From our studio to your home…
We are excited to offer our Wild Swan community a new resource, activities to be done at home. Some activities can be done alone, others are designed for small groups with as few as two participants to as many as can safely gather. These activities will nurture your creativity, imagination, and cooperation, plus toss in fun and maybe a little goofiness. That’s what actors do! So add some variety to your day and join Wild Swan in the Wings – without ever leaving your nest.
Theater Games
Theater Games help to build imagination, enhance cooperation, and inject a little goofiness into your day. Plus they are a whole lot of fun! All the games below are listed with age range recommendations, number of players, and directions for play. Have fun!
Enjoying these games? Help support Wild Swan by making a donation –
any size appreciated!
Game: Change Three
• Age range: 3 and up
• Number of people: 2 or more
• Materials needed: none
• Benefits: visual memory
This is a simple, fun game and very flexible depending on the age and number of your players. We’ve played with preschoolers, college students, seniors, and everyone in between!
Player A stands before the group (one or more people), and the group takes a minute to study the Player A’s clothes, hair, jewelry, shoes, etc. They try to see as many things about Player A as possible.
Then Player A leaves the room and changes three things. They might switch their watch from one wrist to the other, untie a shoe, roll up a sleeve, change their hair, etc. They then come back in front of the group and the group tries to name the three things that are different.
This game can also be played with partners. Player A and Player B look closely at each other for a minute or two. They then stand back to back and change three things. They then face each other and tell each other the three things that are different.
Multiple partners can play at the same time. After a round, everyone can find a new partner, and repeat the game. If there are lots of partners, people can switch partners several times which makes this a great game to get to know each other.
NOTE: all changes must be visual
Game: Mirror
• Age range: 5 and up
• Number of people: 2 or more
• Materials needed: none
• Benefits: Co-operation, seeing and reflecting what you see, bonding, connection, and being in the moment
The game of “Mirror” is one every actor, from their first theater class to the most intense actor training session, knows. The skills acquired never stop growing.
Players count off in pairs. Player A and Player B stand about an arm’s length apart. One person becomes the ‘leader’ and the other the ‘follower’. The ‘caller’ says “Begin”. Slowly, the leader moves while maintaining eye contact with the follower. The ‘follower’ reflects the moment, and keeps eye contact with the ‘leader’. The ‘follower’ tries to do the movement at the same time as the ‘leader’. After a few minutes, the players may reverse roles.
This game can be made more challenging if the ‘caller’ calls “Change” every minute or so. Each time “Change” is called, the roles are reversed. The frequency may be increased so that it becomes confusing who is the leader and who is the follower! That’s when the goal is most ‘achieved, resulting in the two players moving together as one!
Ask your players which role they liked best and why. It’s always interesting to see that many prefer leading or following. Also, it’s fun to make this a guessing game by asking people who are watching if they can guess which player is leading or following.
Game: Observation Game
• Age range: 4 and up
• Number of people: 2 or more
• Materials needed: a cloth to cover objects, tray or cloth to place objects on, simple objects (3 or more, depending on player’s visual memory abilities), paper and pencils (if the players can write)
• Benefits: visual memory
Gather a tray, objects, and a cloth, paper and pencils
Any number of players can play.
A number of real objects are placed on a tray which is set in the center of a circle of players. After 15 or 20 seconds, the tray is covered or removed. Players then write down as many objects they can remember. The lists are compared with the objects which were on the tray.
Depending on the age of the players in the group, the number of objects on the tray can be reduced or increased. A good thing to do at all ages!!
More Wild Swan in the Wings!
Looking for more activities? We’ve collected all the previous Wild Swan in the Wings collections below.
What would you like to do today?
Unleash your imagination with theater games! For kids and grownups alike, get ready to be creative, cooperative, and a little bit goofy.
Do you want to write a play? We’ve got the start of the plot. Then you use your imagination to work out the middle and end to create something amazing!
These games and activities are specially designed to be accessible to all. Everyone can play in this special collection of activities.
Funding for Wild Swan in the Wings was provided, in part, by Michigan
Humanities and the National Endowment for the Humanities as part of the
Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act economic
stabilization plan.
