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Active and Passive Voice: Showtime at the Voice Theatre

Active and Passive Voice: Showtime at the Voice Theatre

Learn active and passive voice: find the subject and object, then flip sentences around on a theatre stage with Pip the parrot.

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What you'll learn

  • Find the subject (doer) and object (receiver) in a sentence
  • Turn active sentences into passive ones with was/were and a past participle
  • Spot passive verbs, even when the doer is not named
  • Why 'was running' is active, not passive
  • Turn passive sentences back into active ones in the same tense
  • When the passive works best in formal and science writing

What's inside

  1. Act 1: Who's doing it?
  2. Act 2: Flip it!
  3. Act 3: Spot the voice
  4. Act 4: Flip it back
  5. Act 5: Director's choice
  6. Grand Finale challenge (10 questions)

About this adventure

Active and Passive Voice: Showtime at the Voice Theatre is an interactive grammar game that teaches children aged 9–11 how to spot who does the action in a sentence and how to switch between the active and passive voice.

Animated actors perform each sentence on stage. Players tap the subject (the doer) and the object (the receiver), then use the Flip-o-Matic to build passive sentences: receiver first, then was or were, the past participle, and 'by' plus the doer. They sort sentences through Active and Passive doors, flip passive sentences back while keeping the same tense, and type their own rewrites.

The final act explores why writers choose the passive, such as when the doer is unknown or a science report needs to sound formal. The game follows the Year 6 grammar curriculum and ends with a 10-question Grand Finale.

Questions and answers

What is the difference between active and passive voice?

In the active voice the subject does the action, as in 'The dog chased the cat.' In the passive voice the subject receives the action, as in 'The cat was chased by the dog.' The meaning stays the same; only the focus changes.

How do you change an active sentence into the passive?

Move the receiver of the action to the front, add is, are, was or were, and change the verb to its past participle. Then add 'by' and the doer if you want to say who did it, so 'Leo kicked the ball' becomes 'The ball was kicked by Leo.'

How can you tell if a sentence is passive?

Look for a form of 'be' (is, are, was or were) followed by a past participle, such as 'was broken'. A popular trick is to add 'by zombies' after the verb: if it still makes sense, the sentence is passive. 'Was running' is not passive, because it uses an -ing verb.

What age is this active and passive voice game for?

It is designed for children aged 9 to 11 and matches the Year 6 grammar objectives in the English National Curriculum at KS2. An optional warm-up on verbs and past participles helps less confident players get started.

What does the game include and how long does it take?

The game has an optional warm-up, five acts and a 10-question Grand Finale, with tapping, sorting, choosing and typed rewriting tasks. Playing everything takes about 45 minutes, and players can pick any act from the programme and return to it later.

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