© Drama Notebook www.dramanotebook.com Creative Drama Lesson-Animals pg.

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 Creative Drama Lesson-Animals!

In this animal-themed creative drama lesson, children will be guided to sing, dance, share
stories, and play. Activities will nurture and enhance each child’s ability to communicate their
ideas and feelings. Through movement-based storytelling and guided imagination play, children
will build spatial awareness and physical control. Their creative and critical thinking skills will
blossom as they play and explore with their friends!

In this lesson, students will:

• Engage their voice, body, and their imagination during creative warm-ups.
• Practice moving in self-space, shared space, and general space.
• Build literacy skills as they listen and contribute to a story about animals.
• Practice taking turns and sharing, as they play drama games.
• Grow their communication skills as they play with friends.

Welcome (5 minutes)
Once everyone has gathered, form a circle. Invite students to sing and dance along to the
sweet song: Six Little Ducks or I’m Bringing Home a Baby Bumblebee.

I’m bringing home a baby bumblebee

Won’t my mommy be so proud of me
I’m bringing home a baby bumblebee
Ouch! It stung me!

Alternate Verses:
I’m squishing up my baby bumblebee…
I’m wiping off my baby bumblebee…
I’m licking up my baby bumblebee…

Warm-Ups (10 minutes)

Bunny
Players stand in a circle. One player becomes the bunny by putting her paws in front of her.
The players on her left and right become the ears of the bunny by holding up their arms next to
her ears and waving. All three chant “bunny, bunny, bunny,” together, until the middle player
tosses a bunny to another player in the circle. He becomes the new bunny, and his neighbors
get to do the ears.

© Drama Notebook www.dramanotebook.com Creative Drama Lesson-Animals pg. 2

Environments
Invite students to move about the space through different environments. Encourage them to
varied levels and to engage their senses. Flow from one environment to another. Consider
making it a little imagination journey if you like, or just jump from one idea to the next. This is
a fun activity to incorporate instrumental music.

Environment Ideas for ANIMAL theme:

In a butterfly house
Riding on the back of a dolphin in the ocean
Soaring with the eagles in the sky
Rolling around in the mud with pigs
Swinging from the trees with monkeys
Slipping and sliding on the ice with penguins
Lumbering through the forest with bears
Sneaking through the grasslands with lions

Birds Have Feathers

This is a simplified version of ‘Simon Says,’ and is a funny concentration warm-up. Choose one
player to be the leader. They go up in front of the group and say, “Birds have feathers.” The
entire group including the leader starts flapping their arms like wings. Next, the leader calls out
other things in a rapid-fire way meant to confuse the group. “Crows have feathers. Eagles have
feathers. Dogs have feathers.” Players ‘flap’ their wings only when the leader calls out things
with feathers. You can also consider these starters: Dogs have fur. Fish can swim. Mosquitoes
can fly. Birds lay eggs.

Categories
Come up with as many words as possible for each ANIMAL category. Gather in a circle. Taking
turns, children will share their ideas. They can do this by saying words aloud, or by
pantomiming while others guess. You can go around a few times with different categories.

Category Ideas for ANIMALS:

Farm Animals
Water Animals
Reptiles
Mammals
Birds
Baby Animal Names
Pets

Zoo
One at a time, players go up on stage and become a zoo animal (or any animal). Others guess
what animal that child is playing. They can do this silently for a few seconds, and then with
sound if needed. Children can decide their own animal, or use a deck of animal flash cards to
inspire them.

© Drama Notebook www.dramanotebook.com Creative Drama Lesson-Animals pg. 3

Brain Dance
This is a fun way to warm up your body and brain. As you move through this series of body
patterns, students will not only engage their bodies and imaginations, but they will also be
building new neuro-pathways. Each of the elements is based on primitive reflexes and helps to
boost learning, behaviors, and emotional states. To learn more, check out Braindance. Children
may be gathered in a circle, scattered about the room, or even in their chairs. Below is a Brain
Dance based on Animals. You can do this with music or just guiding students with your voice.
Children also love to help come up with movement ideas!

Try This!
1. Breath: Imagine your arm is an elephant’s trunk. Breathe in as it reaches
high, and breathe out as it lowers down.
2. Tactile: Scratch your fur from head to toe like a big bear.
3. Core-Distal: This movement is growing and shrinking. Become a butterfly.
4. Head-Tail: Shake your tail like a dog, then move like a dolphin.
5. Upper-Lower: Start with just the upper body, catching little bugs in the air.
Then, for the lower part of body, kick your legs like a donkey.
6. Whole Body: Become a monkey and swing through the trees.

Guided Imagery
Guided imagery is great for teaching students about using all of their senses. Depending on the
activity and the attention span of your students, you may have them spread out throughout the
room finding their own space and moving throughout the journey or have them sit in a chair or
lie on the floor with their eyes closed.

The Beach
Imagine you are walking along a white sandy beach. You can hear the gulls above you and feel
the gentle waves washing over your feet. Your feet sink into the warm sand as you stroll along.
It is quiet and safe. The sun is shining down on you, making you nice and warm. You can smell
the salty air. You see the perfect spot to sit and rest. This feels like your very own beach. You
look out at the immense ocean. The colors are a mix of greens and blues. The waves are foamy
white. The roll of each wave sounds like the earth breathing. O….cean….O….cean. Over and
over again, with each and every wave. Feel the warm sand underneath you. Hold some of it in
your hands and let it slide through your fingers. As you sit gazing at the water you see dolphins
playing. They are several of them, jumping in and out of the water. You can hear the splashes.
They are moving down the coast and soon are out of sight. All of sudden you notice a puppy
trotting up to you. It’s so cute! It’s running and flopping in the sand. It comes right up to you
as if it wants to play. It gives you puppy kisses. Pet the puppy. What color is it? How does its
fur feel? Play with the puppy for a little while. Oh, now the puppy has run off happily. You have
enjoyed your time at the beach, but it’s time to leave. You stand up and take one last big
breath of the ocean air.

Ask!
Could you imagine the feel of the sand, air and water?
What kind of puppy visited you?
Have you ever been to a beach?
Did it make you feel peaceful, happy, anxious, or sad? Why?
What other places would be fun to visit in this way?
© Drama Notebook www.dramanotebook.com Creative Drama Lesson-Animals pg. 4
 Story Time (10 minutes)

Play A Story
Students gather in a circle around a white board. Together you will devise a story about spring
based on their suggestions.

1. Draw 3 vertical columns on a white board.

2. The first column will have the header PREDATORS. Have children name off predators to
make this list. (It’s okay if they are not typical predators or even animals.)
3. The third column will say CLOTHING. Children add to that list too.
4. In the middle column, draw a HOUSE with a few stick people around it. This is a
preposition house. Explain that prepositions describe position. Ask students, “Where can
you be in relation to this house?” Children create the list of prepositions.

PREDATORS CLOTHING

Lion Over Scarf

Tiger Under Rain boots

Human In Dress

Cat Behind Pajamas

Mosquito On top of Underwear

Bear Inside Swimsuit

Each child adds one idea per category. Once you have filled in all three columns, choose one
word from each to create the title of your story. (Examples: The Lion in the Pajamas or The
Mosquito Under the Dress) From there, begin making up a story. Encourage children to share
their ideas and use their bodies to show parts of the story. They can either move about the
room as the story unfolds or stay in self-space.

Tips:
Start with “Once upon a time, there was…”
Allow children to fill in the blanks throughout the story.
Include all of their ideas no matter how silly. Let them guide you.
Praise their ideas and encourage movement.
Have children give the main character(s) a problem.
Have the main character(s) solve the problem in a clever, unexpected way.

© Drama Notebook www.dramanotebook.com Creative Drama Lesson-Animals pg. 5

Here is an example of how to create a story together:

The Lion in the Pajamas (Title provided from children’s suggestions from chart)
Once upon a time, there was a group of children who went on a field trip to the zoo. What were
they excited to see? (Children shout out animals.) Wonderful! Can you all show me these
animals? How do they move? What do they sound like? (Children can either move about the
room, or you can ask them to stay in self-space) Well, on this particular day, the children were
very eager to see the big cats. You see they had been studying felines. Can you all say the
word ‘feline?’ That means cat. Can you tell me the names of some big cats? (Children list off
lions, tigers, cheetahs etc.) Wow! You know your cats. Well, when they arrived at the lion
environment, there was no lion! But something very curious was there on the ground. What
was it Sam? A pizza! Yes. It was a big pizza box. What kind of pizza do you all like? (They
answer.) They were very curious, so they asked the zookeeper what was going on. Mia, what
was the zookeeper’s name? Mr. Peanut? Okay. Well, Mr. Peanut informed the children that last
night all the animals had a big slumber party. They ordered pizza and watched movies and ate
lots of cookies. And because they stayed up so late, they are all still sleeping. Just then, they
heard a big yawn. Can you all yawn? Isn’t it funny that when one person yawns, we all yawn?
Well, this was no ordinary yawn. It was the lion! He came crawling out of his den and what was
he wearing Lola? Yes, he was wearing pajamas. What did these pajamas look like Max? Yes,
they were red and white polka-dotted. So fancy! And that my friends, is the story of The Lion in
the Pajamas. The End.

Here are some simple ‘Short Play Outlines’ that that

can be used with this activity.

OR

Read It/Tell It/Act It

Begin by reading a book to the children while they sit
and listen. Once finished, ask them to identify the
characters, setting, and the problem. You can also ask
them to identify the beginning/middle/end. Finally it’s
time to get on your feet and act it out.

Here are some ways to do that:

Character Walk
Ask students to move about the room as one of the characters. Encourage them to use their
body and emotions. Ask them how this character moves.

Tableau
This can be done with the whole group or divide them two groups. Give them a moment in the
story and ask them to create a frozen picture with their group. They can become items like
trees, tables, sky, or even emotions. They do not have to be characters. Encourage them to use
different levels and show expression.

© Drama Notebook www.dramanotebook.com Creative Drama Lesson-Animals pg. 6

STORY BOOK IDEAS:

The Wolf, The Duck, and The Mouse by Mac Barnett

Ayobami and the Names of the Animals by Pilar Lopez Avila

The Mitten by Jan Brett

The Old Woman Who Named Things by Cynthia Rylant

Miss Hazelton’s Home for Shy and Fearful Cats by Alicia Potter

Stella Luna by Janell Cannon

If by Sarah Perry

The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig by Eugene
Trivizas

The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf

Frog and Toad by Arnold Lobel

Drama Games (10 minutes)

Freeze Farm
Children love freeze games and pretending to be animals. This one fits with our springtime
theme. As the leader, you become the farmer. To begin the game say something like, “Alright
little animals. It’s been a beautiful spring day, but it’s time to go into the barn and go to sleep.”
As they take on their animals, direct them to be quiet and find a little spot to curl up. “Whew! I
guess I can head back to the farmhouse for dinner now.” As soon as you leave, they come to
life, making noise and playing. When you return they freeze. “Oh dear, I forgot to feed you.”
You can pretend to be surprised, “Well that’s strange I thought I put that calf in her pen, and
that ducking over there…” Each time you have a reason to leave and to return. End the game
by asking them to follow you, which can help transition into the next activity. “Well little
animals, I guess you’re not tired. Would you like to follow me into the house?” Turn this into a
bit of follow the leader and then lead them into a circle or to the next activity.

Pet Show
Put students in pairs. One person is the pet owner. The other person is the pet. They decide
what the pet will be, come up with a name and a trick. When everyone is ready, it’s time to
share. The owner leads the pet on, introduces them, and then the animal performs.

Memory
Bring in a tray with about ten animal items to class. This could be a variety of little toy animals,
animal flash cards, stuffed animals, or things like leashes and cat toys. Place the items in the
middle of the circle and allow students to observe. Then take the items away and have the
students list as many objects as they can remember on a sheet of paper. Another option is to
have children close their eyes and you remove one item. Can they guess what it is? Children
love to have their own turn at guessing.

© Drama Notebook www.dramanotebook.com Creative Drama Lesson-Animals pg. 7

 Free Imagination Play (10-15 minutes)
During this free time, students might be inspired by the story you shared, games you’ve played,
or they might come up with something original. Consider providing them with some props or
toys such as stuffed animals, blocks, or art supplies. Let them drive this time. You are along for
the ride. Be sure to leave a few minutes for clean up before the closing circle.

Closing Circle (5 minutes)

Gather students into a circle. This is a time for reflection and ritual. Ask what they enjoyed most
about the day. Close with a little game, poem, or a beloved song. You can also consider singing
the same song you opened with.

Poetry
Students can make up movements for this fun little poem/song.

Squirrel, Squirrel, shake your bushy tail

Squirrel, Squirrel, shake your bushy tail
Wrinkle up your little nose
Hold a nut between your little toes
Squirrel, Squirrel, shake your bushy tail

Proverbs
This is a type of one word story game. Everyone sits in a circle, closes their eyes and takes 3
deep breaths. Ask them to think of breathing in nice fresh air. Now, begin by saying one animal
name. One at a time, each child contributes just one word to make a little sentence. You will
need to prompt the second person to give an action word to help form a sentence. The third
should be a preposition. (They might have learned preposition in the Play A Story activity)
When it naturally ends, everyone quietly says, “yes, yes, yes” tapping their fingertips together
in a very wise way. You might get something like “Cows–dance-under-rainbows.” Or, ”Monkeys-
play-on top of-branches.” Once they get the hang of it, you can go around several times until
everyone has the opportunity to be a starter.

© Drama Notebook www.dramanotebook.com Creative Drama Lesson-Animals pg. 8