Do an on-the-spot reading of a new monologue

What can we use instead of a printed monologue sheet, a kitchen timer, a pencil, or a mirror?

Use a screen (tablet or phone) or a handwritten page for the monologue sheet, your phone's stopwatch for the 2-minute warm-up timer, a pen or crayon instead of the pencil to underline, and a reflective window or the back of a laptop screen as a mirror.

I'm nervous and keep freezing when I try to 'decide on one character choice and one goal' or when reading aloud—what should I do?

If you freeze, pause and take three deep belly breaths again, then pick one simple character choice (like 'confident' or 'sad') and one clear goal (like 'convince' or 'leave'), say them out loud, and read the first two lines slowly to rebuild momentum.

How can I adapt this activity for different ages?

For preschoolers shorten the 2-minute warm-up to 30–60 seconds and use a very short one- or two-sentence monologue with a sticker to mark the exciting word; for elementary kids keep the full steps with a parent helping with the pencil and mirror stage; and for teens extend the warm-up to 5 minutes, add a character backstory for the character choice, and record the performance for sharing on DIY.org.

How can we make the activity more creative or challenging once we've completed the basic steps?

Record your first full monologue run, then perform it again changing one thing (emotion or speed) as the instructions say and compare the videos, add a prop or simple costume while watching expression in the mirror, or write a short diary entry as the character before uploading to DIY.org.