Category: The Enormous Turnip

Posted in Aesop's fabes, Animal Stories, Bear Hunt, Drama, Drama for children, drama for kids, Drama games for 3 year olds, Drama games for 4 year olds, English as a second language, English teaching games, Esl, Esl Drama, fables, Fairy Tales, Goldilocks anD the three bears, Hans Christian Andersen, Panchatantra plays, Plays, Plays for Children, Snow White, Storytelling, The Emperor's New Clothes, The Enormous Turnip, The Little Mermaid, The three billy goats gruff

Goldilocks and the Three Bears – A simple five minute play script for young children

Posted on by Drama Start Books

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Characters: Three storytellers, Goldilocks, three bears, three bowls, three chairs, three beds.
Storyteller 1: Once upon a time, there were three bears who lived in a little house in the woods.
Storyteller 2: There was Daddy Bear, there was Mummy Bear and there was Baby Bear.
Storyteller 3: One fine day, they decided to go for a walk.
Daddy Bear: What a lovely sunny day it is today. Let’s all go to the woods.
Baby Bear: I’m hungry. I want to eat my porridge.
Mummy Bear: The porridge is still hot; it will be cool enough by the time we come back from our walk.
Storyteller 1: So, off they went on their walk.
Storyteller 2: Just then, a little girl called Goldilocks was walking in the woods.
Storyteller 3: She was picking flowers for her grandma.
Storyteller 1: She stopped suddenly and saw a pretty little house.
Goldilocks: Oh, what a pretty little house. I am feeling a little tired and hungry. I wonder if whoever lives here will let me rest for a few moments and give me something to eat (She knocks on the door.) There is no answer…. (She opens the door slowly and goes inside.)
Goldilocks: Oh look, three bowls of porridge.
Bowl 1: Eat me! I have lots of salt on me. (Goldilocks eats some but spits it out.)
Goldilocks: Yuck! You are too salty.
Bowl 2: I have lots of sugar on me. (Goldilocks eats some but spits it out.)
Goldilocks: Yuck! You are too sugary.
Bowl 3: Eat me! I’m just right. (Goldilocks eats some and likes it and continues eating it until all the porridge is gone.)
Goldilocks: Mmmmmm, that was just right. Oh look, three chairs. I think I’ll sit down for a moment.
Chair 1: Sit on me. I’m very hard. (Goldilocks goes to sit down and jumps up straight away.)
Goldilocks: This chair is too hard.
Chair 2: Sit on me. I’m very soft. (Goldilocks goes to sit down and jumps up straight away.)
Goldilocks: This chair is too soft.
Chair 3: Sit on me. I’m just right. (Goldilocks goes to sit down and makes herself comfortable.)
Goldilocks: This chair is just right. Oh dear, I’ve broken the chair.
Storyteller 2: Goldilocks decided to walk upstairs.
Storyteller 3: She saw three beds.
Bed 1: Lie on me. I’m very hard. (Goldilocks lies down on the bed and suddenly jumps up.)
Goldilocks: This bed is too hard.
Bed 2: Lie on me. I’m very soft. (Goldilocks lies down on the bed and suddenly jumps up.)
Goldilocks: This bed is too soft.
Bed 3: Lie on me. I’m just right. (Goldilocks lies down on the bed and stays there.)
Goldilocks: This bed is just right.
Storyteller 1: Goldilocks fell fast asleep.
Storyteller 2: After a while, the three bears came back from their walk.
Storyteller 3: They walked in to the house and Daddy Bear said…
Daddy Bear: Who has been eating my porridge?
Storyteller 1: Mummy Bear said…
Mummy Bear: Who has been eating my porridge?
Storyteller 2: Baby Bear said…
Baby Bear: Who has been eating my porridge? Look, it is all gone!
Storyteller 3: They saw the chairs and Daddy Bear said…
Daddy Bear: Who has been sitting on my chair?
Storyteller 2: Mummy Bear said…
Mummy Bear: Who has been sitting on my chair?
Storyteller 2: Baby Bear said…
Baby Bear: Who has been sitting on my chair? Look, it’s broken!
Storyteller 3: They walked upstairs and Daddy Bear said…
Daddy Bear: Who has been sleeping in my bed?
Storyteller 1: Mummy Bear said…
Mummy Bear: Who has been sleeping in my bed?
Storyteller 2: Baby Bear said…
Baby Bear: Who has been sleeping in my bed? And look, she is still there!
Storyteller 3: Goldilocks woke and screamed.
Storyteller 1: She jumped out of bed and ran down the stairs and out of the house.
Storyteller 2: The three bears never saw her again
Storytellers: The end.

For more play scripts based on Fairytales, click on the link below.

Posted in Drama Activities for children, Drama for children, Drama strategies, Elements of Drama, English as a second language, Esl Drama, Fairy Tales, Movement activities, Movement stories for children, Storytelling in the Early years, The Enormous Turnip

The Enormous Turnip – Drama workshop for children

Posted on by Drama Start Books

Read the story of “The Enormous Turnip”

Warm up: Enormous, Enormous Turnip. All the children except the child who is It, sit in a circle. It walks around the circle, tapping each player on the head, saying “Enormous” each time until he decides to tap someone and say “Turnip” That child becomes the turnip and runs after It, trying to tag him before It can take his seat. If It successfully reaches the turnip’s seat without being tagged, the turnip is the new It. If the turnip tags It, then the turnip keeps his spot in the circle and It must either continue to be It for another turn or sit in the middle of the circle until another It is tagged.

Circle time: Ask the children to sit in the circle. Ask them if they can name the different characters in the story. Ask the following questions:
How would the different characters move? What would they sound like?
What do you think they were doing before they were called to help with the Turnip?
How do they feel about pulling the Turnip up and eating it?

Character exploration: Get the children find their own space in the room. When the teacher calls out a character the children have to become the character and move around the room.
Old Man: Hunches over and moves very slowly with a walking stick.
Wife: Busy doing housework and moves very busily and quickly.
Boy: Plays football, does headers, keepy ups and scores goals.
Girl: Skips along happily.
Dog: Moves like a dog and barks.
Cat: Moves like a cat and meows.
Mouse: Moves like a mouse and squeaks.

Movement story: https://dramastartbooks.com/2017/10/08/2712/ Get the children to participate in the above Enormous Turnip Movement Story.

Mime: All the children find a space and they curl up and imagine that they are a turnip seed. The seed are get bigger and bigger until eventually they grow into a large Turnip and are pulled from the earth.

Still image: They make a still image of the moment they find out that they are going to be turned into turninip soup.

Thought tracking: The teacher goes and taps each Turnip on the shoulder and they must say one word how they feel about being eaten for dinner.
Voice exploration: Each child says the following sentence
“Please, please don’t eat me for your dinner.”
In a happy voice
Sad voice,
Surprised voice,
Shocked voice,
Tired voice,
Angry voice,
Scared voice,
Excited voice.

Group work: Divide the class in to groups of 3 or 4. The group have to use their bodies to make the one big, Enormous Turnip. They have to move as the turnip but stay connected.

Freeze Frame: Divide the class into groups of 8. Each group have to make six still images that tell the story. They can show it to the other groups.
Improvisation: For older children they can add dialogue to their freeze frames.

Closure: The children stand in a circle. Child A says “If I had a turnip, I would turn it in to an Apple.” Child B says “If I had a turnip, I would turn it in to an Apple and a banana.” Child C says “If I had a turnip, I would turn it in to an Apple, a banana and a cat” and so on until everyone gets a chance. If they make a mistake or stumble they are eliminated and sit down.. The last child standing at the end wins.

Play: https://dramastartbooks.com/2017/10/08/the-enormous-turnip-a-five-minute-playscript-for-children/

 

Posted in Drama for children, English as a second language, English teaching games, Esl, Esl Drama, Plays, Plays for Children, Role playing stories, Story sacks, Storytelling, The Enormous Turnip

The Enormous Turnip – A five minute playscript for children

Posted on by Drama Start Books

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Characters: Three storytellers, old man, old woman, boy, girl, dog, cat and mouse.

(Stage Directions: storytellers on stage left and the old man in the centre. All the other characters are in a line off-stage or they can be on stage, with each character miming doing their own thing.)
Storyteller 1: Once upon a time there lived a little old man.
Storyteller 2: One day he planted a turnip seed in his garden. (Old man plants his seed.)
Old Man: This turnip is going to be very big and very sweet. (Looks at the audience.)
Storyteller 3: The turnip grew and grew.
Old Man: I think it is time to dig up the turnip. (Old man mimes trying to pull it up.)
Storyteller 1: He pulled and pulled but he couldn’t pull up the turnip.
Old Man: I know, I will ask my wife to help me. Wife! Wife! Please help me to pull up the turnip. (Wife holds on to him at the waist and they try pulling up the turnip.)
Storyteller 2: His wife came and helped him.
Storyteller 3: They pulled and pulled but they couldn’t pull up the turnip.
Wife: I know, I will ask the boy to help us. Boy! Boy! Please help us to pull up the turnip. (She calls for the boy and the boy comes to help them.)
Storyteller 1: The boy came and helped them. (The boy holds on to her at the waist.)
Storyteller 2: They pulled and pulled but they couldn’t pull up the turnip.
Boy: I know I will ask the girl to help us. Girl! Girl! Please help us to pull up the turnip. (He calls for the girl and the girl comes to help them.)
Storyteller 3: The girl came and helped them. (The girl holds on to him at the waist.)
Storyteller 1: They pulled and pulled but they couldn’t pull up the turnip.
Girl: I know, I will ask the dog to help us. Dog! Dog! Please help us to pull up the turnip. (She calls for the dog and the dog comes to help her.)
Storyteller 2: The dog came and helped them. (The dog holds on to her at the waist.)
Storyteller 3: They pulled and pulled but they couldn’t pull up the turnip.
Dog: I know, I will ask the cat to help us. Cat! Cat! Please help us to pull up the turnip. (He calls for the cat and the cat comes to help them.)
Storyteller 1: The cat came and helped them. (The cat holds on to him at the waist.)
Storyteller 2: They pulled and pulled but they couldn’t pull up the turnip.
Cat: I know, I will ask the mouse to help us. Mouse! Mouse! Please help us to pull up the turnip. (She calls for the mouse and the mouse comes to help them.)
Storyteller 3: The mouse came and helped them. (The mouse holds onto her at the waist.)
Storyteller 1: They pulled and pulled and then suddenly they and then suddenly they pulled up the turnip. (They all fall over.)
Storyteller 2: Everyone was very happy and they all thanked the mouse. (Everyone shakes hands with the mouse.)
Storyteller 3: Everyone had turnip soup for dinner. (The wife mimes giving each one of them a bowl of soup and they mime drinking it.)