The Theatre Primary Resources

Role-Play and The Theatre for KS1

Help your KS1 children become experts on theatre, with our helpful collection of educational materials and theatrical displays. Covering topics like theatre lettering, puppet and role-play area, all of our worksheets, activities and theatrical displays have been created by teachers to ensure accuracy. Our teacher-made resources have been designed for use with KS1 children.

We have made eye-catching theatrical display posters for your classroom and role-play resources for all learning activities with a spotlight on the performing arts. Children will love learning about theatre in the past and present, as Britain has a rich theatrical history and people have performed theatre since ancient Greek times.

You can also use our collection of theatre writing frames and page borders to get your students trying their hand at writing their own plays. This is a brilliant way to get them to think creatively and teach them about the art of script-writing. Not only will this help to improve their writing abilities but it will also give them the opportunity to create their own absorbing stories and characters.

Ideas for teaching Theatre and Drama to children

Children often have their first experience of the theatre at a local pantomime, so if your class have seen a show you can get them to write a review. There are creative activities you can do like designing a show poster, making costumes and set designs, or making props and costumes together.

Studying play texts in English is fantastic for language development, especially as drama is designed to be spoken and heard aloud. Children can work on delivering lines to help their phonics. Learning lines off by heart is great for their memory and they will have to be good listeners to perform dialogue or sing with others.

Celebrate achievements and performances with photos and theatrical display posters for the classroom. There's no business like show business!

What are the key elements of theatre?

• Characters - the people in the play.
• Plot - the events that make up the story.
• Audience - the spectators that provide the essence of the call and response format.
• Director - the person who oversees the whole production.
• Themes - the subjects of the play.
• Dialogue - conversations between characters.
• Theatre space - the area where actors perform and the audience can watch.
• Design aspects - costumes, lighting, background and so on.

See if you can incorporate all of these elements into your own theatrical displays.

Theatre in the classroom and beyond

Drama is part of the national curriculum, studied in English and later as a distinct subject, and there is a good reason for teaching children about performance. Let's have a look at some of the benefits of children learning about the theatre and performing arts:

• Improves their empathy and emotional intelligence
• Also requires communication and concentration
• Role-playing allows the practice of real-life scenarios
• Allows creative self-expression - kids love dressing up!
• Supports physical coordination especially with dance
• They can explore emotions and real-world situations safely

Take a look at our video below for more tips you can use when teaching drama to children.