Avoid drama at home with these drama games for all ages!

Published: 22/03/2020

Looking for ideas to entertain your children at home now that the schools are closed?

We’re going to be publishing a series of articles with ideas and activities for children of all ages. The first one in our series is… Drama Games!

Are you or your child(ren) aspiring actors? Try out our fun drama games and see how you get on:

UNDER 8 YEAR OLDs

1.      Anything Fabric: 

What you will need: A large piece of fabric.

Ask what could this fabric be?

Demonstrate by turning the fabric into something i.e. a superman cape, a nappy, a magic carpet, a flag, a wig, or a dog leash.

Let your child(ren)’s imagination run wild!


2.      Discovering an Object:

Take an everyday object and take it in turns to pretend it is something entirely different.

Get the other person (people) to guess what you are imagining the object to be. 

3.      Sound effects story:

Start off by sitting down together and making different sound effects i.e. wind rushing through trees, rain falling on the group, a dog barking, a door creaking, a telephone ringing, a police care siren, footsteps on a pathway, someone eating nosily.

Read a story out loud and include sound effects.

Read the same story again (or a different story) and ask the child(ren) to mime the actions and make the sound effects at the same time

You can find loads of free “sound effect stories” here.

At mTamarin we love: Why the cricket chirps and When do hippos play.

4.      Storytelling:

Start telling a story and then take it in turns to complete a sentence each until the story is finished.

Add a rule that only the person holding the toy, ball, teddy etc. can speak.

Make up a story about an object, e.g., a hat. “Who do you think the hat belongs to?”

Children can put the hat on whilst telling the story.

8-10 YEAR OLDS

1.      Mirrors: 

Done in pairs.

Name one A and one B.

Start by saying B must copy everything A does.

Switch after 2 minutes.

Then limit to facial expressions. Then hand gestures.

2.      Guiding the blind:

Start by blindfolding one of the children.

The blindfolded player gets led around the room by their partner, who helps them to avoid obstacles.

Then the guide walks with the blindfolded player without touching them just using voices to help them navigate and achieve simple tasks.

Let the children swap roles and let them blindfold you if you are game!

You can also set up an obstacle course to make it even harder

3.      North South East West

The sides of the room become points of the compass.

Shout out a point and the children have to run to it.

Add other rules: i.e., Around the world = run a circle around the room. End of the world = play dead.

4.      Character building:

Ask the child to think of a character. (You can also do the same) Get them to picture them in their head, what do they look like? What clothes do they wear?

Get them to think about their character’s life: How old are they? Who are the members of their family? Where do they live? What is their job?

Now pretend that you are your character waking up in your room. Begin getting ready for the day. Leave the house, walk to work etc.

Try to find things around the house to dress up in and transform yourself into your characters.

After you have finished a day as the character, get the child to draw what they think their character looks like.

OVER 10 YEAR OLDS

1.      Dragons Den:

Ask the child(ren) to think of a product/service/business. It does not have to be realistic, it can be magical etc.

Give them a piece of paper to draw their product, ask them to make a logo, a slogan/song for the product.

As them to write down how the product works and what it does and how much they want to sell it for.

Get them to present their idea to you and you can ask questions.

While the child(ren) is working on their product, create a big cheque to give them and write on it

how much money you would award their product.

2.      Stranded on an island:

Find a mat or table to be your deserted island.

Tell the child(ren) they have 10 minutes to find what they would take to their desert island.

You can limit them to 5 or 10 items to stop them from grabbing everything they can!

You can also ask them to choose an outfit.

3.      Two truths and one lie:

So, it’s not usually recommended to encourage children to tell lies but in this instance it’s harmless and can be fun.

Take it in turns to tell each other three things about yourself, two which are true and one of which is a lie.

Everyone takes a turn to guess which one is the lie.

4.      One word at a time:

Each person takes it in turn to add one word to the story starting with ‘Once –Upon– a– Time’.

Rather than just taking turns in a planned order, include a ball. The person who has the ball should choose the next person they want to add a word and throw the ball to them.

You can also ask everyone to act out the story as its being told.

5.      Ten Second Objects:

Call out an object that you know is somewhere in the house. Count down from 10 as the child(ren) run to grab it.

The first one to get back to the same spot with the object is the winner. 

While now is a great time to have fun with your kids at home, it is also really important to talk to your child(ren) about CV-19. This is a sensitive topic but we have created a guide on how to approach it best.

You can find great activity videos and more on our YouTube channel.


Tamarins are monkeys who parent in family groups – like a village – helping each other while children are small.

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Parents sign up here to begin your nanny search.

Nannies sign up here to find your next family. Alternatively, you can send your CV to hello@mytamarin.com and we will be in touch!

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