Hobbies And Interests
Animal Play
Kids that love nature and animals will enjoy the idea of pretending to be various animals while performing a skit. Prior to starting this activity, ask students to pick their two favorite animals. Allow them to go online or head to the library to do research and retrieve a few facts about their chosen animals. As they act out their animal choice in the skit, they reveal their new found knowledge through dialogue with the other animal children. Instruct kids to also act out the physical characteristics, behavior and typical personality of their selected animals.
Audience Participation Please
Skits that require audience participation are fun for the leaders, as well as for the kids experiencing the play from a viewer's perspective. Many different stories are available online that you can download and print if you'd like to have a general outline to work with. "Quiet Please" is one such option, wherein the actors on stage read a story about a town called Blodgetville. Audience members are informed ahead of time of specific sounds and noises they will be asked to make throughout the skit.
Upside-Down School
Have kids host a play where the students act as the teachers and the students. You can opt to have children take turns playing teacher and do a series of skits or have two children simultaneously act as teachers, one the primary and the other her assistant. Adapt the rules of the classroom to reflect that the students always make up all classroom rules and schedules. This skit allows kids to imagine or understand what it is like to be the teacher and to have to make rules for everybody.
Vacation Adventures
Kids love new and exciting adventures and challenges, so why not encourage them to explore new places with their imaginations. Suggest they think about television commercials, internet ads, magazine articles, book covers or radio announcements that talk about popular vacation destinations. Narrow down broad themes by paying attention to the details of a region. For example, children who love playing outdoors and enjoy feeling the warmth of the sun on their backs could pretend to be visiting a Caribbean island. One skit participant acts out the role of a wind-surfing instructor and the other is his patron.