Tapestry of Faith: Love Will Guide Us: A Program for Grades 2-3 that Applies the Wisdom of the Six Sources to the Big Questions

Alternate Activity 3: Role Play

Activity time: 20 minutes

Materials for Activity

Preparation for Activity

  • Designate an open space to be your stage area.
  • Review and adapt the drama scenarios in Leader Resource 3.
  • Optional: Gather props and display them on a work table.

Description of Activity

Describe a scenario and assign volunteers to play the characters. In large groups, you can assign more than one child to be the same animals. In small groups, you can leave out some of the characters.

Explain that improvisation means they get to make up their own lines and actions as they go and in this drama all creatures can speak. They should try to act as they animal they are assigned.

Guide the characters to enact their drama with questions like:

  • What is the problem here?
  • What does each character need or want?
  • How might they try to get it?
  • What might happen next?
  • How do you think this will end?

As time allows, reassign characters to try different parts or enact a second dramatic scenario.

When you are done, debrief with questions such as:

  • Which animals went hungry in the drama? (the predator bird? the mosquito?)
  • Did any animals get eaten? (the mosquito? the worms? the mouse?)
  • When you have an animal that has to eat or escape from another to survive, how do you decide which animal you hope will "win?"
  • Did the characters say anything that surprised you?
  • How did the children help or hurt the animals?
  • Were you happy with the ending?
  • What could we have done differently?
  • Do you think the human characters acted in ways that showed love for all creatures?