Drama: Handbook of Instant Lessons for KS3

The activities comprised in this handbook are a collection of creative and stimulating ideas for teachers that includes a selection of scripts, word games and scenarios, all suited to KS3.

An excellent pack of instant exercises that can be used as ice breakers and warm ups, as well as for drama lessons

R Hill, English Teacher & Peer Reviewer


Designed for Drama and English teachers, this resource helps students develop speaking, listening and performance skills. Each activity sheet is easily photocopied, minimising the preparation for each lesson/activity.

What do teachers say about this resource? (1072)

Fantastic. The lessons are complete, exciting and stand-alone which is a great help for cover but also great to gauge the learner ability at the beginning of the year. I liked the inclusive nature of the lessons. It is the variety of the lessons that makes the work interesting and engages the learners – above all the lessons are fun and this is what drama should be. An excellent tool for Drama

J Gillespie, HoD & Peer Reviewer

An excellent pack of instant exercises that can be used as ice breakers and warm ups for new classes as well as drama lessons. The exercises encourage student engagement and allow for free expression and confidence building. This pack is very versatile. I trialled this with a group of A2 English Literature students before getting them to read through scenes from Hamlet. By warming them up using these exercises the Hamlet read through had more life and consequently led to better understanding of the text. I also used these exercises with an AS English Lang/Lit class as part of a creative writing lesson. By selecting exercises that relied on improvisation and those on characterisation the students were able to form their own characters and scenes and came away thinking as playwrights rather than students writing a play... I can recommend this pack

R Hill, English Teacher & Peer Reviewer

I like its concise nature, it makes it easy to pick up and use straight away. The games encourage listening, concentration, physical movement & coordination, vocal control, group cooperation and social skills. The improvisations encourage creativity, characterisation, use of voice and movement, and spontaneity. The script work develops reading, oral skills, interpretive ‘page to stage’ skills (e.g. developing tension), performance skills, and theatrical understanding. All the activities foster the development of confidence, and learning through practical exploration. It would be a welcome addition to my collection of games and activities – you can never have enough of this kind of stuff – a Drama teacher’s bread and butter!

K Meredith Jones, HoD & Peer Reviewer

Very helpful resource to dip in and out of. It is very easy to read all the resource quickly. I like the idea of all the ideas and suggestions being on one page. It is clear and easy to read and understand... you can pull out any exercise you want and the resources you may need have been done for you and can easily be photocopied. Very well directed to KS3 and in particular to some good warms ups and starting points for year 7 and year 8

B Chapman, Drama Teacher & Customer

The games and excercises are the strength of this resource. They allow you to teach fundamental dramatic concepts to completely inexperienced students. The resource is a compilation of tried and tested excercises. The games are at the childrens' level, and allow them to learn through play.

H Stockburn, Drama Teacher & Customer

A clearly explained, good basic resource that could be used to build on students' skills or as one off lessons when no one of experience is around to take the lesson. I like the clarity of the pieces and the fact that it can be dipped in and out of. I also liked the fact that it gave you everything you needed

R Farish, HoD & Peer Reviewer

The themes and issues dealt with in the resource are relevant to pupils and their lifestyles. If you're covering a drama class you have an instant lesson. A very managable, user-friendly resource

R Patton, Drama Teacher and Customer