30 Shakespeare Activities and Printables for the Classroom

Think teaching Shakespeare is all toil and trouble? Methinks thou dost protest too much! These Shakespeare activities and printables will help you screw your courage to the sticking place and remember that the play’s the thing!

Shakespeare Activities

1. Solve a Cold Case

Ripped from the headlines! Set up a crime scene and challenge your class to find the motivation behind Caesar’s murder. Who says Shakespeare has to be boring?

Source: Ms. B’s Got Class

2. Craft Bumper Stickers

This works for any play. Have your students design bumper stickers! Simple concept but lots of room for creativity.

Source: theclassroomsparrow / instagram

3. Build a Globe Theatre Model

Knowing about the theater where Shakespeare’s plays were first performed is essential to understanding the plays themselves. Have your students build this simple paper model as you learn about the Globe Theatre.

Get it: Papertoys.com

4. Design a Mask for the Ball

Have students create a mask for a specific character to wear to the Romeo and Juliet masquerade ball. They must justify their color and style choices for that character—a fun way to do character analysis.

Source: Lily Pinto / Pinterest

5. Transl8 a Scene 2 Txt

The language may be archaic, but the stories are endlessly modern. Have your class re-write a scene or sonnet in text, tweets, or other social media for a fun twist.

Source: fifteen eightyfour

6. Replace Words With Emojis

Take things a step further and remove words from the equation entirely! Have students devise book covers or re-write a scene or sonnet using only emojis to tell the tale. Discuss the difficulty of encapsulating some concepts in brief images and compare them with Shakespeare’s word choices.

Source: For Reading Addicts

7. Design a Book Cover

Combine art and graphic design with literature when you have kids originate book covers for a Shakespeare play. They make a fun classroom display too!

Source: Small World at Home

8. Dress the Part

Dramatic readings are much more fun with a few props and costumes! This easy DIY paper ruff is made from coffee filters, and younger kids will love dressing up while they learn.

Source: Red Tricycle

9. Make Shakespearean One-Pagers

Challenge students to represent a play visually—all on one page. Templates are available at the link below to help get you started.

Source: Spark Creativity

10. Generate Word Clouds

Use a computer program like Tagxedo or Wordle to build a word cloud identifying important words from a play or sonnet. (Tagxedo allows you to create word clouds in a variety of shapes.) Discuss these words and their importance.

Source: Mrs. Orman’s Classroom

11. Try Running Dictation

Get kids up and moving with “running dictation.” Print out a sonnet, prologue, monologue, or other important speech. Cut it up by lines and hang the sections up around a room or other area. Students find the lines, memorize them, report them to a scribe, and then put them in order.

Source: theskinnyonsecondary / Instagram

12. Fashion Upcycled “Laurel” Wreaths

Need some impromptu costumes for Julius Caesar or Coriolanus? These clever “laurel” wreaths are made from plastic spoons!

Source: A Subtle Revelry

13. Write a Scene in Comic Form

Like storyboarding, writing a scene in comic form helps capture the essence of the action. Kids can use the actual text from the scene or add in their own sense of humor. (Mya Gosling has re-written most of Macbeth in this form. For inspiration, check it out at the link below.)

Source: Good Tickle Brain

14. Write Concrete Poems

Turn pivotal quotes from a play into concrete poems, using shapes that represent the concept. Students can do this by hand or using the computer.

Source: Dillon Bruce / Pinterest

15. Stage Scene Snapshots

Performing an entire play takes a lot of time. Instead, have student groups stage scene snapshots capturing key moments from the play. Assemble them into a storyboard that covers the whole play.

Source: The Classroom Sparrow

16. Enjoy a Musical Interlude

Compile a playlist for the play, act by act. Have students explain their song choices and listen to some of them in class.

Source: Cal Shakes R + J Teacher’s Guide

17. Write in Style

Get younger kids excited about Shakespeare when they write with their own “quill” pens. Color, cut out, and tape around a pen or crayon for old time fun!

Source: Crayola

Shakespeare Printables

18. William Shakespeare Coloring Page

Meet the Bard! Use this coloring image to introduce Shakespeare to young readers or as an anchor for other creative activities.

Get it: Super Coloring

19. Cheer Up, Hamlet! Paper Doll

Have a little fun when teaching Hamlet. This free printable paper doll collection includes standard costumes but also hilarious extras like Captain Denmark and Doctor Who.

Get it: Les Vieux Jours

20. Shakespeare Mad Libs

Remove key words from scenes or sonnets, fill in some new ones, and let the fun begin! Hit the link below for several pre-made games. You or your students can also make your own.

Get it: Homeschool Solutions

21. Shakespeare Lettering Sets

Download these free letter sets (one for general Shakespeare, one for Macbeth) to create bulletin boards or other classroom displays.

Get it: Instant Display

22. Elizabethan Language Terms

Print a copy for each student to keep handy as they tackle Shakespeare’s works.

Get it: readwritethink

23. A Midsummer Night’s Dream Coloring Pages

Introducing younger students to A Midsummer Night’s Dream? These printable coloring pages and finger puppets are just the ticket.

Get it: Phee Mcfaddell

24. Phrases We Owe to Shakespeare Poster

Shakespeare’s language becomes much more relatable when you realize how many of his phrases are still in use today. Hang this poster to introduce your students to some of these phrases.

Get it: Grammar.net