leader.
WALK THIS WAY - Students cross the stage embodying the physical traits of characters assigned by the game leader.

 
Browse Theater Games Encyclopedia
Curtains Up Creative Dramatics Curriculum
 

© 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.