CHILDREN’S PLAYS
by Tara Meddaugh
Tara loves writing for kids and hopes that you will enjoy delving into these characters and stories below! Her children’s plays range from 5 minutes to 30 minutes. There are plays for child performers, tweens and teens, and many scripts are suitable for adult actors for Young Audiences. Cast size ranges from 2-12 actors. Many plays are appropriate for actors of any gender. These plays are great for performances, Reader’s Theater, workshops, competitions, classrooms, and acting study. You can find her children’s monologues here. To commission a children’s play, learn more here.
Scoot, Wiggles and Crunch have been friends since they hatched from eggs in the pond, hiding from predators together, protecting each other, and playing “Kick Pebble” together. But when Scoot realizes that Wiggles and Crunch have developed into froglets, while Scoot remains a tadpole, Scoot feels left behind. Is their friendship strong enough to endure these changing phases? Pebbles and Tails is a story about frogs growing up, but it’s also a story of bravery, kindness, loyalty and friendship.
DETAILS
Genre: Comedy/children/drama (teens and adults can have fun with the roles too!)
Set: Minimal, frogs in pond
Running time: 5-10 minutes (average around 7 minutes)
Cast: 3 actors - any gender
Age range: child to teen; adult actors for young audiences
Good for: outdoor theater, reader’s theater, play about friendship, growing up, finding your place, gender flexible casting, classrooms, fun science
*Pebbles and Tails includes a Frog Q & A related to the script and Five (5) Cool Facts about Frogs!
Pebbles and Tails is part of Tara Meddaugh’s Reader’s Theater series. These are great plays for any age in a theater setting, competition or classroom. But as Reader’s Theater, they are designed to make reading aloud enjoyable for children. Children don’t need to memorize or “perform,” but simply benefit from the act of reading out loud together, in dramatic form. Reader’s Theater can promote fluency, confidence, creativity, empathy, oral expression and connections among peers. Children at home or in the classroom enjoy reading these fun scripts aloud.
Click to read a free excerpt to the play, Pebbles and Tails.
Click below for a digital copy of the 5-minute play, Pebbles and Tails.
What do a box jellyfish, a mako shark, an anglerfish and a tiger shark have in common? They all want to live in the same abandoned shipwreck on the ocean floor! No one wants to share, no one wants to live somewhere else and…uh oh…what if someone can’t help but want to eat someone else? Check out The Shipwreck Solution to discover if these four, very different creatures, can find a way to work it out!
*The Shipwreck Solution includes a “Yes, It’s True” page featuring fun facts referencing the animals you read about, as well as a glossary with a few key terms.
DETAILS
Cast: 4 male or female (gender neutral cast)
Genre: Comedy/children (teens and adults can have fun with the roles too!)
Set: Minimal, a shipwreck in the ocean
Running time: 5-7 minutes
The Shipwreck Solution is part of Tara Meddaugh’s Reader’s Theater series. These are great plays for any age in a theater setting, competition or classroom. But as Reader’s Theater, they are designed to make reading aloud enjoyable for children. Children don’t need to memorize or “perform,” but simply benefit from the act of reading out loud together, in dramatic form. Reader’s Theater can promote fluency, confidence, creativity, empathy, oral expression and connections among peers. Children at home or in the classroom enjoy reading these fun scripts aloud.
Click to read a free excerpt to the play, The Shipwreck Solution.
Click below for a digital copy of the 5-minute play, The Shipwreck Solution.
FUNERAL FOR A CRAYFISH
a 5-minute children’s play
For Young Audiences or Actors
by Tara Meddaugh
Special thanks and credit to 8-year-old, Luke B., for his awesome design work on this cover!
When a classroom crayfish meets an untimely demise, Ari and Queen must figure out whose crayfish suffered this unexpected fate! It’s going to take some clever detective skills though, because unfortunately, Juliet used the same color permanent marker to dot her crayfish’s back as Ari did! Will the clues they uncover be enough to solve the mystery? This is a 5-minute comedy for children which explores friendship, problem solving and working together! It also includes a fun Question and Answer page all about crayfish!
DETAILS
Genre: comedic, children, young audience, drama
Cast: 2 characters, flexible/inclusive casting
Set: Minimal, a classroom
Running time: around 5-10 minutes
Great food: reader’s theater, problem solving, working together, teamwork, science, flexible casting for any gender, animals, classroom theater, 2-hander, play for 2 actors, friendship
Click for a free excerpt from Funeral for a Crayfish.
CLICK below for a complete digital copy of Funeral for a Crayfish by Tara Meddaugh
STARING AT THE SLOTH
a 5-minute children’s play
For Young Audiences or Actors
The sloth at the zoo keeps staring at Riley. Is it Riley’s spiky hair? Long nose? Or chocolate milk stain? Can Jaime convince Riley that the sloth is not making fun, but rather, maybe, just maybe, thinks Riley is cool? Staring at The Sloth is a funny, sweet play about friendship, self-acceptance, and of course…sloths!
DETAILS
Genre: comedic, children, young audience, drama
Cast: 2 characters, flexible/inclusive casting
Set: Minimal, outside at a zoo
Running time: around 5-10 minutes
Great food: reader’s theater, accepting oneself, flexible casting for any gender, animals, classroom theater, outdoor theater, 2-hander, play for 2 actors, discussion about bullying, kindness, friendship
CLICK for a free excerpt of Staring at the Sloth by Tara Meddaugh.
CLICK below for a complete digital copy of Staring at The Sloth by Tara Meddaugh
SHARING SOIL
A comedy/drama for teens/children
In soil cultures, prejudices run deep between carrots and potatoes. But when bully vegetables draw Carrot and Potato together, they must decide if their new friendship is worth risking their safety and rejection from their own garden cultures.
DETAILS
Cast: 2 females (or 2 males, or 1 female/1 male). Casting is gender flexible.
Age range: Characters are children, so they may be played by child actors, teens or adults
Genre: Comedy/Drama 10-minute play, teen play, children's play
Set: A garden
Running time: 10-minute play
*Sharing Soil was originally written and performed as part of the full-length play, Movements of the Wind. Movements of the Wind is a 5-piece collection of short intertwined plays journeying the challenges of garden inhabitants as they confront the volatile effects of Mother Nature through their lives.
Click for an excerpt to the ten-minute play, Sharing Soil.
Click below for a complete digital copy of Sharing Soil (once purchased, you will be given a link to download the script):
RUBY AND MILLIE & THE DYING CUCUMBERS
a comedy/drama
While her father is in a POW Camp during WWII, the young Ruby has been charged with leading her apartment building’s rooftop victory garden back in White Plains, NY. Her older sister, Millie, carrying weighty responsibilities of her own, has been searching for Ruby tonight and finally finds her on the rooftop. While Millie tries to convince Ruby to come inside to bed, Ruby discovers some of her vegetables are dying, and fears this is a harbinger of bad news for her father and the war.
DETAILS:
Genre: Comedy, drama, Period piece 1940s
Cast: 2 female (1 female around 7-12 years old, 1 female around 15-20 years old)
Setting: Rooftop Garden of an apartment building, 1943
Running time: Around 10 minutes
*This play is a stand-alone 10-minute play or is also found in the collection of short plays called The Victory Garden Plays.
Click here to read an excerpt of the 10-minute play, Ruby and Millie and The Dying Cucumbers.
Click below for the complete digital copy (immediate download) of Ruby and Millie and The Dying Cucumbers.
This ten-minute play is part of a selection of short plays which comprises The Victory Garden Plays. It may be performed within the Victory Garden Plays production, or it may stand alone, as a 10-minute play, as featured here. CLICK below for a complete digital copy of the production, The Victory Garden Plays (which includes this 10-minute play, as well as 4 other 10-minute plays, and 2 monologue plays)
While soldiers fight abroad in WW2, those remaining in Westchester County strive to make a difference on the Homefront by creating Victory Gardens, supplementing limited food supply. But the pressures on the homefront extend much further than simply growing produce. A child worries her failing rooftop garden is an omen of misfortune for her father’s return from a POW camp. An infertile woman throws her purpose into feeding neighborhood families. A wealthy man whose chemical plant is commissioned by the government for war purposes struggles with how to leave a meaningful legacy not tainted with warfare. These stories, and more, are given light in The Victory Garden Plays, a series of vignettes chronicling people’s journeys with their new realities of love, growth, life and death.
While Megan and Kel are waiting for their school bus to arrive, Megan challenges Kel to prove how she received her latest Girl Scouts badge.
DETAILS
Cast: 2 females
Genre: Comedy/Drama/Children's
Set: A bus stop
Running time: Approximately 5 minutes
My Best Myself is part of Tara Meddaugh’s Reader’s Theater series. These are great plays for any age in a theater setting, competition or classroom. But as Reader’s Theater, they are designed to make reading aloud enjoyable for children. Children don’t need to memorize or “perform,” but simply benefit from the act of reading out loud together, in dramatic form. Reader’s Theater can promote fluency, confidence, creativity, empathy, oral expression and connections among peers. Children at home or in the classroom enjoy reading these fun scripts aloud.
CLICK for EXCERPT OF FIVE MINUTE CHILDREN'S PLAY, MY BEST MYSELF.
Click below for the entire 5-minute children’s play, My Best Myself:
When Jenna breaks a special gift a boy gave her older sister, they are not only faced with broken glass to clean up, but they are also faced with the changing dynamics of their family.
DETAILS
Cast: 2 female (1 teen & 1 child, or 1 young adult & 1 teen)
Genre: Comedy/Drama/Teen
Set: Minimal, a house
Length: 10-minute play
CLICK for a free EXCERPT OF TEN MINUTE PLAY, HOLDING GINGER.
CLICK below for a complete digital copy of Holding Ginger (once purchased, you will be given a link to download the script):)
Taylor and Chloe have been best friends for years. At least, they had been, until Taylor suddenly and mysteriously throws an over-the-top yacht party the same day as Chloe’s birthday party. Despite Taylor’s reputation as the meanest girl in school, her party fills up, as no one wants to turn down the chance to sample an extravagant candy station, dance to the live music of the hottest new band, or receive a $50 gift card goodie bag. But before the boat even leaves the dock, Taylor begins to turn on her guests, moving in on Jasmine’s crush, telling Ronni to “walk the plank!” and humiliating the new girl, Amanda. Will the lure of the luxurious yacht, complete with its very own ferris wheel, and live entertainment, be enough to keep the guests from walking? Or will they abandon ship for nicer ground at Chloe’s backyard ice cream party? Loyalties and friendships are tested in this ensemble cast play, and of course, someone gets pushed into a mud puddle.
DETAILS
Cast: 8 female, 4 male
Genre: Comedy/teen, monologue play
Set: Minimal, a yacht party, a backyard
Running time: Approximately 25-35 minutes
CLICK FOR AN EXCERPT FROM THE ONE-ACT PLAY, WHAT HAPPENED AT THE MUD PUDDLE.
CLICK TO PURCHASE WHAT HAPPENED AT THE MUD PUDDLE.
When Goldilocks and Little Bear find themselves alone in the forest, they must decide if they will embark on a new future together.
DETAILS
Cast: 1 f/1 m, or 2 females
Set: A forest, minimal
Genre: Comedy/Drama/Children/Teen
Running time: approximately 10 minutes
CLICK for a free excerpt of A Life Spurred into Meaningful Adventure.
CLICK below for a complete digital copy of A Life Spurred into Meaningful Adventure (once purchased, you will be given a link to download the script):
Jack didn’t give it much thought when he climbed up the 15,000 foot beanstalk. But now that he has reached the clouds, he is starting to miss his mother, his turkey, and even his fence post. Unfortunately, he appears to be stuck and unable to climb back down the slippery stalk which was so easy to climb up. When a roving black bird passes by, Jack solicits his company and aid in figuring out how on earth he should now get down the beanstalk he has carelessly climbed up. Unless, of course, he is not meant to climb down.
DETAILS
Cast: 2 male, or 1 m/1 f
Genre: Comedy/Drama/Teen/Children
Set: On a tall beanstalk, up near the clouds
Length: Approximately 10 minutes
CLICK FOR A FREE EXCERPT TO THE 10-MINUTE PLAY, THE BEANSTALK
CLICK below for a complete digital copy of The Beanstalk (once purchased, you will be given a link to download the script):
GRINCHING 101
Grinch professors, Sourpuss Fuddy Duddy and Killjoy Cactus Snarl, are pleased to find their Grinching 101 classroom filled with eager elf-students desiring to learn the art of becoming a grinch. However, the class of bright-eyed cheerful students are blatantly failing. Every. Single. Lesson. Can these grinching professors get the class of chipper elves to learn anything about becoming a good grinch? And perhaps along the way, can the grinching professors can learn something from the elves?
DETAILS:
Genre: Comedy/Christmas/children/teen/theater for a young audience
Running time: 30-40 minutes
Cast size: 16+
Age: any age - child through adult
Setting: Classroom at the North Pole
Click here to read a free excerpt of the one-act play, GRINCHING 101.
Click below for the complete play, GRINCHING 101.
The flower on which Pollen V-6 and Pollen K-10 have lived their entire lives has wilted and is dying. If they do not make a dangerous jump to a fresh flower, Cat will destroy the flower and any remaining pollen that night. All other pollen have already made the jump to presumed safety, but Pollen V-6 has been too frightened to leave. She doubts the legend that anything better lies beyond. The leader, Pollen K-10, has remained behind with her, and has to decide how long he will stay to rally her before his own safety is in jeopardy. Jumping the Wind is a story of leaving the familiar, taking risks for the promise of something better. It’s the story of facts versus hope. And a story of friendship and trust.
DETAILS
Cast: 1 male, 1 female (2 females, OR 2 males)
Genre: Absurd, Dark comedy, Comedy, Teen
Set: A dying flower
Length: Ten-minute play
CLICK for a free EXCERPT OF TEN MINUTE PLAY, JUMPING THE WIND.
Click below to purchase the entire 10-minute play, Jumping the Wind (once purchased, you will be given a link to download the script):
Take a snowy walk through the child-like magic of Christmas, where reindeer talk, Santa is real, and who wants super powers?
To four children, Christmas is no simple sleigh ride. Annie’s new best friend is a talking reindeer, and she’s not sure if that’s really okay. Sam is experiencing the pressure of being the Lead Shepherd in the church pageant. Dylan has a very secretive wish he hopes Santa can deliver. And Lauren needs to make sure someone is giving her little brother a very special Christmas. Experience the joys and challenges of Christmas through the eyes of these children in this monologue-driven one-act comedy.
DETAILS
A one-act play for children/teens
Cast: 5-8
With doubling 5 total: 3 male, 2 female (male and female parts can be interchangeable, if needed)
Without doubling 8 total: 3 male, 2 female, 3 male/female/neutral/flexible casting
Genre: Comedy/Children's/Teen/Monologue play
Set: minimal
Running time: Approximately 30 minutes
Click for excerpt of Christmas Superpowers and Believing in Blitzen.
Click below for the digital copy of Christmas Superpowers and Believing in Blitzen.
For a paperback or kindle version of Christmas Superpowers and Believing in Blitzen, click below:
CHAOS IN A CHRISTMAS SNOW GLOBE
When the Christmas Snow Globe gang gets bored with their same routine, Santa uses Christmas Magic to bring them a bit of excitement. But no one expects this excitement to arrive in the form of a Halloween jack-o-lantern inside their snow globe! Can Jack-o-Lantern convince the Christmas friends that it truly belongs with them, or will it be booted back to the dusty shelf? Enjoy this family-friendly one-act play about acceptance and appreciation.
DETAILS
Genre: Children’s/Tween/Teen/Comedy/Christmas
Cast: 11+ (1 male, 1 female, 9+ gender neutral/inclusive). There are 11 speaking roles, but there are unlimited non-speaking roles as reindeer.)
Running time: Approximately 15-20 minutes
Setting: A Christmas snow globe inside Stella’s bedroom. This may be as detailed or representative as desired.
Great for: Large casts, children, teens, tweens, adults performing for children, young audiences, reader’s theater, classrooms, reading, family-friendly material
Click for a free excerpt to the Christmas one-act play, Chaos in a Christmas Snow Globe.
Click below for the complete one-act play, Chaos in a Christmas Snow Globe.
CHILDREN’S MONOLOGUES:
Monologue Packet: 19 Extracted Children’s Monologues from the one-act play, Christmas Superpowers and Believing in Blitzen Genre: COMEDY/CHILDREN/TEEN, Cast FEMALE/MALE Setting: Various
A Waste of a Totally Good Jelly Bean, monologue. Genre: COMEDY/CHILDREN'S/TEEN, Cast: MALE/FEMALE Setting: A KITCHEN
A Life Spurred into Meaningful Adventure, monologue Genre: DRAMA/COMEDY/TEEN/CHILDREN, Cast FEMALE, Setting: FOREST
Begging Blitzen, monologue. Genre: COMEDY/CHILDREN'S/TEEN, Cast: FEMALE/MALE, Setting: A HOUSE
Butterfly in the Tomato Plant, monologue Genre: CHILDREN/DRAMATIC/TWEEN, Cast: FEMALE/MALE, Setting: A PARK
Christmas Kale, monologue Genre: COMEDY/CHILDREN/TEEN, CHRISTMAS, Cast: MALE/FEMALE, Setting: HOME
Christmas Superpowers, monologue. Genre: COMEDY/CHILDREN'S/TEEN, Cast: MALE/FEMALE, Setting: A MALL
Cotton Candy Ice Cream Cone, monologue Genre: CHILDREN’S/COMEDY, Cast: FEMALE/MALE Setting: ICE CREAM SHOP
Covering My Ears, monologue Genre: DRAMATIC/TEEN/CHILDREN Cast: FEMALE/MALE Setting: A BATHROOM
Eiffel Tower Keychain, monologue Genre: CHILDREN/DRAMATIC, Cast: FEMALE/MALE, Setting: SCHOOLYARD
Forgiveness and Defeat at a Pokemon Gym Genre: COMEDY/TEEN/CHILDREN, cast MALE (female), Setting: A PARKING LOT
Grinching Mom by guest playwright, 6-year-old, Luke B. Genre: COMEDY/CHILDREN, cast MALE/FEMALE, Setting: Child’s bedroom
How to Eat Sand in Your Spinach Genre: CHILDREN’S/COMEDY, Cast: FEMALE (Male), Setting: ROOFTOP GARDEN
I am a Shark, monologue Genre: DRAMATIC/CHILDREN'S/TEEN, Cast: MALE/FEMALE, Setting: A BEACH
I Don’t Wanna Be A Jedi, monologue Genre: CHILDREN/COMEDIC (DRAMATIC), Cast: MALE/FEMALE, Setting: BEDROOM
If I Were a Kind of Flower, monologue Genre: CHILDREN'S/TWEEN/PRETEEN/COMEDY/DRAMA, Cast: FEMALE/MALE, Setting: A CAFE
Iowa Is Gonna Be So Jealous, monologue Genre: COMEDIC/TEEN/CHILDREN, Cast: MALE/FEMALE, Setting: SAFARI JEEP
Ipad Fury, monologue Genre: COMEDY/CHILDREN'S, Cast: MALE/FEMALE, Setting: A MINIVAN
Livvy's Vase, monologue Genre: DRAMATIC/CHILDREN'S, Cast: FEMALE (MALE), Setting: HOUSE
Mr. Swimmie, monologue Genre: COMEDY/CHILDREN'S Cast: FEMALE/MALE Setting: A HOME
My Missing Skittles, monologue Genre: COMEDY/CHILDREN/TEEN Cast: MALE/FEMALE Setting: KITCHEN
Santa's Lousy Job monologue Genre: COMEDY/CHILDREN'S, Cast: FEMALE, Setting: A MALL
Second-Hand Dirt, monologue Genre: DRAMA/COMEDY/CHILDREN/TEEN, Cast: FEMALE/MALE, Setting: Garden
Shepherd Superheroes monologue Genre: COMEDY/CHILDREN'S, Cast: MALE/FEMALE, Setting: A CHURCH
Skunk Moms, a trio of monologues Genre: COMEDY/CHILDREN'S Cast: FEMALE (MALE) Setting: A HOME
Snowman Versus Sun, monologue Genre: COMEDY/CHILDREN’S, Cast: MALE/FEMALE, Setting: Outside in Winter
Teddy Shouldn't Go to Space monologue, by guest playwright, 8-year-old Dylan B. Genre: COMEDY/CHILDREN/TEEN, Cast: MALE/FEMALE, Setting: Front Porch
The Mud Puddle, monologue Genre: COMEDY/CHILDREN'S Cast: FEMALE (MALE) Setting: OUTSIDE, NEAR A MUD PUDDLE
The Real Value of Candy Genre: COMEDY/CHILDREN’S Cast: MALE/FEMALE, Setting: DENTIST’S OFFICE
The Standoff, monologue or The Standoff, the play Genre: COMEDY/CHILDREN'S Cast: MALE (FEMALE) Setting: SIDEWALK BY HOUSE
The Statistics Aren’t Real, monologue Genre: CHILDREN’S/COMEDIC/DRAMATIC/TEEN, Cast: MALE (female), Setting: A DYING FLOWER
The Thing About Mermaids, monologue Genre: COMEDY/CHILDREN’S, Cast: FEMALE/MALE, Setting: PARK
What My Fangs Are For monologue Genre: DARK COMEDY/THRILLER/DRAMA/CHILDREN/TEEN, Cast: MALE/FEMALE, Setting: Back yard
Your Crucian Carps are Blocking the Doorway, Mom monologue Genre: COMEDIC/CHILDREN/VIDEO GAMES, Cast: MALE/FEMALE, Setting: BEDROOM