Acting games are a fantastic tool. They help students get comfortable, warmed up and focused. Acting games also develop important skills required for acting and performing.
Stuck in the Mud is a quite a well known game that isn’t necessarily related to acting; however, it is a lot of fun and gets students moving and in a good mood. Choose one person to be “tagger”. If you have a large group 20+ get two or three people to be the taggers. If you are tagged you must stay still and outstretch your legs and arms, like in a star jump. The goal is for the taggers to have the whole group stationary (stuck in the mud). Those who are not taggers can free the others who are stuck by going under their legs. End the game when either the taggers have got everyone or you can see your students starting to tire. Let a few different students be taggers.
Build the Robot is a really easy game that can be fun for all ages. It encourages team work and creativity. One person from the group must stand on stage and make a repetitive gesture. You can also have students add a sound to their movement. Another student jumps up and does a different repetitive gesture. Continue this until all the students have added to the “robot”. The students must maintain their original gesture and the goal is to create an interesting and diverse looking robot.