Title: Under the Sea – Exploring Ocean’s Wonders
Age group: 7-12 years old
Duration: Two hours
Goal: To foster creativity, encourage teamwork, and increase understanding of the ocean’s ecosystem and its inhabitants.
Materials Needed: Props (sea creature cutouts, mermaid tails, etc.), music, and a “sea” setup (blue sheets, shells, starfish, etc.).
Warm-up activity (15 minutes):
- Ocean wave movement: Have the children stand in a circle. Start by making a wave motion with your arms and pass it around the circle. Encourage the children to follow the rhythm and pass it along until the wave comes back to you.
- Sea Creature Charades: Each child picks a sea creature from a hat and then acts it out without making any sound. The rest of the group guesses the creature. This game helps the children warm up and get into the mindset of acting like sea creatures.
Main Activities (60 minutes):
- Underwater Discovery: Divide the children into smaller groups. Assign each group a specific underwater location (e.g., coral reef, sunken ship, deep sea). Each group creates a short scene depicting the life and interactions of creatures in their assigned location.
- Mermaid/Merman Adventure: In this activity, some children are chosen to be mermaids/mermen. The mermaids/mermen narrate a story about their life under the sea, interact with other sea creatures (played by other children), and solve a problem or overcome a challenge (such as cleaning up pollution, helping a lost creature find its family, or protecting the sea from a villain).
Reflection and Discussion (20 minutes):
- Ocean Habitat Discussion: Discuss different sea creatures and their habitats. Talk about the importance of each creature in maintaining the balance of life under the sea.
- Reflection: Have children share their experiences – what was it like to be a sea creature or a mermaid/merman? What did they learn? How did they feel when they were acting out the scenes?
Cool-down Activity (15 minutes):
- Ocean Meditation: Have the children lie down and close their eyes. Play calming ocean sounds. Guide them through a visualization of peacefully swimming through the sea, interacting with different friendly sea creatures, and observing the beauty of underwater life.
Closing (5 minutes):
End the workshop with a group huddle and ask the children to share one thing they enjoyed most about the workshop. Reiterate the importance of our oceans and how every sea creature plays a part in the ecosystem. Encourage them to think about how they can help protect and conserve our oceans in their own small ways.
Note: Make sure the workshop is inclusive, fun, and respectful. Adapt the activities according to the group’s age and capabilities.
Here’s a list of sea creatures that children could portray in an “Under the Sea” themed drama workshop:
- Dolphin: Intelligent and playful, dolphins are loved by everyone. They can communicate with each other using a series of clicks and whistles.
- Octopus: Known for their eight arms and high intelligence, octopuses can make for interesting characters. They are also known for their ability to camouflage and escape predators.
- Sea Turtle: Sea turtles are known for their long life spans and lengthy migrations. They could be portrayed as wise, older characters.
- Shark: Sharks can be portrayed in a variety of ways, not just as scary predators, but also as misunderstood creatures trying to survive.
- Clownfish: Known for their bright colors and living among sea anemones, clownfish are recognizable due to movies like “Finding Nemo”.
- Jellyfish: These creatures can be interesting characters due to their unique appearances and abilities, like stinging predators and glowing in the dark.
- Starfish: Starfish, or sea stars, are known for their ability to regenerate, which could make for a fun character trait.
- Whale: Whales are the largest animals on Earth, known for their impressive size and beautiful songs.
- Seahorse: Seahorses are unique and could make for an interesting character, especially given that it’s the males who carry the babies!
- Crab: Crabs are known for their hard shells and sideways walk, which can be fun traits for a child to act out.
- Lobster: Similar to crabs, but with large claws and a more elongated body.
- Stingray: Known for their flat bodies and long tails, stingrays are unique creatures of the sea.
- Anglerfish: These deep-sea fish are known for the glowing lure they use to attract prey, and can make for a more mysterious or scary character.
- Pufferfish: These fish inflate into a ball-like shape when threatened, which could make for a funny and interesting character.
- Mermaid/Merman: While not a real sea creature, these mythological beings can allow for even more creative storytelling and role-playing.
Remember, each of these characters can be portrayed in different ways to create diverse and interesting storylines during the workshop.
