Teaching drama to younger children can be a challenge.  However, they are already acting roles when they play with friends. Suspending disbelief is not something that many children will find difficult - it is very easy for them to believe that the classroom is a ship or that they are in their own house when they sit under a table. Improvising structured drama involves many new skills for the beginner - negotiating in a group, communicating ideas in language, delegating roles, then communicating physically and orally!  On top of this, if they are presenting their work, they need to learn to speak more loudly and clearly than usual.

Using stories that children are familiar with can be helpful. Take The Gruffalo for example.  It offers opportunities for Teacher in Role and Hot-Seating as different characters, expression of emotion, exploration of movement and Thought-Tracking of the mouse as he moves through the woods and meets the different characters.

The Primary Framework for Literacy and Mathematics states that:

In the drama strand most children will learn to:

• Use dramatic techniques, including work in role to explore ideas and texts
• Create, share and evaluate ideas and understanding through drama

Foundation Stage
Use language to imagine and recreate roles and experiences

Year 1
Explore familiar themes and characters through improvisation and roleplay
Act out their own and well-known stories, using voices for characters
Discuss why they like a performance

Year 2
Adopt appropriate roles in small or large groups and consider alternative courses of action
Present part of traditional stories, their own stories or work drawn from different parts of the curriculum for members of their own class
Consider how mood and atmosphere are created in live or recorded performance