SOUND BALL
An Imaginative Drama Warm-up
for Listening and Responding

This creative drama warm-up gets kids listening, responding, and using their imaginations as they pass an imaginary ball around the circle in creative and unexpected ways.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Everyone stands in a large circle. One player starts the game by giving eye contact to another person in the circle, and pretending to throw an imaginary ball to them, with a sound to go with it, e.g., “whoosh”. 

• The person immediately mimes catching the ball in the same way it was thrown, i.e., imitating the thrower’s sound and movement, and miming a ball of the same size and weight implied by the thrower. 

• The catcher then makes eye contact with another student in the circle and makes a totally different sound while “throwing” the invisible ball to them. 

• Continue this way until each student has had at least one chance to mime throwing a ball with sound.  

• Each thrower can change the size of the ball when it’s their turn. Stress being creative with the type of ball and sound, and to find different ways of throwing it.
  
  MORE WARM-UPS AND THEATER ACTIVITIES YOU MIGHT ENJOY:
  CONCENTRATION CLAPS - A group warm-up played in a circle requiring precise rhythm and rapid response.
  DROP AND GIVE ME TEN - A physical warm-up where students go from standing to lying on the floor and back.
  SPLASH - Students mime throwing water balloons and ducking while learning names in this creative group game.

Curtains Up Curriculum by Friends of the Groom Theater Co. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Curtains Up is a training program designed
for young actors sponsored by Friends of the Groom Theater Company.
It is available to the general public for free under the terms of the Creative Commons License above.