Activities
- Lay out a range of unusual costumes and ask students to choose one.
- Encourage students to embody characters related to their costumes. For example you could ask them to move around the room in the style of their character – will they move carefully and slowly or excitedly and fast? If they have props, encourage them to act out with them if appropriate.
- Gather everyone together and take a picture of everyone in their costumes.
- If appropriate, give instructions to jump, put hands up, wave at the camera or pull a funny face – reminding them that they are still the character! What do they think their character would do?
- Take a few different pictures, then look at them as a group on a big screen. Comment on each student’s choice of costume and pose, explaining what character you think they are and how you know.
Reflection
- How did it feel to be another character?
Go Further
If you are working with a story, you could use props and costumes related to the specific characters in the story. You could show these pictures at the beginning of future lessons as a recap of previous learning – teachers can talk through each character and costume choice then praise pupils for their choices.
Imaginative: Playing with Possibilities
The exercise encourages students to experiment with wearing expressive costume pieces and playfully explore characters associated with them. This activity also supports being collaborative.
