26 Jan Kids Voice Exercises: Actor Warm Ups
As actors, we must exercise our voices on a daily basis — just as athletes train and go to the gym! At my acting studio, 3-2-1- Acting Studio in Los Angeles, we teach some very specific kids’ voice exercises in our children’s acting classes. I want to empower my students to use their voices with confidence and clarity. By doing exercises and warm ups as often as possible, actors become more versatile and have access to more creative choices when it comes to character development!
Below you will see a fantastic video of a warm up that I do with my students right here in our LA acting studio! I’m also including some other great kids voice exercises, and tips for you!
Build breath capacity.
As you can see in the “This is the House that Jack built” video exercise, it takes a bit of fun practice to build breath capacity.
READ THE FOLLOWING NURSERY TALE USING A SINGLE BREATH FOR EACH SENTENCE. PRACTICE UNTIL YOU CAN DO IT EASILY.
THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT
- THIS IS THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT
- THIS IS THE MALT THAT LAY IN THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT.
- THIS IS THE RAT, THAT ATE THE MALT, THAT LAY IN THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT.
- THIS IS THE CAT THAT KILLED THAT RAT, THAT ATE THE MALT, THAT LAY IN THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT.
- THIS IS THE DOG THAT WORRIED THE CAT, THAT KILLED THAT RAT, THAT ATE THE MALT, THAT LAY IN THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT.
- THIS IS THE COW WITH THE CRUMPLED HORN THAT TOSSED THE DOG, THAT WORRIED THE CAT, THAT KILLED THE RAT THAT ATE THE MALT, THAT LAY IN THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT.
- THIS IS THE MAIDEN ALL FORLORN, THAT MILKED THE COW WITH THE CRUMPLED HORN, THAT TOSSED THE DOG, THAT WORRIED THE CAT, THAT KILLED THE RAT, THAT ATE THE MALT, THAT LAY IN THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT.
- THIS IS THE MAN ALL TATTERED AND TORN THAT KISSED THE MAIDEN ALL FORLORN, THAT MILKED THE COW WITH THE CRUMPLED HORN, THAT TOSSED THE DOG, THAT WORRIED THE CAT, THAT KILLED THE RAT, THAT ATE THE MALT, THAT LAY IN THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT.
- THIS IS THE PRIEST ALL SHAVEN AND SHORN, THAT MARRIED THE MAN ALL TATTERED AND TORN, THAT KISSED THE MAIDEN ALL FORLORN, THAT MILKED THE COW WITH THE CRUMPLED HORN, THAT TOSSED THE DOG, THAT WORRIED THE CAT, THAT KILLED THE RAT, THAT ATE THE MALT, THAT LAY IN THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT.
- THIS IS THE COCK THAT CROWED IN THE MORN, THAT WAKED THE PRIEST ALL SHAVEN AND SHORN, THAT MARRIED THE MAN ALL TATTERED AND TORN, THAT KISSED THE MAIDEN ALL FORLORN, THAT MILKED THE COW WITH THE CRUMPLED HORN, THAT TOSSED THE DOG, THAT WORRIED THE CAT, THAT KILLED THE RAT, THAT ATE THE MALT, THAT LAY IN THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT.
I teach all of my students to breathe from the lower part of their bellies, taking in what is known as a diaphragmatic breath. It’s important to relax and to breathe deeply, rather than taking a shallow breath from your chest. This will help you to sustain your voice and to project it across a room. Diaphragmatic breathing is essential for all actors and is particularly essential for stage actors and singers.
Expand your range
One of the most fun ways to expand your range is by singing along with some of your favorite tunes (using diaphragmatic breathing, of course!) and practicing using different parts of your voice — high and low. You can also do something known as “sirening” which is when you hum, starting at the lower part of your voice and “sirening” up to the top part of your voice, and then returning to the lower part of your voice (making a sound similar to that of a police car siren). You can “siren” using a variety of voice consonants such as “n” or “v” or “th” (to name a few). You can also do this exercise using vowel sounds!
Exercise your face!
This might sound silly, but, as an actor, you also get to warm up your face! You really want to work on muscularity and on making sure your tongue is not “gripping” or causing any tension when you speak or sing. A great way to warm up your face is by doing an activity I call “Big Face/Little Face.” You do this by first, literally, making a big face — by raising your eyebrows, opening your eyes, opening your mouth, and sticking out your tongue as far as you can. Really stretch out that tongue (I warned you — it’s going to feel a bit silly, but it’s so fun!). Then you can scrunch your face up and make a little face, by closing your eyes and scrunching your nose and lips together. Repeat both of these expressions a few times until your face is warmed up and your tongue has been stretched out!
Work on your Diction
There are also kids voice exercises that you can do to work on diction! Diction means making sure that you pronounce words clearly — that you make all of the necessary vowel and consonant sounds so that you can be understood by the audience! To improve diction, one thing that I like to do — and yes, this one might also feel silly at first — is to actually stick my tongue out while I am speaking text. You can do this with the “This is the House that Jack Built” exercise in the video. Stick your tongue out, not all the way, but just between your teeth. Say a sentence, keeping your tongue out, and letting your teeth or lips fall on your tongue for every consonant. Notice how you have to work extra hard to say each word (by the way, you aren’t going to sound like you are saying anything logical — it should feel silly and fun — this is just an exercise!) After you’ve done the exercise, immediately, speak the text as you would normally. Feel the difference? Because you had to work a little bit harder to say all of the words with your tongue sticking out, your diction will be much more precise and crisp!
Have fun!
As always, have a blast while you are learning and growing and being the best actor that you can be!
