earlyedudrama

Body

The little mice are creeping, creeping, creeping

The little mice are creeping, through the house.

The little mice are sleeping, sleeping, sleeping,

The little mice are sleeping, through the house.

The old gray cat comes creeping, creeping, creeping,

The old gray cat comes creeping, through the house.

And the little mice run away.

(One hand represents the mice, the other hand the cat. One hand creeps, while the other comes slowly down from the air. Hands meet and one scampers behind the child’s back)

Two little blackbirds,

(hands closed with thumbs straight up for birds)

Sitting on a hill,

One named Jack,

(wriggle one thumb)

The other named Jill.

(wriggle other thumb)

Fly away Jack

(toss one hand at a time over shoulder)

Fly away Jill.

Come back Jack

(bring back hands one at a time)

Come back Jill.

Five little ducks went swimming one day,

Over the hill and far away.

Mother duck said, Quack, Quack, Quack,

Four little ducks came swimming back.

Four little ducks went swimming one day

(Repeat as above)

Three little ducks came swimming back.

Three little ducks went swimming one day

(Repeat as above)

Two little ducks came swimming back.

Two little ducks went swimming one day

(Repeat as above)

One little duck came swimming back.

One little duck went swimming one day

(Repeat as above)

No little ducks came swimming back.

Mother duck said quack, quack, quack,

Five little ducks came swimming back.

Knock at the door,

(Tap lightly on forehead)

Peep in.

One finger and thumb keep moving

One finger and thumb keep moving

One finger and thumb keep moving

And we’ll all be happy and gay.

Two fingers, two thumbs keep moving etc.

(Repeat as above)

Two arms, two fingers, two thumbs, etc.

Two legs, two arms, two fingers, two thumbs, etc.

One head, two legs, two arms, two fingers, two thumbs, etc.

Right Hand, Left Hand

This is my right hand,

I’ll raise it up high.

(right hand up)

This is my left hand,

I’ll touch the sky.

(left hand up)

Right hand,

(show right palm)

Left hand,

(show left palm)

Roll them around.

(roll hands over and over)

Left hand,

(show palm)

Right hand,

(show palm)

Pound, pound, pound.

(pound fists together)

 
Ten Fingers

A fingerplay

I have ten fingers    hold up both hands, fingers spread

And they all belong to me,  point to self

I can make them do things-

Would you like to see?

I can shut them up tight   make fists

I can open them wide    open hands

I can put them together   place palms together

I can make them all hide   put hands behind back

I can make them jump high   hands over head

I can make them jump low   touch floor

I can fold them up quietly   fold hands in lap

And hold them just so.

 If You’re Happy

If you’re happy and you know it,

Clap your hands.

If you’re happy and you know it,

Clap your hands.

If you’re happy and you know it,

then your face will surely show it.

If you’re happy and you know it

Clap your hands.

stomp your feet

wave your arms

shout hooray

I Caught A Fish

One, two, three, four, five,

(clap hands five times)

I caught a fish alive.

(pretend to hold fish up)

Six, seven, eight, nine, ten,

(clap five times)

I let it go again.

(show empty hands)

Why did I let it go?

Because it bit my finger so!

(show hand)

Which finger did it bite?

The little one on the right.

(hold up little finger)

Hickory Dickory Dock

Hickory dickory dock,

(Touch your baby’s toes, knees, hips)

The mouse ran up the clock.

(Tickle up his body)

The clock struck one,

(Touch his nose)

The mouse ran down,

(Tickle down his body)

Hickory dickory dock.

(Touch his toes, knees and hips)

Incy, Wincy spider

Climbed up the waterspout

Down came the rain

And washed poor Incy out.

Out came the sun

And dried up all the rain

And Incy, Wincy spider

Went up the waterspout again.

Use your hand to be the spider that climbs up your child’s body,

tummy or arm. Your child might like to be the spider and use

her fingers to ‘climb’ up your arm!

Round and Round the Garden

Round and round the garden, went the teddy bear.

One step, two steps

Tickle under there.

(Walk your fingers around your child’s palm. Take steps with

your fingers up their arm, and then tickle their armpit or chin.

Also works with feet!)

Do Your Ears Hang Low?

Do your ears hang low?

(Circle hands down from each ear)

Do they wobble to and fro?

(Sway hands from side to side)

Can you tie them in a knot?

(Make knot-tying actions)

Can you tie them in a bow?

(Make bow-tying actions)

Can you toss them over your shoulder

(Toss them over one shoulder)

Like a regimental soldier?

(Salute/march)

Do your ears hang low?

The Wheels on the Bus

The wheels on the bus go round and round,

(Roll forearms over one another in front of the body)

Round and round; round and round.

The wheels on the bus go round and round,

All day long.

The horn on the bus goes beep, beep, beep,

(Tap on your nose)

Beep, beep, beep; beep, beep, beep.

The horn on the bus goes beep, beep, beep,

All day long.

The lights on the bus go blink, blink, blink,

(Open and shut hands)

Blink, blink, blink; blink, blink, blink.

The lights on the bus go blink, blink, blink

All day long.

The wipers on the bus go swish, swish, swish,

(Make arms like windscreen wipers)

Swish, swish, swish; swish, swish, swish.

The wipers on the bus go swish, swish, swish,

All day long.

The driver on the bus says, “Move down the back.”

(Make a hitchhiker’s thumb and gesture behind you)

“Move down the back,” “Move down the back,”

The driver on the bus says, “Move down the back.”

All day long.

The Grandmother’s Glasses Fingerplay

Recite this first verse of this chant in a high-pitched voice:

These are Grandma’s glasses.    Make “glasses” over eyes with fingers.

This is Grandma’s hat.   Place hands close together over head.

And this is the way she folds her hands   Clasp hands together.

And lays them in her lap.   Place hands in lap.

Recite this second verse in a deep, low voice:

These are Grandpa’s glasses.   Make “glasses” over eyes with fingers.

This is Grandpa’s hat.   Place hands farther apart over head.

And this is the way he folds his arms   Cross arms.

And takes a little nap.   Place head on arms, as if sleeping.

Lyrics:

Miss Polly had a dolly who was sick, sick, sick.

So she called for the doctor to come quick, quick, quick.

The doctor came with his bag and his hat

And he knocked on the door with a rat-a-tat-tat.

He looked at the dolly and he shook his head

And he said “Miss Polly, put her straight to bed!”

He wrote on a paper for some pills, pills, pills

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

The concert hall at the Syndey Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 35,000 times in 2011. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 13 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

The Littlest Christmas Tree

 Narrator – Long ago in the forest there were 3(or they can be as many as you want) beautiful Fir Trees.  These 3 fir trees hoped that someday they would be Christmas Trees.  They were very patient and each day they grew and grew

 (Trees walk up to the front. Trees will stay up front.)

All Children  sing to the  tune of I’m a little Tea Pot

I’m a little fir tree growing tall

Someday I’ll be the best of all.

I’ll go home with a family and

A Christmas Tree is what I’ll be!

Narrator – So the trees waited excitedly for a family to come and pick them for their Christmas Tree and then one day it happened!  A family came to the forest!

(Family walk up to front beside trees.)

Family – tune of Muffin Man

Oh will you be our Christmas Tree

our Christmas tree our Christmas tree. 

Oh will you be our Christmas Tree

and sparkle on Christmas Day?

Narrator – The family walked around all the trees and decided to take home the very biggest tree they could find!  The dad brought out his axe and cut the fir tree down and off they went!

Family and biggest tree go back to spots.

 All Children – tune of I’m a Little Tea Pot

I’m a little fir tree growing tall

Someday I’ll be the best of all.

I’ll go home with a family and

A Christmas Tree is what I’ll be!

 Narrator – Soon another family came to the forest and they looked at all the trees too.  They didn’t want a great big tree and they didn’t want a small tree.  They saw a tree that was just right! 

Family – tune of Muffin Man

Oh you are just the perfect tree

The perfect tree, the perfect tree

Oh you are just the perfect tree

For us on Christmas Day!

Narrator – The family was so happy that they had found the perfect tree for their house that they cut it down and off they went.

 Family and middle tree go back to their spots.

 Narrator – The littlest Christmas tree was all alone and he was sad and lonely. 

Little tree is all alone up front.        

 All Children – tune of Have you ever seen a lassie

Will I ever be a Christmas tree

a Christmas tree a Christmas tree

Will I ever be a Christmas tree for a happy family?

 Narrator – Soon some beautiful red birds came and sat beside the little fir tree.  They brought some of the feathers and string from their nest.  They decorated the littlest tree with the feathers and the string.

 (Birds come up and hook decorations on tree.)

Birds – tune of Are you sleeping

            Don’t be sad, don’t be sad

            We are here to stay

            We are here to stay

            We’ll be your friends on Christmas Day

            We’ll stay and we won’t fly away.

            Don’t be sad, don’t be sad.

 (Birds can sit beside tree or go back to spot depending on the wiggle factor of the bird children!! )

Narrator – The littlest tree began to feel better.  Soon some little bunnies hopped over to the little tree.  They brought some berries that they had found on the way.  They strung the berries on the tree.

(Bunnies hook berries on tree )

Bunnies – Red and Green – tune of Mary had a Little Lamb

Red and Green are Christmas colours,

Christmas colours Christmas colours.

Red and Green are Christmas colours, pretty Christmas colours.

Bunnies can sit beside tree or go back to spot depending on the wiggle factor of the bird children!!

Narrator – The feathers, string and berries looked so pretty on the little tree that he began to feel like a Christmas Tree.  He was just missing one thing!

 All children – tune of Brother John

What is missing? What is missing?

On our tree? On our tree?

A twinkling Christmas star,

A twinkling Christmas star

That’s what we need, that’s what we need.

Narrator – It was starting to get dark, and the stars were coming out in the night sky.  The stars knew that Christmas Night was the birth of a special baby and they had a big job to do.  The stars were going to tell the shepherds about the baby Jesus lying in a manger.

All Children – Baby Jesus – Finger play  

Baby Jesus fast asleep in his manger bed –

(Children make a cradle with hands and then put folded hands beside head to mimic sleeping)

Come oh come on tipee toes,

(Children make come on sign with hands and then get up on tipee toes).

See the one that loves us so.

(Children hold hand over eyes and then put hands over heart.)

 Narrator:  A little star wasn’t able to go with all the big stars and she heard the plea of all the animals and the little tree. She decided that she would go down and be a Christmas Star for the little tree.

(Star or stars come forward and stand beside little tree. If you need to fill more spots than you can change the narrators line to some little stars weren’t able to go and they decided to go down… )

All Children – Star – tune of Little Tea Pot

I’m a little Star from in the sky

I’ll sit on the tree top way up high

I’ll shine for you in my special way

And twinkle brightly on Christmas day.

Narrator – The star looked just beautiful on the little tree and now the tree felt just like a Christmas tree!  In fact, he thought he was the most beautiful Christmas tree ever!  Don’t you think so too?

Rudolph: The Missing Reindeer.

Materials: A large picture of Rudolph and divide it into 10 parts. Give one part to each group.

You need a some board or a flip chart so that they can stick each part of the picture on one by one. There is no limit to the number you can each group. Each group can either just recite the rhyme or some members of the group can recite it and other members can act it out.

Santa Claus comes out to the front of the stage and starts looking around. He looks a bit worried. He scans the sky with his telescope.

Santa Claus: Hello everybody I’m looking for Rudolph. Has anyone seen him? I looked everywhere for him and I can’t find him anywhere. (Has a telescope and is scanning the sky.)

Santa Claus: I’ve looked in pocket.
I’ve looked in my shoe
I’ve looked in the cupboard
I’ve looked up the flue.
I think I need help
From my good friends of rhyme.
I will send out a call.
I just hope in time.

(Elf/elves enter carrying a scroll. The elf faces the audience).

Elf: Hear ye, hear ye!
I have puzzle here
Bring your rhymes and hurry.
Santa clause needs help I fear.
(Santa Claus goes and sits in his chair and shakes his head in despair).

Santa Claus: The hands on my watch (looking at his watch).
Keeps going around
Rudolph is still gone
and my friends can’t be found.

Elf Elf returns with all the children. One member of each group carries a piece of the puzzle behind their back).
They’re here, they’re here!
They’ve come from afar;
by horse, by camel,
by train, boat and car.

Santa Claus: Rudolph is loose.
I’m grounded. Boo hoo!
It’s a puzzle to me,
I need help from you.

(Santa Claus is in the centre of the stage)
Girls group 1: Little Miss Muffet (rhyme can be acted out).
Sat on her turret
Eating her curds and whey
along came a spider
and sat down beside
and frightened Miss Muffet away.

(Children say there lines to Santa Claus and they put a piece of their puzzle and stick it on a board or flip chart which is behind Santa Claus and he can’t see it.)

Santa Claus: Your rhyme is nice,
but it’s what I fear
it cannot help
Bring back my reindeer.

(The elf calls to the next group to come forward, Santa Claus is looking up to the skies.)

Boys group 1: Little jack Horner (rhyme can be acted out
Sat in the corner
eating a Christmas pie
He put in his thumb
and pulled out a plum
and said “what a good boy am I”.

(Children say there lines to Santa Claus and they put a piece of their puzzle and stick it on a board or flip chart which is behind Santa Claus and he can’t see it.)

Santa Claus: your rhyme is nice,
but it’s what I fear
it cannot help
Bring back my reindeer.

Girls group 2: Mary, Mary quite contrary (rhyme can be acted out
how does your garden grow?
Silver bells and cockle shells
and pretty maids all in the row.

(Children say there lines to Santa Claus and they put a piece of their puzzle and stick it on a board or flip chart which is behind Santa Claus and he can’t see it.)

Santa Claus: your rhyme is nice,
but it’s what I fear
it cannot help
Bring back my reindeer.

Boys group 2: little boy blue, come blow your horn. (Rhyme can be acted out
the sheep’s in the meadow
the cow’s in the corn.
Where’s the little boy that
looks after the sheep?
Under the haystack fast asleep.
(Children say there lines to Santa Claus and they put a piece of their puzzle and stick it on a board or flip chart which is behind Santa Claus and he can’t see it.)

Santa Claus: your rhyme is nice,
but it’s what I fear
it cannot help
Bring back my reindeer.

Boys group 3: Jack be nimble (rhyme can be acted out).
Jack be quick
Jack jump over the beanstalk.

(Children say there lines to Santa Claus and they put a piece of their puzzle and stick it on a board or flip chart which is behind Santa Claus and he can’t see it.)

Santa Claus: your rhyme is nice,
but it’s what I fear
it cannot help
Bring back my reindeer.

Girls 3: Old Mother Hubbard (rhyme can be acted out).
Went to the cupboard
to give her poor dog a bone.
But when she got there,
her cupboards was bare
And so the poor dog had none.

(Children say there lines to Santa Claus and they put a piece of their puzzle and stick it on a board or flip chart which is behind Santa Claus and he can’t see it.)

Santa Claus: your rhyme is nice,
but it’s what I fear
it cannot help
Bring back my reindeer.

Boys group 4: Georgy Porgy, pudding in pie, (rhyme can be acted out
Kissed the girls the girls and made them cry.
When the boys came out to play
Georgy porgy ran away.

(Children say there lines to Santa Claus and they put a piece of their puzzle and stick it on a board or flip chart which is behind Santa Claus and he can’t see it.)

Santa Claus: your rhyme is nice,
but it’s what I fear
it cannot help
Bring back my reindeer.

Girls: three blind mice see how they run (rhyme can be acted out).
They all ran after the farmer’s wife
who cut off their tails with a carving knife
did you ever see such a thing in your life
as three blind mice

(Children say there lines to Santa Claus and they put a piece of their puzzle and stick it on a board or flip chart which is behind Santa Claus and he can’t see it.)

Santa Claus: your rhyme is nice,
but it’s what I fear
it cannot help
Bring back my reindeer.

Boys group 5: Jack Sprat (rhyme can be acted out).
Could eat no fat
His wife could eat no lean
and so
betwixt them both,
they licked the platter clean.

(Children say there lines to Santa Claus and they put a piece of their puzzle and stick it on a board or flip chart which is behind Santa Claus and he can’t see it.)

Santa Claus: your rhyme is nice,
but it’s what I fear
it cannot help
Bring back my reindeer.

Girls group 5: There was a little girl, (rhyme can be acted out).
Who had a little curl,
Right in the middle of her forehead.
When she was good.
She was very, very good
and when she was bad she was horrid.

(Children say there lines to Santa Claus and they put a piece of their puzzle and stick it on a board or flip chart which is behind Santa Claus and he can’t see it.)

Santa Claus: I’m old Santa Claus
and I’m stuck all around
while that reindeer of mine
Is up playing around.

(Children say there lines to Santa Claus and they put a piece of their puzzle and stick it on a board or flip chart which is behind Santa Claus and he can’t see it.)

Everyone: your puzzle is solved
so please don’t despair
your reindeer is behind you
and not up in the air.

(All the pieces are on the board and the audience can see it is a picture of Rudolph. One of the children becomes a real Rudolph and jumps out from behind the board and come up besides Santa Claus).

Old Santa Claus, you
Have nothing to fear
you can ride through the air
on a very fine reindeer.

(Santa and Rudolph hug and Santa climbs on Rudolph and they fly off)

Articulation

This improves the children’s fluency with language. It helps improve clarity of speech sounds and helps with vocal projection.

Game: Voices

Difficulty rating: **

Minimum number of participants: 1

Resources needed: Clear space, index cards with emotions on them

Instructions: Choose a simple sentence such as “I want a can of Coke.”  Write the following feelings out on cards. Have the children choose a card and say the sentence with whichever emotion they have chosen. The rest of the class has to guess what emotion they are trying to portray.

Examples of emotions that can be used:

• Calm
• Happy
• Sad
• Stubborn
• Surprised
• Excited
• Mean
• Worried
• Brave
• Lonely

At the end, have the children to repeat the sentence together using their different emotions.

Game: Tongue twisters 

Difficulty rating: * to *****

Minimum number of participants: 1

Resources needed: Handouts with tongue twisters on them

Instructions: The children must start slowly and articulate each word clearly. They can go faster and faster as they feel more confident with the tongue twisters. If you have a large class, divide them into groups of four or five.

•  A skunk sat on a stump. The stump thought the skunk stunk. The skunk thought the stump stunk. What stunk? The skunk or the stump?
• A tutor who tooted the flute, tried to tutor two tooters to toot. Said the two to the tutor, “Is it harder to toot or to tutor two tooters to toot?”
• If Freaky Fred found fifty feet of fruit and fed forty feet to his friend Frank, how many  feet of fruit did Freaky Fred find?
• Pepperoni pizza on a pink-patterned plate with parsley on the side to your pleasure.
• Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
• If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,
• where’s the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?
• Red Leather Yellow Leather Red Leather Yellow Leather Red Leather Yellow Leather….
• She shut the shop shutters so the shopping shoppers can’t shop.
• Unique New York….Unique New York…..Unique New York
• Which wristwatch is a Swiss wristwatch?
• I like New York, unique New York, I like unique New York.
• Peggy Babcock loves Tubby Gigwhip.
• Two toads totally tired tried to trot to Tewkesbury.
• She stood upon the balcony, inimitably mimicking him hiccupping and amicably welcoming him in.
• The sixth sick sheik’s sixth sheep’s sick.
• Betty Botter bought some butter

But she said, “This butter’s bitter.

But a bit of better butter

Better than the bitter butter,

That would make my batter better.”

So she bought some better butter

Better than the bitter butter

And it made her batter better.

So ’twas better Betty Botter

Bought a bit of better butter.

Game: Broken telephone

Difficulty rating: 9+

Minimum number of participants: 5

Resources needed: Clear space

Instructions: This is a classic game. With the class sitting in a circle, the leader whispers a simple message to one of the children. They must pass the message on to the child next to them, but they must follow a few rules. They must whisper but speak clearly. They can say the message only once. When everyone in the circle has passed the message to the child next to them, the last child stands up and repeats what message they heard. The message usually changes, and the leader tries to locate the broken telephones. The telephone may be broken in more than one place. Tongues twisters can be very effective here as they help children be mindful of their articulation.

Some examples to help you get started:

• She sells sea shells at the seashore.
• Four fat frogs fanning fainting flies.
• Run the rock the ragged rascal ran.

I have written a guest blog at Anseo!. It looks at the top five drama games to use to get to know your class. She is giving away a copy of my book. all you have to do is comment on the post and you have entered the competition.

5 Top Ways to get to you your New Class (guest post)

Todays guest writer is Julie Meighan, it’s her second time writing for us on Anseo A Mhuinteoir. Julie Meighan is a lecturer in Early Years Education at the Cork Institute  of Technology. She has over 15 years experience of teaching Drama to children. 

Everyone should back at school now and teachers have to get know each other and some children maybe in new classes and have to get to know their classmates. What better way to do this than using drama games especially the getting to know you games which are very effective and fun way to remember children’s names. The following are my top five getting to know you games for primary school children however these games can also be used successfully with both teenagers and adults. To see the rest of the blog and enter the competition and win a copy of “Drama Start” – Click here!

Game: Movement sequences

Difficulty rating: *

Minimum number of participants:

Resources needed: Large space

Instructions: The leader talks to the children about different ways of moving. Ask them what ways we move. Examples of different ways of moving are the following

• Walking
• Running
• Crawling
• Rolling
• Hopping
• Skipping
• Jumping
• Leaping
• Tip toeing
• Tumbling
• Turning
• Galloping
• Twirling
• Spinning
• Walking sideways
• Walking backwards

The children will come up with lots more. When the leader has got them to move in different ways she comes up with different movement sequences such as

• Walk – jump – twirl- tumble
• Spin – hop – skip – gallop

The children can have a chance at being the leader and making up their own movement sequences.

Game: Last People on earth

Difficulty rating: *****

Minimum number of participants: 6

Resources needed: Clear space, Handout with the list of names of the last people on earth.

Instructions: The children are divided into groups and giving the following hand out of the last people on earth.

Occupation                 Age                 Sex                  Information

Doctor                                69                    Male                He has cancer.

Nun                                     35                    Female             She is very religious

Construction Worker   45                    Male                He has no arms

Musician                            21                    Male                He is blind since birth

Baby                                   9 months     Female             She is an orphan

Punk                                  19                    Female             She has depression

Teacher                            67                    Female             She has never married

Actress                              27                  Female             She is a feminist

IT Expert                          31                   Male                He has no social skills

Social Worker                 29                   Male                He is a drug addict

The leader explained that there has been a nuclear war and the above people are the only people left on earth. There is an enough room and food in a bunker for 5 of them to live in for a year where they will be protected from radiation and they will survive. Each group must decide which five they think should survive. Give the group fifteen or twenty minutes to discuss the dilemma. Each group present their final five to the rest of the group. The audience can ask them questions and challenge their choices.