Design a Costume

Grade level

Grades 1–5

Time

About 20 minutes

Topic

Creating characters

Answer key

Not needed: answers vary

Kids practice

Inventing a character, Inside and outside traits, Changing walk and voice for a role, Answering questions in character

What kids do

Printed on the sheet:

1. My costume plan
2. Fabric or materials:
3. Draw the costume. Label the parts.
4. A prop they carry:

Teacher tip

Ask kids to explain the Why it fits line out loud: what does the costume tell the audience about the character before they say a word?

How to use it

• Keep finished characters for the scripts and storyboard sheets.
• Start with a character the class knows from a book, then let kids invent their own.
• Read the box at the top of the sheet together, then try the first item out loud as a class.

Watch for

Characters with only outside traits. Ask how they act and feel.

Talk about it

• How does your character walk when they are happy? Scared?
• What would you try differently next time?

Take it further

Have two characters from different kids meet in a short improv scene.

US Letter, prints well in black and white. Free for home and classroom use: print as many copies as you need.