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Activities [
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Student
discussions, exercises, games before and after the play
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The
Pinocchio Game: Kids Become Puppets
A Fun Idea for
Creative Dramatics
This is a
really great way to start a rehearsal on a physical high. It is a
warm-up, stretching exercise with dramatic content to keep it
focused. It is named after the wooden puppet (if you do it at
Christmas, you can call it The Nutcracker Game). The game consists
basically of a narrative pantomime of the wooden puppet SLOWLY coming
to life. Here are some things you can say to play the game:
Right now
you're made completely of wood. Your arms and legs are carved from a
single piece of wood. You can't move any part of yourself at all.
Now a magic
spell has begun. It begins at the top of your head. The spell moves
down slowly until your head down to your eyebrows is flesh and blood.
Try and move your eyebrows.
ArtReach’s Pinocchio!
Kids Become Puppets!
 
Kenwood School, Minneapolis --
3rd, 4th and 5th Graders.
The spell keeps
moving down. Now you can move your eyes! All your life you've been
staring straight ahead, and now you can look to the sides. The
spell gets to your ears and your nose. See if you can wiggle
them. The spell gets to your mouth. You can smile. It feels
strange at first, and probably looks pretty strange too, but you grow
more comfortable with it. Try some other facial expressions as well.
Slowly you
discover that you can turn your head. Careful! You can look up and
down carefully as well. Look! You have feet! This is the first time
you were ever sure.
The spell
reaches your shoulders. But remember, your arms and hands are still
attached to your body, since you are carved from a single piece of
wood, so you can move ONLY your shoulders. Try some circles. Do you
feel a tingle up and down your spine? That's the magic working.
The spell
reaches your chest. You can puff it out like a soldier. Your elbows
can move now, but still not your hands. As the spell goes lower, see
if you can pull your left hand away from your body. Ooofff! You did it.
Bring your hand
up to your face and study it. See if you can move the fingers. Wow!
You've never seen anything so beautiful! See if you can get your
right hand free as well. Does it move too?
The spell has
reached your waist. Carefully bend forward, to the side. See if you
bend backwards. See if you can make a circle. The spell reaches your
hips, but your knees are still locked together and your feet are
still attached to your pedestal. The spell gets to your knees. See if
they bend!
Reach down and
see if you can pull your left foot free. Ooofff! Point the toe. Flex
the foot. Make little circles. Now see if you can get your right foot
free. You're all real now! See how you can move. Careful at first
– these are your first steps! Let's find all the ways our new
bodies move!
And so on&ldots;
Aladdin
Drama Fun and Activities
Performing Aladdin?
Try these in your classroom first.
MAGIC CARPET:
Have children draw a place on the floor around their desk. Pretend it
is a magic carpet. Tell them to close their eyes and wait until you
count: one, two, three! Imagine that you are flying on a magic
carpet. What do you see below you? What do you see above you?
Where do you want the carpet to take you?
Brings
Out in the Best in Your Kids!
 
ALADDIN
at Vergennes Union Elem School (VT)
LAMPS:
Discuss the lamp that the Genie lives in. Is it like any lamp you
have seen before? Discuss the difference between it and what you have
seen. Discuss the history of oil lamps. Why are lamps such an
important part of our lives?
GENIE:
Pretend you are a Genie in an oil lamp. How do you like it in there?
Do you have furniture? Do you want to get out? How would you dress if
you were a Genie? Can you think of other magical creatures like
Genies? Are there similar characters in the stories you watch on TV
or in the movies?
THREE WISHES:
Teacher, pretend you are Genie and you have the power to grant each
child three wishes. Have them write down their three wishes. What do
you want more than anything in the world? Sometimes you can wish for
a thing like a new car. And sometimes you can wish for something that
is not tangible, the way the Genie wishes for his freedom. What kind
of things like that do you wish for? Happiness? Love? Now think of
others such as friends and family. What do you wish for them?
THE CAVE OF WONDERS:
Have some of the children create the cave doors. Others may ask to be
let in the cave by calling out: Open Sesame! The cave may refuse to
admit them but they must explain their reasons. If the children are
admitted what do they find there? Have them pretend they are in a
cave that is dark and echoic. What kind of treasure might they find
there? If you find a statue made of gold have someone show how that
statue would look.
Kids
Love the Funny Characters!
 
Magician,
Aladdin, Persia - Monkton Central School, Vermont
IMAGINARY FRIENDS:
Have the children think about what kind of side kick they would like
to have with them all the time, the way Aladdin has his cat Persia.
What kind of animal would you have? If they could talk what would be
their language? Would they help you in times of trouble? If they got
in trouble what would you do for them?
PALACES:
Have the children compare their house to a palace? What would a
palace have that you don’t have at home? What would the palace
be made of? Sugar, chocolate, ice, glass? What would your room
in the palace look like? Would you let other people live there too?
MAGIC STAFF:
Omar the Magician has a magic staff where he keeps all his magic
power. If you had magic power where would you keep it? In your
backpack, in your hat, in your desk? Name two things that your power
lets you do that you cannot do without it. Would you want to be
invisible, to fly, to have new toys? If you could give one of your
powers away who would you give it to?
PRINCES AND PRINCESSES:
Pretend you are a prince or princess. What clothes would you wear and
where would you live? Would you go to school? Would you have to do
homework? If you were a princess what would be different from the way
you are now?
MUSIC:
Listen to Scheherazade by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. Discuss the
origins of the piece and talk about which parts you liked best. Read
the story of Scheherazade and talk about how the music fits the parts
of the story.
Listen
to Scheherazade (Vienna Philharmonic)
DIFFERENT STORIES:
The original story in this Guide is quite different from the story in
the play. Can you identify the different parts? Why do you think the
story is different? If you could change the story what would you put in?
CREATIVE WRITING:
Aladdin is just one of many stories from The Arabian Nights.
Have the children write a story that is all their own using the same
characters: Boy, girl, magician, sultan, genie – maybe even give
them different names. Discuss what their new story is about. Love,
power, freedom, good over evil? What can the characters do to
prove they have these things?
Creative
Ideas for Beauty
and the Beast Activities
Beauty and the
Beast: Exercises & Activities
Discussion:
Before the Play
Talk about
theatre and what a play is. What other plays have you
seen? Describe them to the class. Why do you think
certain parts of those plays are memorable to you? What do you
expect this play will be like? What is the difference between
seeing a play on television or movies and seeing actors perform it live?
Discuss you
students the proper etiquette for audience members during a live
performance. Impress upon them that the actors they see are
live people who care very much how you respond to the work they are
doing. Young audience members should learn the meaning of
applause and laughter and that they should be polite to the people
who are performing for them.
Read the
original story and the synopsis of the play that appear in this
Teachers Guide. How are the stories alike? How are they
different? Talk about the practical consideration of putting on
a play and why the actors might need to adjust the story in order to
present it on stage.
The play takes
place in France where they used to tell fairy tales. Look up France
on the Internet and in books, locate it on the globe. Talk
about what we know about the country, history, music and the
people. What kinds of clothes do they wear and what did the
wear in years past? Remember your answers when you see the
actors in their costumes. Or if you are performing in the play
use the pictures you find to help create your costume.
During the
play, children will be asked to participate by helping make sounds,
wind, music, wolves, etc.. Describe a storm, scary forest,
angry mob or ferocias wolves and talk about how they sound and
move. Point out the actual events or other plays or movies you
may have seen. How does your play relate to events in "real
life” or other "fantasies”?
Talk about
clothes and what they say about your personality. Name some of
your favorite movie stars or musicians and how the clothes they wear
shape the image we have of them. What makes some clothes come
into fashion why others go out of style. Describe your favorite
shoes, hat and coat. What makes you like them? How do you
feel when you wear them?
Discussion:
After the Play
Discuss in more
detail the play you have just seen. Who is your favorite
character and why? Talk about how the actors created the
illusion of many things such as the castle, the forest, the
marketplace and the invisible painting that Marcel sets up.
Talk about how you were asked to sue you imagination as opposed to
movies and cartoons that show you a picture of everything.
Talk about some
of the characters you saw in the play such as the Villagers and
Household Servants. What did they do with their voices and
bodies to convey their character to you? Would you like to try
your hand at acting? Write down the names of characters such as
Beast and Wolves. Come up with crazy names as Huey Kazooie and
show the class how Huey would act and talk. Choose other
characters, perform them and ask your classmates to guess who you are.
Charles
Perrault wrote many play besides Beauty and the Beast.
What titles are you familiar with? Can you recount these
stories? Which do you like best and why?
What do you
think a magical Prince-turned-Beast would actually look like?
Draw a picture of the Beast showing how he thought he looked once
like a Prince. Draw a picture of the Prince before he turned
into a Beast.
What is the
meaning of this famous story? When people say "his bark is
worst than his bite” what do you think they mean? The
Prince embarrassed when he realized he had been tricked and turned
into the Beast. What might he have done to prevent this embarrassment?
 
Monkton Central School,
Bristol, VT
Classroom Activities
CLASS
STORY: Read a version of the story as a class. View an
animated version and compare the two. After seeing the show,
compare all three genres.
BEING A
HERO: Ask the class what it means to be a hero.
Brainstorm a list of qualities that make a person seem like a
hero. In groups, pick the most important qualities and identify
heroes today. Share as a class. Discuss whether or not there is
a hero in Beauty and the Beast.
JOURNAL
ACTIVITY: Have students imagine that they are in Beauty’s
shoes. In order to save their fathers, the students have to
live with a terrifying beast. What would it feel like? Would the
students have the courage to do it?
"YOU ARE A
HERO!”: Ask students to write about a time in their lives
when they had to overcome something or helped someone.
FROM THE
OUTSIDE IN: Have students imagine that they could only show
people their worst qualities. No one would ever know the good
qualities they had deep down inside. What would that look
like? What would it feel like? Have students draw what
that person would look like, and write a story to go along with it.
FRACTURED AND
FUNNY: Have students write a fractured version of Beauty
and the Beast. Explain that a fractured fairy tale is made to be
humorous by changing the story in a surprising way; like changing a
character or adding today’s language and events to the
story. Encourage the students to take creative risks.
NOW YOU SEE IT,
NOW YOU DON’T: The element of magic is common in
fairytales. In Beauty and the Beast, things aren’t always
what they seem. Explore optical illusions. Look at
examples as a class. View optical illusions as a class using
the internet and books.
AROUND THE
WORLD ONCE UPON A TIME: Research different fairy tales from around
the world and different times.
HANDING
INFORMATION DOWN GENERATION TO GENERATION: Gather students on the rug
and have them sit in a circle. Explain that fairytales were
handed down through word of mouth. Pretend that each student
sitting in that circle is another generation. Play a game of
"telephone” (one person thinks of a sentence and whispers
it in the person sitting next to him/her’s ear, and that person
passes, and so on) to demonstrate how stories change.
RE-WRITE
HISTORY: Ask students to rewrite the ending of Beauty and the
Beast. What would the play version of this look like?
After rewriting the way the story turns out, have students design a
scene from their versions (the castle, forest, etc&ldots;) using only
their imaginations to guide them.
FINISH THE
PICTURE: Have students design what the costumes would look
like. Remind them that the story can take place anywhere and in
any time period.
Classroom
Exercises: <
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