The Theatre Classroom — Secret Santa

December 8th, 2011

A great way to build the bond between your actors

As the Christmas Season is upon us, I would like to share another little Christmas activity.  Each of my students filled out the following form, which was then put in a hat.  Everyone drew a name and had to give that person three things (of course not being caught!), be it candy, a gift card, a note (poem), etc.  I set a limit of $5 per student (it’s the thought that counts, not the expenditure of money that is important) for all three gifts, but it can be less with today’s economy. I insisted that everyone participate.  We didn’t want anyone left out.

On the last day before Christmas vacation, their secret was revealed in a party the last 15 minutes of class. It would be fun for each person to write down who they thought their Secret Santa was and see how close they came. Everyone brought something appropriate to eat or drink. (I of course had gotten permission to have a party in my room from my administration.)  Not only was it fun, but it also made a greater bond within the group — so important in a theatre production class.

This certainly would be fun for any class.  If you are teaching English you could require that the 3 things be literary pieces that each Secret Santa writes about their person and it wouldn’t cost anything — just a thought.

To save on paper, I put twelve of these forms on a page.

Name_______________________________  Locker # ______

Favorite candy________________

Favorite color______________________________

Appropriate favorite drink [coffee, pop, water] _____________________