Drama Game: MacGyver

Type: Improv, Creativity

Purpose: A fun improv activity for slightly older students.

Procedure:

1. First, you may want to tell the class that MacGyver was a very popular U.S. TV series in the 1980s/90s about a secret agent who solves complex problems with everyday ordinary objects.

2. In this activity they will all get a chance to be MacGyvers!

3. Ask two players to take the stage.

4. Ask the audience to suggest 3 ordinary objects. Write them on the board. (i.e. a stapler, a stick of gum, a ball of yarn)

5. Ask the audience for a suggestion of a life-threatening situation (i.e. thrown overboard in the middle of the ocean).

6. When you say “action!”, the two players must create a scene in which they use the 3 ordinary objects to survive and get out of the situation.

Sample Life-Threatening Situations

– thrown overboard in the middle of the ocean
– thrown into a lion cage at the zoo
– locked in a garage with a one minute ticking time-bomb
– lost in the middle of the desert
– an asteroid is coming straight for them
– about to be vaporized by aliens
– stuck on Antarctica in only a swimsuit
– tied to a train track

Have other suggestions for life-threatening situations? Leave them in the comments below!

—
Beat by Beat Press is passionate about inspiring kids through theatre. That’s why we create unique teaching drama resources and high-quality plays for kids to perform.