Kids playing Night at the Museum drama game with a teacher leading.

NIGHT AT THE
MUSEUM

CURTAINS UP ACTING STUDIO

 
 

NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM: A DRAMA GAME for KIDS
Building Concentration and Body Awareness

Students pretend to be statues—listening and watching carefully as they try to move only when a “guard” is not looking.

 
Download printable instructions

Night at the Museum Game in Action

 

Step-by-step Instructions

  • One person is chosen to be the Security Guard of a Museum.  They close their eyes and slowly count to ten, as the other group members freeze in body positions representing statues. The statues can be standing or sitting, but no one should be lying down.

  • After counting to ten, the Security Guard turns and starts walking through the group, trying to see if they can catch anyone moving. 

  • If the Guard notices any movement (except blinking), they call out the name of the offending player and that person is “out”--and must return to his or her seat. (Movement includes smiling, and eyes shifting from side to side–so stress that the students should freeze with their eyes focused on a single point.)

  • Players are free to move when the Guard’s back is turned or when the Guard is not looking in their direction. In fact, the students should be encouraged to move whenever they think they can do it and not get caught. 

  • The last person left on stage who has not been caught moving wins the round. (If a round goes on too long with a number of players remaining on stage, you can speed up the game by saying, “The next person who can move three times without being caught will win the round.) 

    Variation: Night at the Museum with Music

  • In this variation, tell the students there is a new rule in the museum: “No Dancing Allowed!” Then play some upbeat music during the game, (e.g., ”Happy” by Pharrell Williams, is a great choice.) Players can now dance whenever the Security Guard’s back is turned–but still must freeze immediately whenever the Guard looks in their direction. If anyone is caught dancing or moving they are out. Keep the music playing throughout the game.

MORE DRAMA GAMES AND THEATER ACTIVITIES YOU MIGHT ENJOY:
FREEZE WALK - Students walking in a circle attempt to stop, start, and change direction at precisely the same moment.
GROUP MIND - Students mirror each other’s movements, changing from one movement to another spontaneously.
SPACE WALK - Students imagine walking and moving through a series of suggested environments.

 
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Curtains up acting studio curriculum
 

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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.