A DIFFERENT kind of joyriding was experienced by children from a West Dorset village.

Instead of learning how to steal and drive fast cars, the youngsters from Symondsbury Primary School were taught the art of comic improvisation and acting by performance maestro Chris Grimes.

Chris is a member of improvisation experts Instant Wit, who perform shows along the lines of Who’s Line is it Anyway?, taking ideas from the audience and building them into complete sketches.

Symondsbury pupils from years three to six spent a morning learning the basics of improvisation including ‘joyriding’, where they sat in a circle and took it in turns to say a word in quick-fire succession, building into a fantastical story.

The highlight was a meandering tale about a fat sad dog that lost his bone during a game of catch in Spain.

Chris said: “The children have been fantastic and at this age, they are better suited to being spontaneous than adults, who think ‘no, but’ instead of ‘yes, and’ to keep the story going.

“The ability to go off at a tangent is the sign of true spontaneity.”

The children started off in a big circle before playing games where they had to run around and then divide into groups or freeze on the spot when Chris have the instructions.

They then started to learn the joys of ‘joyriding’ all together before breaking into smaller groups where they had to fire words at each other faster and at random.

Everyone threw themselves into the task at hand and had a fabulous and lively morning.

Teaching assistant Kerren MacAlister Bell said: “This is a wonderful experience for the children.

“Those taking part aren’t just the ones with a skill for drama – we chose some because they may be lacking in self-confidence and thought it would be good for them.”

Chris was invited into the school through Bridport Arts centre, where Instant Wit were due to perform. Arts centre spokeswoman Margie Barbour said that the activity was just another facet of the venue’s role as a thriving community facility.