Games

Games!

Mostly physical
Basketball

Answer / ask a question and get a shot to put the ball in the box. 1, 2, or 3 points

for distance.

Blindfold Directions

Put students in pairs or small groups. Blindfold one student. Other group

members must give directions (turn left, go straight) to navigate through the

classroom (move desks and chairs to make it difficult.)

Buzz (3, 6, 9)

A counting game in a circle. Students start counting but clap (or say “buzz) instead saying

the numbers with 3, 6, or 9.

Cockroach Game

This game uses a short dialogue (ex. A: “Do you like soccer? B: Yes, I do. Do

you like baseball? A: No, I don’t.) All students start as cockroaches and move

up to chickens, then monkeys, then students, and finally, teacher. Students must

do the corresponding animal motion for each animal as they walk around the

classroom to find another student of the same level (i.e. chicken and chicken).

YOU CAN ONLY TALK TO SOMEONE OF THE SAME LEVEL. Do the

dialogue. When finished, play “rock, scissors, paper.” The winner moves up one

level (ex. From chicken to monkey) and the loser moves down (ex. from chicken

to cockroach.) When you become a teacher, you must do the dialogue with the

teacher and win “rock, scissors, paper” to sit down.

Duck, Duck, Goose

For young learners. Students sit in a circle on the floor. One student walks

around tapping each student on the head and saying “duck.” One time, the

student says “goose” instead and runs around the circle. Meanwhile, the tapped

student must stand up and run THE OTHER DIRECTION and try to beat the

other student to the vacant spot. (Be careful when they pass each other!) You can

change the vocabulary (cat-cat-dog, red-red-blue, hot-hot-cold).

Charades (pronounced /shə-rādz/)

Teacher gives student a vocabulary word. Student mimes (acts out) the word for

students to guess.

Jenga!

Each correct answer earns a turn at Jenga.

Ju-mong!

Answer / ask a question and take a turn at archery.

Musical Ball

Students pass a ball around the class while music plays. When the music stop,

whoever has the ball has to answer a question.

Simon Says

Teacher says “Touch your toes” or some other order. Students only do the action

if the leader says “Simon says” first (ex. “Simon says touch your toes.” Great for

body vocabulary!

VARIATION - Students stand in two lines, facing each other. Teacher gives instruction to one line and the other group has to copy exactly their partner in the facing line..

Touch something…!

Teacher says “Touch something [color or adjective]” and students run to touch

something of that kind in the classroom. Example: “Touch something red!”

Yes / No Jump

Teacher asks a question and students must jump / run to the correct side of the

room.

Ball Toss Conversation

This isn’t a game but it’s a fun way to get students speaking. One student tosses

the ball to another student and asks a question. The student who caught the ball answers

it and then tosses the ball to a new student and the fun continues.

Some movement required
Fly Swatter Game

Two students stand in front of the board with fly swatters. Teacher says a word or

sentence and students must hit the picture or word with the fly swatter. A good

way is to have words written on the board, but have the rest of the class call out

the vocabulary word when you show them a picture.



Categories

Teacher chooses a category (ex. fruit). The first student names something from

that category (ex. Apple), followed by the next student and so on. This goes until

someone repeats a word or cannot think of one. To make it go fast, you can use a

clapping rhythm. Sample categories: fruit, animals, colors, jobs, food, drinks,

sports, weather, countries, things at school, things that live in water, body parts,

clothes, feelings.

English Tennis

Similar to Categories (above), but students are in two teams and have to “hit the

ball back” by saying a word in the category. The winning team scores points as in

tennis (ex. 30-15).



Spelling Bee

A spelling bee is a spelling contest. It can be done like “Golden Bell”, but

students who are eliminated need to keep practicing too.

Picnic

A memory game about what to take on a picnic. First student names something to

take (any noun is ok.) Example: “elephant.” The next student says the same

thing plus his/her new item. Example: “elephant, computer.” This continues and

the list grows larger and larger.

Pictionary (picture + dictionary)

Teacher gives one student a vocabulary word. The student draws a picture of the

word for students to guess. Can be done as teams and with a timer.

Rock, Scissors, Paper

This can be used to enhance any activity.

Line Quiz 1

All students line up in two lines. Teacher asks a simple question to the first two

students. The first to answer correctly sits down while the other goes to the back

of the line.

Line Quiz 2

Students in one row stand up. Teacher asks a simple question and the first to

answer correctly sits down. Continue with the same row until only one student

remains standing. Then students from that COLUMN must stand up and continue

the game.

Fruit Basket I

Students sit in chairs in a circle while one student stands in the middle of the

circle. Assign each student one word from the target vocabulary, but re-use

words so that 3-5 students have the same word. The student in the center yells

one of the words. Students who “are” that word must change seats while the

student in the center must find a seat. The student left with no seat starts the game

again by saying a word. The student in the middle can also yell “Fruit Basket!”

which means ALL students must change seats.

Fruit Basket II

If the group is small, have students sit at their desks in a circle and assign each

student their own word from the target language. Teacher says a word. The

student whose word is called must say any new word before the student in the

middle touches his/her desk. This continues until the standing student beats the

seated one. At that point, they switch positions.

Card Slap

Students play in small groups. Cards are laid on the desks in front of students.

Teacher says a vocabulary word and students must slap / grab the correct card.

WARNING: This game can get violent, but you can avoid this by giving every

student his/her own cards.

Sitting down
ABC 123

Randomly choose a letter and roll the die. You have to write that many words

that start with that letter. First team to pass through ALL students wins.

Tic-Tac-Toe

Divide the class into two teams. A correct question / answer and you can mark an

X or O on the board.

Word Search http://puzzlemaker.school.discovery.com/

Word searches are great for spelling and students who like quiet, individual work.

You can also have students make their own word search, and then exchange with

a classmate! Excellent for reading and writing.

Telephone / Whisper game

Students form lines. Teacher whispers a sentence to the 1st students in line, who

then whisper it to the next and so on down the line. The final student must say the

sentence correctly to the teacher.

Student Fight

This works well as a 2-day activity. One day, ask students lots of simple

questions (i.e. “Who’s your favorite teacher?” “Name something red.”). Have

them give ONE answer only. Add up the answers and you will use the most

popular answers for the game. To play, ask the question to a student. If it is a

correct answer, that team receives those points. Then the other team gets a chance.

Continue playing until all answers are used.

Sentence Scramble

Write words on the board that must be put in order correctly to make a sentence.

One point for a correct answer the group has.

Scrabble

Scrabble can also be used to make words for spelling games.

Monkey Game (Cars, Planes, etc.)

This is a racing game and the units can be for monkeys, cars, planes, etc. Each

correct question gains one space. I also like to add Rock, Scissors, Paper for an

extra chance.

Memory Cards

A memory game. You can match word-word, picture-word, present tense-past

tense, etc.

Lotto!

Students choose number from a given range (ex. 1-20). Teacher randomly calls

the numbers as in the lottery. Winner matches the most numbers. You can also

have students randomly pull numbers from a bag.

I Spy

Student looks around, chooses an object and says “I spy something that starts with

a(n) [first letter of object].” Other students guess and the winner chooses the next

word.

Hot Seat

Student holds a flash card above his/her head so that only the class can see it. The

class must give clues until the student correctly guesses what the word is. (Ex.

“It’s a fruit. It’s red.” “An apple!”)

Guess the Card

Place one vocabulary flash card in a folder for one student. The class must guess

what card is in the folder by using the grammar and vocabulary (i.e. “Do you like

soccer?”) The correct student changes places and starts with a new card.

Hangman

You can use words, phrases, or whole sentences! “The quick brown fox jumped

over the lazy dog” uses all 26 letters of the alphabet.

Go Fish

Make cards for vocabulary or use regular cards for number practice. Put students

in small groups and each student starts with about 5 cards. Students need to

collect the whole set of 4 by asking other students, “Do you have any

[vocabulary]s?” Students can only ask IF THEY ARE HOLDING THAT CARD

ALSO. (So students can remember who has certain cards.) If the student who

was asked has that card, they must surrender ALL of that type, and student A

plays again. If they don’t have the card, student B replies “Go Fish”, and student

A takes a card from the “lake”.

Dice Game

Answer / ask a question and roll the die. You can either add up the points or

move a piece along the path.

Battleship

This game uses a grid system on paper. You can use letters and numbers like the

original game, or change to vocabulary words. First, each student places his/her

ships on the board. Then students rotate turns by saying the corresponding grid

(ex. Tennis, 6). Student B says “hit” or “miss” (also “You sunk my ship!”).

Continue until one student has no more ships.

Chain Game

Start with any English word on the board. (ex. “clock”). The first student must

write a word that starts with the letter “k” since “clock” end in a K. (ex. “kite”).

The next student must write a word that starts with “E” and so on. The team with

the most correctly spelled words wins. Alternative: the team that finishes first

wins.

Bingo

Bingo can be used with numbers, pictures, or words.

Interactive
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