ESL Drama Games and Stories

Are you looking for new activity ideas and storybooks to introduce to your children?

One of my children’s favourite storybooks is The Color Monster: A Story about Emotions by Anna Lienas. Do you know it? It’s a beautifully illustrated pop-up storybook and the simple language makes it ideal for introducing or reviewing colours and emotions with young language learners.

As a fun follow up activity to the story and to get those theatrical juices flowing, I ask children to stand up and listen to a short piece of music for example 50 secs of Beethoven’s 5th Symphony. While the music is playing I hold up an “emotion” flashcard (or a page from the The Color Monster) and encourage the children to walk, dance or move around to the music and express that particular emotion.

After 40-60 secs I change the music and play a different piece for example: Happy by Pharrel Williams this time I hold up a different flashcard and encourage the children to express that emotion dancing to the music. I personally download music from iTunes for example classical, rock, pop, instrumentals etc to reflect happy, sad, angry, sleepy, love, etc.

Great fun for kids of all ages and it helps make language learning more memorable.

If you don’t have much space in your class to move around it also works well sitting down with children using dancing hands to express the emotions.

Be theatrical !
Miranda xx