At least 3 players
3rd grade – adult

Everyone in a circle. We are going to say a pattern, one word per player, going clockwise. It goes like:
•    One Duck, two Legs, Quack
•    Two Ducks, four legs, Quack Quack
•    Three Ducks, six legs, Quack Quack Quack
And so on, till someone misses. Keep the rhythm!

At least 2 players
5th grade — adult

Players form pairs and sit on the floor. They establish a very simple rhythm by slapping their knees then either pointing their hands up/down/left/right. The players continue this till they do the same action at the same time. If they do, they replace the pointing action by making a fake water gun and making a “ksss” sound effect. The point of the game is to keep focus and rhythm.

Source: Bethany Nelson

At least 8 players
9th grade-adult

Students begin in two groups of four in lines facing each other. The first person in the line is the MC and begins with a line from a rap. The last word of the line is finished by the next person in the line. Then the leader says the next line and the last word, finished by the third person in the line, has to rhyme with the last word in the previous line.
Ex: 1st – When it’s nice outside we go to the…
      2nd – PARK
      1st – I saw this dog and he went…
      3rd – BARK … etc.

Source: Carlos Williams, Drama as Education, Emerson College, 2010.
Kailey Smith’s Game File

8-20 players
2nd grade-adult

To begin, the players sit in a circle and begin a one-two rhythm with clapping, snapping, hitting the floor, etc. In rhythm, one player says “I am thinking of…” and states a category, then something that fits into that category. On the second beat, after the first player, the second player says something that fits the category and it continues around the circle. When it gets all the way around, the next player can state a new category and the game continues.

Source: creativedrama.com/theatre
Kailey Smith’s Game File

At least 6 players
6th grade-adult

One player begins in the middle of the room and starts a machine-like sound and accompanying movement. Then another player adds onto that with another sound and movement that interacts with the first. After taking a moment to see the developing machine, every student adds onto it. Once complete, the leader can direct the machine to grow louder, softer, faster, etc.

Source: Roxanne Schroeder-Arce, Emerson College 2009
Kailey Smith’s Game File

At least 6 players
4th grade and up

The players sit in a circle and one player volunteers to “find the chief” and leaves the room. Then another player volunteers to be the chief and starts a repetitive, rhythmic movement that everyone else in the group begins to copy. The first volunteer comes back and begins to observe. Subtly, the chief changes the movement and everyone follows, attempting not to reveal the identity of the chief. The game ends when the first volunteer correctly guesses the identity of the chief.

Source: Summer Adventure Day Camp

(Alternate title: The Old Person’s Dance)
At least 6 players
5th grade-adult

The class stands in a circle. The leader may use music or a drumbeat as accompaniment. The first player invents a step or a movement of some part of the body and the entire group repeats that movement and commits it to memory. Then the next player repeats that movement and adds another one that the group then repeats. The next player repeats those movements, adds another one, and the game continues until everyone has contributed a step or movement to the dance.

Source: Creative Drama in the Classroom and Beyond Nellie McCaslin, Pg. 62.
Kailey Smith’s Game File

3+ players
5th grade and up

Players sit in a circle. Each player is given a number except the leader. The leader (“Big Booty”) begins the rhythm (patting their lap then clapping) and leads the chant (“Awwww yeah, big booty aww yeah, big booty big booty big booty”). Keeping the rhythm going, they say “Big Booty, Number 3 (for example).” That number, with the rhythm, says “Number 3, Number 8” and the pattern continues until someone break the rhythm, picks their own number or picks the number of the person who just called their number. To make it competitive, the person who messes up is out. If Big Booty is out, Number 1 becomes Big Booty.

Source: Friends Camp!

At least 4 players
K-adult

Each player comes up with a simple gesture to identify him/herself. Each player presents his/her gesture and everyone tries to learn and remember each one. The group begins a rhythm by slapping legs twice and hands once (SLAP SLAP CLAP). One player then replaces the CLAP with his/her gesture and the next CLAP with someone else’s. The player who identifies with that gesture picks it up and does the same. The gestures are passed around the circle with eye contact and no hesitation.

Source: Jake Mann originally.
Nathanial Taylor-Leach, TH460, 2009
Kailey Smith’s Game File

At least 3 players
5th grade-adult

Create a song or beat using any number (at least 3) of syncopated rhythms. Have the group members count off by how many rhythms there are and form groups. When they come back into one group, the leader tells the 1st group to start and, maintaining the tempo, calls out each group in turn.

Source: Directing 1 with Benny Sato Ambush, Emerson College.
Kailey Smith’s Game File