Children use their bodies, voices and imaginations to make sense of the world. In process drama, these become ways to explore a shared imaginary situation. A child might become a traveller, an animal looking for shelter or someone who needs help. What happens next grows from the children’s ideas and the questions we explore together.
The educator offers a starting point, helps the group enter the fiction and introduces questions or events that deepen the inquiry. There is no need for a script, rehearsal or final performance. The emphasis is on taking part, making meaning and discovering possibilities.
Movement: exploring what is happening
Movement helps children explore the place, situation and role. How might we move through thick mud? What changes when we are carrying something precious? What would we do if the bridge began to wobble?
Invite children to try their own ideas. Slow, quick, heavy, light, still and careful movements can emerge from what is happening in the story.
“The path has become very slippery. How could we get everyone across?”
Gesture: communicating an idea
A gesture can offer help, ask someone to wait or warn the group about danger. Children can communicate through a wave, a raised hand, a pointing finger or a movement they invent themselves.
Let gestures have a purpose within the drama. A child can contribute a whole idea without speaking.
“We need to send a message without waking the sleeping giant. How could we do that?”
Expression: exploring different perspectives
Facial expression and posture can help children explore how a person or animal might respond to a situation. There can be several possible responses to the same event. One traveller might feel curious about a strange sound while another wants to turn back.
Avoid asking everyone to produce the same “happy” or “sad” face. Invite children to explore possibilities, and listen to what their choices mean to them. A facial expression alone does not tell us exactly what someone is feeling.
“Our visitor has stopped outside the door. What might they be thinking? What could we do to help?”
Attention and relationships: responding to others
Process drama develops through the group’s responses. Children notice an action, listen to an idea, make space for another person or decide how their role will respond.
Eye contact is optional. Children can show attention through listening, movement, positioning, gesture or their preferred communication method. Allow time to observe, and offer opportunities to join when they are ready.
“Our friend has fallen behind. How will we know if they need us to wait?”
Voice and sound: giving the story meaning
Children can explore speaking, whispering, calling, humming and making sounds as the fiction develops. A quiet voice might reassure a frightened animal. A call might help someone find the group in a storm.
Words, home languages, sounds, signs and communication aids can all contribute. Offer choices about volume and participation. Speech differences do not need to be imitated to create a character.
“What could we say, or what sound could we make, to let the lost traveller know we are here?”
Try a process drama inquiry: Who needs a home?
Notice: Place a folded cloth or an empty box in the space. Invite children to notice it. “What do you think this could be? Who might use it?” Agree together that it will become a shelter in your imaginary world.
Question: Enter briefly as a visitor looking for somewhere to rest. “I have been travelling for a long time. Is there room for me here?” Give children time to respond and choose roles.
Investigate: Follow their suggestions. They might build an imaginary home, guide the visitor or find out what the visitor needs. Introduce a manageable change, such as rain beginning to fall or another visitor arriving. “What do we need to think about now?” Let the children’s decisions affect what happens.
Discover: Step out of role and reflect. “What did we try? What helped? Did everyone want the same thing? What else could we explore?” Children can respond through talking, drawing, movement or revisiting the story.
For younger children, use short episodes, familiar actions and simple choices. Older children can explore competing needs, negotiate decisions and revisit an event from another role’s perspective. Watching, contributing a sound or helping shape the imaginary space are also ways to participate.
What can the educator notice?
Notice how children offer ideas, respond to others, communicate in different ways and reconsider a decision. Record their questions and explanations where possible. These observations can suggest the next starting point for the drama.
Movement, gesture, expression and voice have meaning because children use them within the story. Our role is to support their inquiry and help the shared drama develop.
For more starting points, browse our free drama resources and short plays. A familiar story can provide a starting situation, with room for children to explore their own questions and choices.
Further reading
Meighan, J. Drama Start: Inquiry and Play. For practical starting points for inquiry-led drama, Buy on Amazon.
O’Neill, C. (1995). Drama Worlds: A Framework for Process Drama. Heinemann.
O’Toole, J. (1992). The Process of Drama: Negotiating Art and Meaning. Routledge.
