Tag: Improv Game

Ten Seconds to Make…

Grade:

All

Setup:

Teams of 2-3

Objective:

Students are in pairs or triples and the teacher or student leader gives them “10 seconds to make…_______” (an object or two of their choosing) and the students have to make what was said using their bodies. The teacher chooses the one they like best/is most useful.

Examples: “You have 10 seconds to make a tennis ball and racket!” / “You have 10 seconds to make a banana pie!”

 

Fishbowl Game

Grade:

Grades 3-5, Middle

Setup:

Two teams sit in one circle, alternate team A and B

Objective:

Each student will get three slips of paper on which they will each write three different nouns (person, place, or thing). Then, students will fold each slip in half and put it in a bowl with all the other words. Students sit in a circle and form two teams (easiest if it’s every other person is on team A and the rest are on team B). The game has three rounds.

  • In round one, a student can talk to their team to get them to guess the word they have picked from the bowl — they can say anything except the word (and no rhymes, either!). They try to get their team to guess as many words as possible in one minute. Then the bowl gets passed to the person next to them who gets one minute to have their team guess as many words as possible. The bowl goes around the circle, alternating teams, until all the words have been guessed. Each team gets a point for each word their team guessed. Once all the words have been said, ALL of the slips go BACK in the bowl for round two.
  • In round two, a student can only act  (like charades) to get their team to guess the word they have picked. (Since these words have already been guessed, it should theoretically make it easier to guess for this round!) They get one minute to have their team guess as many words as possible. The bowl goes around the circle until all of the words have been guessed.  Each team gets a point for each word their team guesses. Once all the words have been said, ALL of the slips go BACK in the bowl for round three!
  • In round three, a student can only say ONE WORD (and one word only) to get their team to guess the word they have picked. (Since every word has now been guessed twice, it should theoretically help with the guessing!) They get one minute to have their team guess as many words as possible. Each team gets a point for each word their team guesses.  Once all the words have been guessed, the game is over and you count up the points to find out which team won!

Note: Depending on the size of the group, you can adjust the number of paper slips each student gets — if you have a small group, you can increase the slips to five.

 

Alan Sells Apples in Albania

Grade:

Grades 3-5, Middle

Setup:

Circle game

Objective:

Students stand in a circle, with a moderator in the middle. The moderator points to one student and gives them a letter from the alphabet. The student chosen has to quickly fill in the blank of the sentence ” _______ sells _______ in  _______” with a name, an item, and a place that all start with the letter they were given.

Examples: Barbara sells bananas in the Bahamas / Harry sells hammocks in Havana / Zane sells Zebras in Zimbabwe

If a student pauses too long or can’t think of items quickly, they are out.

Video:

What are you doing?

Setup:

Partner all campers and if an odd number, partner with AG. Then give an example.

  1. Player 1 starts miming an activity.
  2. Player 2 approaches Player 1 and asks `What are you doing?`
  3. The first player answers something that has nothing to do with what they are actually doing. E.g. if Player 1 is cutting someone’s hair, when asked what they are doing they might say “I’m reading the newspaper”.
  4.  Second player starts miming the activity stated by the previous player (reading the newspaper.) and Player 1 now asks, “What are you doing?
  5. Repeat steps 1-4 until game has peaked (should be 6-8 quick rounds depending on the group and work as a short warm up game to get laughs)

Note to AG – Really exaggerate/be silly with the “What are you doing?” sometimes to make campers laugh. Also choose fun or funny activities for your example to get the kids interested. If you do not have a partner, walk around and encourage (Wow! Oh my! That’s cool!) and provide suggestions if needed.

Video:

Story, Story, You’re Out

Grade:

4 – 5

Setup

Everyone forms a line on “stage”

Objective:

Tell a story with a beginning, middle, & an end flawlessly

Players form a line on the stage. A title for a story, and a story genre is obtained from the audience. The MC starts the game by pointing to a player, who needs to start telling the story. At any point in time the MC can switch to another player, who needs to continue the story flawlessly, even if the switch happened in the middle of a sentence or even in the middle of a word.Players that hesitate, or whose sentences are not grammatically correct or don`t make sense, are “out.” The last player left ends the story.

Video:

I am a Tree

Grade:

3-5

Setup:

No more than 5 people per group

Instructions:

One camper goes to the middle of a circle and says “I am a tree” taking a position as a tree, a second camper goes out and adds to the picture they are painting, and a third person goes out and finishes it. Actors 1 and 2 then leave the scene, and new actors join. Three actors should be in a scene at a time.

Example:

Actor 1: I am a tree

Actor 2: I am a leaf on the tree

Actor 3: I am the grass under the tree

Actors 1 and 2 leave

Actor 4: I am a panda bear

Actor 5: I am a zookeeper

Video:

Gibberish Interviews

Grade:

2-5

Setup:

Groups of three or more

  1. Split the group into teams of 3 (you can have more than three, but not less)
  2. One person will be the reporter, one the interview subject, and the third the translator.
  3. The reporter starts by asking a question. The interview subject then answers the question in “gibberish,” and the translator translates into English.

Video: