The Giant’s Banquet: Drama Workshop for Children

 

Age: 3+
Minimum number of participants: Whole group
Resources needed: Scarves, large fabric/tablecloth (banquet table), toy food or blocks, drum for giant footsteps
Other benefits: Cooperation, imagination, empathy, roleplay

 Warm-up: Giant Stomps

Children walk around the room in different ways: as mice, as cats, as children, and then as giants. Teacher uses a drumbeat to change the tempo: slow heavy beats = giant footsteps; fast beats = small creature steps. On freeze, children must stop in a giant pose and fists raised, mouth wide, or reaching high.

(Techniques: Freeze-Frame, Teacher in Role)

 Soundscape of the Castle:

Whole group creates the sounds of a giant’s castle at night.

Wind whistling through windows

Doors creaking open

Giant’s snores rumbling

Rats scuttling on the floor

Teacher orchestrates, layering the sounds until the banquet begins.

(Techniques: Soundscape, Choral Speaking)

 Entering the Banquet Hall:

A large piece of fabric is spread out as the giant’s banquet table.

Children mime laying out food: massive bread, cheese wheels, barrels of milk, mountains of fruit.

Teacher in Role as the Giant enters and booms

Fee-fi-fo-fum. Who dares prepare my supper?

Children answer in role as servants:

We are your cooks, your helpers, your servers.

(Techniques: Teacher in Role, Roleplay)

 The Feast Begins:

Children mime lifting enormous plates, carrying trays, and struggling with heavy spoons.

They act out tasting the food, some delicious, some disgusting.

The Giant demands entertainment. Groups prepare a short act to please him: a dance, a joke, a trick, or a story.

(Techniques: Mime, Improvisation, Collective Roleplay)

 A Problem at the Banquet:

Suddenly, the food runs out. The Giant roars in anger.

Children freeze in role, then create a Conscience Alley.

Half the group whispers advice to the Giant (Be kind, share your food, don’t be angry).

The other half whispers darker thoughts (Take their food, chase them away.).

The Giant walks through, hearing both voices, before deciding.

(Techniques: Conscience Alley, Thought-Tracking)

 

Whole-Group Tableau:

The banquet hall becomes a freeze-frame of the Giant, the servants, and the feast.

Teacher taps children to bring them alive for a moment:

A servant whispering, He’s going to eat us.

A giant booming laugh

Someone sneaking food away.

(Techniques: Still Image, Flash-Forward, Teacher Narration)

 Reflection & Extension:

Was the Giant scary or friendly today?

How did it feel to serve someone so much bigger than you?

If you were the Giant, would you share your feast?

Older children: write or draw invitations to the Giant’s Banquet, designing the menu.

Find more imaginative drama activities in Drama Start: Fairytales & Fantasy.

Explore Drama Start: Fairytales & Fantasy on Amazon

More fairytale drama: Browse the Drama Workshops for Children hub and the Drama Start book collection for more imaginative story-based sessions.