Drama Resources for Schools

Concentration Games

Age 7 +

Copy Cat

All the participants sit in a circle. The facilitator starts by saying an easy phrase such as “Ali Baba and the forty thieves” and doing a motion that is easily repeatable such as clapping hands or snapping fingers.

As soon as the facilitator has said the phrase, “Ali Baba and the forty thieves”, the person to the right copies exactly what the facilitator has just done, and so on around the circle.

As the second person is saying the phrase for the first time the facilitator is now saying “Ali Baba…” for the second time, but does a new hand motion. The second person will has to keep an eye on the facilitator and copy this motion once they are done, and duplicate every new motion as the leader finishes and so on round the circle.

The facilitator comes up with a new motion every time they say “Ali Baba…”, until the first motion reaches the facilitator and they stop. Then the action follows through the circle until the last person has repeated the last motion.

Age 10 +

Count to 20

This is a very simple yet very challenging drama game to focus the attention of a group at the beginning or end of a session. The participants sit or stand in a circle. The idea is the group has to count to twenty with one person saying one number at a time. The
facilitator explains that anybody can start the count, and then a different person says the next number and so on. However if two or more people speak at the same time, counting must start again from the beginning. It really is possible to get to twenty if everybody really concentrates but don’t let it get tense – try to get the group to relax into it.

Variations