The Activity Bank

The GIVE Activity Bank is a resource bank of short activities or skill-based tasks that already include supports and accommodations to meet a range of students’ needs. These activities can be easily added to your lesson—with small adjustments for your unique students and classroom—to make it more inclusive.

These activities have been submitted as is by New York City Teaching Artists from New Victory Theater, ArtsConnection, and Community-Word Project.

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  • If I Were an Animal

    Ages: Early Childhood (PK-2)
    Art Forms: Dance, Theater, Visual Arts

    This activity activates students’ imaginations and incorporates making sounds and listening. It can be expanded to include movement.

  • Making Foley Sounds

    Ages: Upper Elementary (3-5), Middle School (6-8), High School (9-12)
    Art Forms: Media Arts, Music, Theater

    This activity helps students discover how the sounds used in movies and animations are created behind the scenes, by practicing making sounds with various obje…

  • Moving Object Stop Motion

    Ages: Middle School (6-8), High School (9-12)
    Art Forms: Media Arts, Theater, Visual Arts

    In this playful skill-building activity, students collaborate to create a short animation of an object moving across a surface on its own. This is a great acti…

  • Names and Weather Patterns

    Ages: Upper Elementary (3-5), Middle School (6-8)
    Art Forms: Dance, Literary Arts, Media Arts, Music, Theater, Visual Arts

    This warm-up activity supports learning everyone’s names and pronouns,  bringing imagination into the room, becoming observant of the world around us, and lear…

  • Partner Mirroring

    Ages: Upper Elementary (3-5), Middle School (6-8)
    Art Forms: Theater, Dance

    This activity builds the skills of observation and sustained concentration while promoting empathy. It supports collaboration by pairing students with a partne…

  • Pass the Love

    Ages: Early Childhood (PK-2), Upper Elementary (3-5), Middle School (6-8), High School (9-12)
    Art Forms: Visual Arts, Music, Media Arts, Literary Arts, Theater, Dance

    A closing ritual to reflect on the lesson, and to take a moment together as a whole class ensemble.

  • Rhyme Time

    Ages: Early Childhood (PK-2), Upper Elementary (3-5), Middle School (6-8), High School (9-12)
    Art Forms: Music, Literary Arts, Theater

    This activity is a great introduction to or review of rhyme as a tool for poetry, music, and theater.

  • Snaps

    Ages: Upper Elementary (3-5), Middle School (6-8), High School (9-12)
    Art Forms: Theater

    Students practice focus and observation by catching and throwing the snap around the circle.