68 classroom-games

1. Title: 2 min Speed

Type: Concentration Game

Target: Any vocabulary

Materials: Timer

Procedure: Set a timer for 2 mins. Challenge the students to see how many

times they can recite the vocabulary words in 2 mins. For example, if you are

learning the months of the year, see how many times the students can say all 12

months in 2 mins.

Comments: Good for practicing fluency and retention. Can change the time

limit depending on needs.

2. Title: 4 corners

Type: Active Game


Materials: None

Procedure: One student is it and stands in the middle of the class with their

eyes closed. Each corner is represented by a vocabulary word. The students

have 10 seconds to choose a corner to go to. It calls out one of the vocab words

and the students standing at that corner are out. Continue until only one person

is left and that student becomes the it for the next round.

Comments: Not very intensive on English speaking, but very fun.

3. Title: ABC back drawing

Type: Concentration game

Target: Alphabet

Materials: None

Procedure: The teacher draws a letter on the back of the first student. The

student then tries to decipher which letter was drawn and draw the same letter

on the next student’s back. This continues until the last student must draw the

letter on the board. I usually play the same as the Telephone game, class against

the teacher. Every time the class gets the letter wrong, I get a point. Every time

the class gets the letter right, they get a point. It’s really motivating for the

students and develops class co-operation on a common goal.

Comments: This could be altered so that the student must say the letter out loud

instead of drawing it on the board. Or they must say the sound that the letter

makes instead of the name. Or they must say a word that starts with the letter.

4. Title: Angry Gorilla

Type: Active Game


Materials: flashcards, angry gorilla cards

Procedure: Have a pile of flashcards that you want to review. Mix in a few

angry gorilla cards. Turn a card over and the students should say the word three

times. If the angry gorilla card is turned over then students run to the safe zone

and the angry gorilla (the teacher) tries to catch them. The caught student

becomes the gorilla through an initiation dance (pounding of fists on the chest).

Comments:

5. Title: Ball throw

Type: Active Game

Target: Any vocabulary or sentence patter

Materials: Ball

Procedure: Throw the ball to a student. The student catches it and says a word

or sentence, for example, “I like apples.” They throw to the next student who

says a new word or sentence such as “I like pizza.” This continues until all the

children have had a turn.

Comments: This is a very simple game and fun for younger students. However,

endless variations can be made to make it suitable for all levels. For example,

the students must repeat the process and remember who threw to them and who

they threw to as well as what the person before them said. The first person says

“I like apples” and then throws to S2. S2 says “He likes apples. I like pizza.”

Then throws to S3. S3 says “She likes pizza. I like Kim Chi.” This continues

until it reaches the first student who starts the pattern over again. Everyone tries

to remember the pattern of the ball and what they said. Another variation is to

do the above and then add more balls into the mix so that after the first 2

students have gone throw another ball and the students must continue the

pattern with more balls. Or else who can speed up the rhythm of the throwing.

6. Title: Balloon Game

Type: Active game


Materials: Balloon

Procedure: Practice vocabulary words. The students then stand in a circle and a

balloon is hit into the air. The object of the game is to not let the balloon hit the

ground. But when someone touches the balloon, they must say a vocabulary

word. If the balloon touches the ground, or someone hits the balloon without

saying a word the round is over. Count how many touches you can get to and try

to beat your own record.

Comments: This could be altered to practice a sentence form instead of

vocabulary by having the students hit the balloon and say one word from the

sentence at a time in order instead of random vocabulary words.

7. Title: Balloon Relay

Type: Active Game


Materials: Balloon

Procedure: Divide students into teams. Each team is split in half and stands in

line opposite from each other as in a relay. The first student must walk to their

team with a balloon between their knees without it falling. Once they get to their

team they have to tell the next person a vocab word that I have given them. The

next person repeats it 5 times and then takes the balloon between their knees.

Then they walk to the other side, pass it to the next person and say the next

vocab word. The first team to finish all vocab words is he winner.

Comments:

8. Title: Banana Tree Game

Type: Game

Target: Review

Materials: picture cards

Procedure: Divide the class into 2 teams. Draw a banana tree on the

board with about 9 rungs up the tree. Each team has a mascot (monkey picture

cards work well). The object of the game is to climb the tree the fastest to get to

the bananas. The climb a rung at a time by answering questions correctly. The

first group to get the bananas is the winner.

Comments:

9. Title: Battleship



Materials: None

Procedure: Divide the class into 4 or 5 teams. The teams are now crews on a

Battleship at war with the other ships. One person on each team is the captain,

another person is the shooter and the rest is the crew. Each ship has its own

name. The captain’s job is to answer when their ship is called, the shooter’s job

is to call out another ship’s name and the whole crew must each say a vocab

word. The teacher starts by calling out the name of a ship. The captain answers

first by saying a vocab word, for example, let’s say the theme is food, they

answer by saying bananas. Each crew member of that ship follows by saying in

turn another food word until the last crew member is the shooter. The shooter

himself says a food word and then calls out the name of another ship. That

ship’s captain must answer and their crew must say food word until the shooter

calls out another ship. If the captain doesn’t answer quickly (2-3 seconds after

their ship is called), their ship is sunk. If the shooter can’t say the name of

another ship quickly or any crew member can’t say a vocab word, their ship is

sunk.

Comments: Can be made harder by not allowing students to repeat vocab

words or else their ship is sunk.

10. Title: Betting on Mr. Monkey

Type: Game

Target: any conversations

Materials: Picture cards, fake money

Procedure: Hand out fake money to the students. Ask each student a

question from the target theme (i.e. under, on, in) about Mr. Monkey such as

“Where is Mr. Monkey?” Each student answers where they think he is, for

example “He is on the table,” “He is under the chair,” or “He is in the box.” In

order to bet the students must place a bet from their fake money, like 1 dollar.

Record their predictions. Then pull out one of the picture cards at random. The

students who guessed correctly get the money in the pot. The students can buy

candy or prizes with their money at the end of the game.

Comments: Other suitable conversations would be “What is Mr. Monkey

doing?” ‘What is Mr. Monkey eating/wearing?” etc.

11. Title: Bingo

Type: Game


Materials: paper and pencil

Procedure: Students draw a 3x3 (or bigger) grid and fill in the squares with

vocabulary words. Call out vocab words at random and the first student to get a

line or any other formation decided upon is the winner.

Comments: Students can also draw instead of writ the vocab words in the

squares.

12. Title: Body Clock

Type: Active Game

Target: Time

Materials: circle marked on the floor

Procedure: Ask students to make the hands of a clock with their bodies inside

the circle on the floor. Yell out certain times and students should make the time

with their bodies. For example, if the time is 3:30 they can point their hands

toward where the 3 would be and bend at a 90 degree angle to show the time.

Can be played just for fun or as teams.

Comments:

13. Title: Button, Button

Type: Game

Target: Can you help me?

Materials: A button (or a small coin)

Procedure: In this game there is one searcher and one hider. The hider has a

button cupped in his hands. The rest of the students are all in a line with their

hands cupped in exactly the same way. The hider then slides his cupped hands

in between the others hands all the way down the line. Except, secretly, he drops

the button into someone else’s hands somewhere along the way. The student

who receives the button from the hider should not give any indication that he

has the button because we don’t want the searcher to know. Then when the hider

is finished everyone asks the searcher grasshopper, “Button, Button, who has

the button?” Then searcher should guess who he thinks has the button by asking

“Can you help me?” If the student he guesses doesn’t have the button they

should answer, “Sorry I can’t” but if he guesses correctly and you have the

button you say “Sure I can” and then give him the button. Repeat with new

searchers and hiders.

Comments: Perhaps could be altered to focus on another conversation theme.

14. Title: Card Collection

Type: Game

Target: Any conversation

Materials: mini cards

Procedure: Each student gets a collection of cards of a certain number and on a

certain theme. They write their name on the back. Then they find a partner and

ask the target question such as “What do you do?” to each other. Both students

answer such as “I’m a doctor” or “I’m a lawyer”. Then they do Rock Paper

Scissors and the winner takes the other person’s card. Repeat with new partners.

Most cards wins. Return the cards to each person at the end of the game.

Comments:

15. Title: Charades

Type: Game


Materials: None

Procedure: Students are divided into 2 teams. One person from one team comes

up to the front where the teacher gives them a vocabulary word to act out. The

team tries to guess the word. If they get it correct the team gets one point. Teams

alternate turns and the team with the most points wins.

Comments: If the words are easy to guess you can make it harder by limiting

the time to act it out, limiting the time the students have to guess, limiting the

number of guesses and having the team say the answer together in unison.

16. Title: Circle It!

Type: Active Game


Materials: None (or picture cards)

Procedure: Divide students into 2 teams. Write the vocab words on the board. 2

students from each team race to circle the word I say with a piece of chalk, say

the word and then return the chalk to their team. The fastest team per round gets

a point

Comments: Can also be used with picture cards on the board, but

instead of circling the card they just touch the card.

17. Title: Clap Attack


Target: Any vocabulary, song or chant

Materials: None

Procedure: Students stand in a circle with their hands overlapping, each

students right hand is in front of the others and their left hand is behind. Practice

passing the clap; the first person brings their right hand over to clap the right

hand of the next person. The left hand always stays in place. They clap should be

passed around the circle. Then add in the chant and clap to the beat of the chant.

For example, use the chant “Cinderella, Dressed in yella, Went upstairs to kiss

her fella. She made a mistake, and kissed a snake. How many doctors will it

take? 1! 2! 3! 4! 5!” The 2 students who are supposed to clap on the count of 5

have a duel to slap each other’s hands. The person on the right tries to clap the

person’s on the left’s hands. The person on the left tries to remove their hand so

that the person on the right misses. Whoever is successful (clapping the other’s

hand or making the other person miss) is the winner. The loser is removed from

the game. The 2 students must have the duel on the count of 5, no waiting or

fudging the time or else it gets complicated. Make sure the students say the

chant and don’t just clap. The last 2 students standing have the final duel by one

person putting both hands on top and the other putting their hands on top. They

clap and switch hands position to the beat of the chant until the count of 5. On 5

the person on top tries to clap the bottom persons hands and the bottom person

tries to remove their hands. The successful person is the winner.

Comments: You can use any song or chant or even simple vocabulary words to

play this game

18. Title: Clap-clap

Type: Active game

Target: Any conversation pattern

Materials: None

Procedure: Make up actions for the answers to the question. For example, to

practice “What’s the weather like?” “It’s cloudy/rainy/sunny/windy, etc” make

up actions for each answer such as “It’s cloudy”=cover your eyes, “It’s rainy”=

fingers wave in the rain motion, “It’s windy”=sway side to side, etc. Then

students stand in line all facing the teacher. Everyone says the question together

in unison “What’s the weather like?” and then clap 2 times together.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinderella

Immediately after the second clap, each student answers and does the action to

go along with the answer. The teacher also answers and does an action. Any

student that does the same action and answer as the teacher is out. The last

student standing is the winner

Comments: Could be used to practice only vocabulary words and instead of

saying a question just say the theme of the words. For example “Animals,

animals, clap-clap” then everyone does the action and says an animal

vocabulary word.

19. Title: Clothes Relay

Type: Active Game

Target: Clothes vocabulary

Materials: Old clothes

Procedure: Students line up across from a pile of clothes in teams. The first

student runs to the pile of clothes and picks one thing to put on. Then they yell

the name of the clothes 3 times and run back to the line. They pass the clothes to

the next person who must wear it and run and choose something else to wear

and yell it’s name 3 times. The team to get all their items on the fastest is the

winner.

Comments: Can also be done as a whole group and try to beat their previous

times.

20. Title: Clueless

Type: Game


Materials: Word or picture cards

Procedure: One student has a card pinned to their back or stuck on

their forehead. The rest of the class knows what the card is and gives the

students hints about it until they can guess their card.

Comments: Can be used to practice more than just vocabulary by having the

students answer in full sentences, and having the student ask questions about

their card.

21. Title: Concentration


Target: Any vocab or conversation pattern

Materials: None

Procedure: Assign each student an answer to the conversation question

or a vocabulary word. This game works really well with remembering names so

your question could be ‘Who is ____?” The first person starts by saying “I’m

Chandra.” Then asks ‘Who is Eun Ji?” Then Eun JI answers ‘I’m Eun Ji. Who is

Min Young?” However, there is a rhythm that the students must clap and speak

to. First you slap your legs, the clap your hands, then snap your fingers with one

hand and then the other. The words of the sentence must go to the beats of the

rhythm. If a student doesn’t answer to the rhythm they are out.

Comments:

22. Title: Copy cat

Type: Game


Materials: None

Procedure: Students say a vocabulary word and do an action to go with it. The

student beside them must copy exactly the action and word that the student said.

They then say a new word and make up a new action which the next person

copies. Continue until all have had a turn.

Comments: You can vary this game to focus on intonation by having the

students mimic each other’s intonation and tone of voice while saying the word

or even a sentence.

23. Title: Countdown


Target: Any conversation, fluency

Materials: Timer

Procedure: The first student says the question part of the conversation, for

example, “Will you help me?” The next student answers “Of course” and then

asks the next student “Will you help me?” This continues all around the class

until the last person answers the question. The timer starts t the beginning and

finishes at the last student. The class can try a few consecutive times or over a

period of days to try and beat their last time.

Comments:

24. Title: Cover-up

Type: Game


Materials: flashcards, cover cards

Procedure: Put pictures cards out on a table. Say each one twice and then give

the students 20 seconds to memorize their location. Give each student a cover

card (blank piece of paper with a colour on it or a number on it) to place over

top of a picure card. Mix up the location of the cards to make it more difficult.

Each student chooses a cover card and tries to say the picture card that is under

it. If they get it right then they take the card and it is replaced with a new one

and they keep going until they can’t remember. Then it is the next person’s turn.

The person with the most pictures cards wins.

Comments:

25. Title: Cowboy

Type: Active Game


Materials: Word/picture cards

Procedure: 6 students with word/picture cards stand in a line with a chair

behind them. I call out a word and the student with that card sits down. The two

students on either side of the student who sat down turn and face each other.

They then have a ‘gun duel’ like in the Wild West where the quickest shooter

wins. The first of the 2 students to call out the opposite person’s card is the

winner (they ‘shot’ the other person with their word). The loser must act like

they died and is out of the game. A new student takes their place. Switch spots

and repeat.

Comments:

26. Title: Days Card Game

Type: Game

Target: Days of the Week

Materials: cards available form genkienglish.net

Procedure: The days of the week in English have a special meaning. They each

go with a planet. Tuesday - Mars Wednesday - Mercury Thursday - Jupiter

Friday –Venus = Saturday - Saturn. Sunday, of course, is named for the sun.

Monday – named for the moon. Now I have these cards. Each one has one day

of the week on it and a number. The number matches how far it is away from

the sun. The farthest planet had the biggest number. Now in partners we will

play the card game. The first person asks “What day is it?” The next person

turns over a card and says “it’s _______.” The other person turns over their card

too. Whichever card has the biggest number takes both cards into their pile.

Whoever collects all 7 cards (or you can play for the most cards) is the winner.

If there is a tie of numbers, then you do it over again and the winner of the

second time gets all 4 cards!

Comments:

27. Title: Detective

Type: Game

Target: Possessives (Is the your __?)

Materials: Student’s personal objects

Procedure: Students take turns being "it" and go out of the classroom and wait

for a while. Choose a student's item and put it on the table. All the students in

the classroom call out for "it" to come back in the classroom. "It" tries to find

the owner of the item on the table. Students say HOT if ‘it’ is close to the person

and COLD if they are far away. When 'it" designates someone as the owner,

students ask him/her "Is this your pencil?" The student designated answers,

"Yes, it is/ No, it isn't” Then the next it goes outside and waits to be the

detective.

Comments: Perhaps could be altered to focus on another theme.

28. Title: Dice Addition

Type: Game


Materials: None

Procedure: Divide the students into groups and brainstorm sentences on the

theme, for example what did you do yesterday; listened to music, met my

friends, studied, did my homework, watched TV, played computer games, sang

karaoke, ate supper, visited my family, went to the park, watched a movie,

played soccer. Now give each one of these sentences a number and write it on

the board. Then everyone in the group says ‘What did you do yesterday?” and

the first person rolls the dice once. Everyone remembers the number. Then the

same person rolls the dice again. The group adds up the numbers from the dice

and says the sentence that matches the number. Then it is the next person’s turn.

Play until everyone has had a turn

Comments:

29. Title: Disappear

Type: Game


Materials: flashcards

Procedure: Put picture cards on a table and give students 10 seconds to look

and memorize. Then they close their eyes and I take one away. They open their

eyes have to figure out which one is gone.

Comments: This game can be quite easy so to make it harder use more cards,

lessen the time they have to look or remove more than 2 cards at once.

30. Title: Duck Duck

Type: Active Game


Materials: None

Procedure: Students sit in a circle and close their eyes. I pick 2 students by

touching them on the back. When I say go those 2 students go inside the circle

and say the conversation, i.e. “What did you do yesterday?” “I ______.” When

they are done they exit the circle through the spot where the opposite person

was sitting and race all the way around the circle. The first person to go all the

way around the circle back to the opposite person’s spot is the winner. The

winner gets to choose the next 2 people that play.

Comments:

31. Title: Fast/slow motion

Type: Game



Procedure: Have a pile of picture cards and show them to the class one

by one in either fast motion or slow motion. Students try to guess what the word

is.

Comments: can also be played in teams and the first team to guess the card gets

a point.

32. Title: Find your team

Type: Game


Materials: mini cards

Procedure: Each student gets a certain card on a theme. There should be at least

2 matching cards within the whole set. Mix up the matching cards so that the

students begin far apart. Have students ask and answer to find their team

members (those students who have the same card as them.) For example, “Do

you like apples?” If the student has an apple card they answer “Yes I do and stay

with their partner. If they don’t they move on and keep searching for their

partners.

Comments:

33. Title: Frozen Tag

Type: Active Game

Target: Any vocabulary or conversation

Materials: None

Procedure: One student is IT. IT tries to tag all of the other students. When the

other students are tagged they become frozen. They are frozen until they say a

vocabulary word or the target conversation to the teacher after which they are

free again.

Comments: I usually play walking tag or slow motion tag, especially inside as

it results in less confusion and injuries! Slow motion tag is especially fun

because everyone has to move and talk in slow motion which can be very

funny! You can also play so that one set of vocabulary is the ‘immunity’ which

means that if they say a word from this set of vocab, they can crouch on the

ground while IT is trying to tag them and they are immune to being frozen.

34. Title: Food Chain Evolution

Type: Active Game

Target: Animals

Materials: None

Procedure: Brainstorm with the students to develop a food chain of 5-7 animals

from smallest to biggest. Review the sounds of these animals. All students begin

as the lowest animal and must walk around the class while making the sound of

that animal. When students meet someone who is making the same sound as

they are making, the 2 students do rock-paper-scissors. The winner becomes the

next level of animal in the food chain and the loser goes down a level in the

food chain. The first student to get to the highest level wins

Comments: Perhaps could be altered to focus on other vocabulary as well.

35. Title: Funky Mummy

Type: Active Game

Target: Health, Body parts, Halloween

Materials: toilet paper rolls, body picture cards

Procedure: Each group has one doctor. The rest are the patients. The patients

all do Rock-Scissor-Paper and the first loser picks a card from the pile. They

look at the card and then say “Doctor, doctor my ______ hurts” or “Doctor,

doctor, I have a _______” depending on the card they choose. Then the doctor

should say “Oh That’s to bad” and wrap that part of the patient’s body in toilet

paper. This continues until one student in the class is a complete mummy

(wrapped everywhere)

Comments: If they say "my eye hurts" or "my arm/leg/foot etc hurts," teach

them to use left and right. You can make the conversation longer, like "My arm

hurts!" "Which one?" "This one [holding left arm up]." or "My left arm." You

can also have a "where?" or "Where does it hurt?" and the student can point and

say "here." It gives advanced students a chance to practice a more

conversational conversation, instead of an exchange of one sentence each.

36. Title: Giants, Wizards and Dwarves

Type: Active Game

Target: Fairy Tale theme

Materials: None

Procedure: This game is an active version of Rock Scissors Paper. Instead of

Rock there is Giants, instead of Scissors there is Wizards, instead of Paper there

is Dwarves. Each character has an action. Giants (hand above head) beat

Wizards (hands in front waving) beat Dwarves (arms crossed holding ears).

Students are divided into 2 teams and they stand in a line facing each other. The

teams have 10 seconds to decide which character they will choose. After 10

seconds they face each other and say in unison “Mirror, mirror on the wall,

Which fairy tale character will beat them all? 1, 2, 3” After the count of 3 the

teams say the character name and do the action. The winning team chases the

other team back to their safe wall and any students who were caught join the

other team. The team with the most students at the end of the game wins.

Comments: This is a very fun game, but limited in its usage. Maybe some

variations could be made to make it more suitable for other themes and more

intensive on the speaking of English?

37. Title: Go Fish

Type: Game

Target: Any vocabulary, but especially phonics related

Materials: playing cards related to your theme

Procedure: Make up a set of cards for each group of students. Groups

should be about 5 students. The cards could be about rhyming words, words that

start with the same letter, end with the same letter, etc. Deal out the cards to the

students (about 4 each) and set the rest5 in a pile in the middle. Students take

turns asking each other questions about their cards to try and find a matching

pair. For example, If in my cards I have a card that says “chair” and we are

playing for rhyming words I could ask “Do you have a card that rhymes with

Chair?” If the person I ask does have such a card, they must hand it over and I

get a pair. The pair is now out of play. If they don’t have a card to match, they

say “sorry. Go fish!” I then choose a card from the middle. The most pairs wins.

Comments:

38. Title: Going Camping


Target: Any vocab, or phonics

Materials: None

Procedure Tell the class you are going on a camping trip. If the students

want to join, they have to say “Hello My name is _____ and I’m bringing ____.”

But there is a secret and they have to figure it out. Give them a clue: My name is

Ms. Kasper and I’m bringing a Kite. The secret is that what you bring must

begin with the same sound/letter as your name. Write Kasper and Kite on the

board next to each other for a visual cue. Ask “Can you join me?” to the first

student. Keep going until one student gets it right, then write their name on the

board with yours for another clue. Now the people who know the secret should

ask the next person to join. “_____, Can you join us?” Students try to figure out

that the object and the name must begin with the first letter.

Comments: Can be made more difficult by only allowing students to choose

objects from a certain set of vocab, for example food or toys.

39. Title: Harry Potter

Type: Active Game

Target: “What are you doing?” verbs, commands

Materials: None (or newspaper wands for fun)

Procedure: 1/3 of the students get wands and become Voldemorts. The

remaining wandless 2/3s are Harry Potters. I will give the Harry Potters a 10-

second head start then let the Voldemorts loose. When a Voldemort catches a

Harry Potter, they wave their wand and shout a command at Harry eg.

jump/dance. Harry Potter then has to do that action in the same spot until they

are saved. Remember that this is a wand NOT a hitting stick. If I see anyone

hitting, then you will be removed from the game. To save a Harry, a FREE

Harry Potter must come along and ask "What are you doing?" and the caught

Harry Potter replies "I'm jumping/dancing". With that complete, Harry Potter is

now free and the world is okay again! If no one is coming to save you, you can

yell “Help me Harry!!!” that means someone should go and save them.

Comments:

40. Title: Hot Potato

Type: Active Game


Materials: Ball

Procedure: In the background, play some music. While the music is playing the

first student should ask the target question, for example, “Is this your ball?” and

at the same time pass the ball to the next person. The next person catches the

ball and answers “No it isn’t,” or whatever the answer to the target question is.

Repeat the procedure as students ask and throw, catch and answer until the

music stops. When the music stops the person holding the ball should answer

“Yes it is!” Then they are out of the game, but the game continues. The last

person in the game wins.

Comments:

http://www.genkienglish.net/doing.htm

41. Title: How many Can you name?

Type: Paper Activity


Materials: Paper and pencil

Procedure: This is basically a pop quiz, but challenge the students to close their

books and make a list of all the vocabulary they know on a certain topic. Some

students really get into it and challenge themselves especially if there is some

sort of competition.

Comments:

42. Title: Last Man Standing

Type: Game


Materials: None

Procedure: Ask one row of students to stand up. The others remain seated. Ask

“What do you want to do?” to all standing students and they should raise their

hand to answer. Choose the first student to raise their hand to give an answer. If

they are correct they can sit down. Keep going (asking students the question and

calling on the first to raise their hand) until there is only one student left

standing up. Now the column that the standing kid belongs to stands up. Repeat

by alternating between rows of kids (sideways) and columns (back to front).

Comments: This is a good game. Don't explain all the rules at the beginning,

just play it at the kids will get it as you go along. It is a real incentive to answer

questions and not sit silently doing nothing!!

43. Title: Line by Line

Type: Game


Materials: None

Procedure: Divide the class into teams. Draw a picture of the vocabulary words

slowly, one line at a time. Teams guess what I am drawing and the first team to

get it right gets one point

Comments:

44. Title: Line Quiz

Type: Game

Target: Any vocabulary, or conversation pattern


Procedure: 2 teams stand in a line and I ask the front 2 people a question such

as “What do you want?” Show them a picture card and the first to answer ‘I

want ____” correctly sits down. Repeat again through the whole line. The first

team to all sit down is the winner

Comments:

45. Title: MASH

Type: Paper activity

Target: House Vocabulary

Materials: Flashcards

Procedure: Now we are going to play one of my favourite games when I was a

kid. It is a fortune game. It is called MASH and each letter stands for

something. M=Mansion (a very big, huge house like a castle), A=apartment,

S=shack (very small, not a good house), H=(Normal House). This game tells

you what kind of house you will live in, in the future. Then we have some other

categories, like what kind of rooms you can have in your house. We will use 3

categories: Bathroom, Living Room and Bedroom. You choose 3 different

options for each category which should be the number of those rooms in your

house. (For example: 3 bedrooms, 0 bedrooms, 1 bedroom). Then one person

makes small marks on a paper until the other person says stop. The number of

marks equals the magic number. Then you count through all the options until

you get to the magic number and then you cross that option off. Keep going

until only one option in each category is left. Then you will have your fortune.

(Show an example) Okay everybody find out your future house fortune! Now

please tell me what kind of house you will have. (students should say I will live

in a mansion with 3 bedrooms, 0 bathrooms, and 2 living rooms)

Comments: The initials and content of the game could be used to meet the

requirements of other limited topics such as jobs or countries and cities (i.e.

what will you be when you grow up, or where will you live, etc.)

46. Title: Memory

Type: Game


Materials: Word and picture cards

Procedure: Divide students into teams. On the board place the picture

cards in grid formation. On the other side of the board place the words cards

that match what’s on the picture cards in another grid formation. Label the

columns and rows of the grid. Teams take turns as one student from each team

chooses a card from each side of the board by calling out the labels. For

example, they call C3 and A2. As the cards are revealed the whole team should

say the word of the card. If he 2 cards match the team gets a point. If not, it is

the other team’s turn. Team members take turns guessing. Most points wins.

Comments: Can also be used with past tense practice, by using present and past

tense word cards.

47. Title: Monkey in the middle

Type: Active Game


Materials: mini word/picture cards

Procedure: Students sit in chairs in a circle. Each student has a mini

word/picture card. One students stands in the middle and is the monkey. The

students asks the target question, for example, “Where are you going?” and the

monkey answers “I’m going to the __library__ next to the __bakery__.” (he can

choose any place/vocabulary word he likes). The 2 with those cards (library and

bakery) get up and try to sit in a seat, but it cannot be their original seat. The

monkey also tries to sit in a seat. The student without a seat is the new monkey

Comments:

48. Title: Musical Chairs

Type: Active Game

Target: Any vocabulary or Alphabet

Materials: Picture cards, music

Procedure: Arrange the chairs into a circle and attach a picture card on each

chair. The students must walk around the chairs while music is playing. When

the music stops students try to sit in a chair. Each round a chair is removed

meaning on student won’t get a chair. The student who misses a chair is out of

the game. However, each student who did get a chair must correctly name the

picture card of the chair they sat in. If they cannot name the card a student who

is out do to missing a chair gets a chance to name the card. If the correctly

answer, they take the place of the student who couldn’t name the card. The

game continues until there are 2 students and 1 chair left. The student who gets

the chair is the winner.

Comments: Endless variations of this game exists, including saying a sentence

with the picture card instead of just naming it, spelling the word, etc. You can

also use alphabet cards and have the student name the letter, say the sound of

the letter or say a word that starts with the letter.

49. Title: Picasso

Type: Game


Materials: None

Procedure: Divide students into teams. The first student from each

team comes to the board and the teacher tells them a word in secret. On the

count of 3, each students tries to draw the word as fast as they can. The first

team to guess their drawers word gets a point. The most points wins.

Comments:

50. Title: Pictionary

Type: Game


Materials: None

Procedure: Students are divided into 2 teams. One person from one team comes

up to the front where the teacher gives them a vocabulary word to draw on the

board. The team tries to guess the word. If they get it correct the team gets one

point. Teams alternate turns and the team with the most points wins.

Comments: If the words are easy to guess you can make it harder by limiting

the time to draw, limiting the time the students have to guess, limiting the

number of guesses and having the team say the answer together in unison.

51. Title: Red Light, Green Light

Type: Active Game

Target: Colours, Traffic


Procedure: Students start at back of room and when I show green card they yell

green light and run toward the front. When I show the red card they yell red

light and they freeze. If any student moves during a red light, they go back to

the start. The first student to the front gets to be the leader.

Comments: Perhaps could be altered to focus on other vocabulary as well.

52. Title: Relay Race

Type: Active Game



Procedure: Divide the class into 2 teams and have each team form a line. The

1st person from each team runs up to me. They look at the card and then tell me

the word. Once they correctly name he card, they run back to their team and tag

the next person who comes up to me and repeats the process. The first team to

finish is the winner.

Comments:

53. Title: Round the World

Type: Active Game



Procedure: Divide the class into groups of about 5-6 Each group will

have on leader. The leader keeps the picture cards. Then the first person out of

the 5 players stands up behind the person next to them. The whole team asks the

target question. Then the leader flips over a picture card and the first person out

of the two who are one behind each other to answer what the card says is the

winner. The winner stands up behind the next person and starts again. The first

person back to their original seat is the main winner and they become the leader

for the next round.

Comments: Could also be played as a whole class game rather than in groups

54. Title: SLAM game

Type: Active Game

Target: Any Vocabulary


Procedure: Let’s review the words. What room is this? (show the room picture

cards) Okay now we are going to play a game using these words. There are 2

teams. The teams should line up on opposite sides of the room. I will put these

cards around the edges of the tables. The first person from each team should go

around and SLAM the picture and then say “This is a _________ (whatever

room)” They keep going until they meet in the middle somewhere. When they

meet they play Rock Scissors Paper. The winner keeps slamming and saying

sentences. The loser goes to the back of the line and the next person from their

team starts slamming and saying sentences. When one person gets all the way

around the tables, their team gets a point. The first team to get 3-5 points is the

winner.

Comments:

55. Title: Snowball fight

Type: Active Game

Target: Any vocabulary or conversation

Materials: Pictures printed on paper

Procedure: Divide students into 2 teams and make a line which the teams

cannot cross. Give each student a piece of paper with a picture on it. They

crumple up the paper into a snowball and throw them at each other. When you

say stop, students must freeze. Count the snowballs on each side and the team

which has the most snowballs on their side loses. After the snowball count,

students must pick up the paper closest to you, open it and say what it is. Pass

out the pictures again and start over.

Comments: Kind of a waste of paper because they are usually extremely

crumpled after a few rounds, but fun nonetheless.

56. Title: Sumo

Type: Active Game



Procedure: 2 students come up to the front of the class. Pin a card on their back

so they can’t see it. Don’t let the other person see either. The 2 students face

each other and do the Sumo pose. Put their hands behind their back and ready-

set-go and then they try to see the other persons’ card without using hands. Once

they’ve seen it they yell out the answer. The first to get it right is the winning

sumo wrestler.

Comments: This game is very popular with boys, but some girls don’t like to

participate. This can be helped if you pair girls with another girl.

57. Title: Teacher Says

Type: Active Game


Materials: None

Procedure: Make up actions for different vocabulary words. If your theme is

sports then make up actions for “play soccer” “go swimming” “play baseball”

etc or if your theme is animals make up actions for “act like a dog” “act like a

bunny” “walk like a turtle” etc. Actions can be made for almost any theme. The

students stand in a line. The teacher calls out a command like “Teacher says act

like a bunny.” All the students follow the command. If the command is not

preceded with ‘Teacher says’ the students should not perform the command.

Any students who perform the command when ‘Teacher says’ was not said, is

out. The last student standing is the winner.

Comments:

58. Title: Telephone Game


Target: Any vocabulary, pronunciation

Materials: None

Procedure: A vocabulary word is chosen and whispered by the teacher to the

first student. They then whisper the word to the next student and so on until it

reaches the last student. The last student must say the word aloud and if it is

correct the class wins. I usually play class against the teacher. Every time the

class gets the word wrong, I get a point. Every time the class gets the word

right, they get a point. It’s really motivating for the students and develops class

co-operation on a common goal. The first and last students should always

alternate to give many students the chance to be the last student.

Comments: Variations can be made to focus on different aspects of the

language. For example, instead of just saying the word aloud the last child must

write the word on the board which focuses on spelling or writing. Or they must

name the first letter of the word which focuses on phonics. Any variation could

be made to suit the needs of the class. This game works best with younger

students, but variations could make it more interesting for older classes. The

game can be mad easier or harder by allowing the students to repeat the word

numerous times, or limiting the time a student can say the word to a single time.

59. Title: Tic Tac Toe

Type: Paper activity

Target: Past tense or any vocabulary

Materials: Paper and pencil

Procedure: Students are in pairs and write down plain present tense verbs in

each square of a 3 x 3 grid. The first students chooses a square they want to

write X or O (depending on what they are). They must conjugate the verb to the

past tense and say it out loud. If they get it correct then they can put an X or O

over that square. If they get it wrong then it is the other person’s turn. The first

student to get 3 in a row is the winner.

Comments: This can be used just to practice any vocab by writing words in the

squares and having to say the words aloud, or letters and having them say the

name, sound or word that starts with the letter.

60. Title: Tug of War

Type: Game

Target: Any vocabulary, sentence forms, conversation, review

Materials:

Procedure: Divide students into 2 teams. Draw a rope on the board with a

certain number of notches. Ask a question and if the team answers correctly

they move the marker closer to their side. The first team to get the marker on

their side is the winner.

Comments:

61. Title: Unscramble sentences

Type: Game

Target: Any vocabulary, but especially phonics related

Materials: scrambled sentences on the computer or the board

Procedure: Divide the class into teams. Put some words up for the students to

see. They have to unscramble the words with their group to make a proper

sentence. The first team to say the correct sentence aloud as a group gets one

point. If only one person from the team says the sentence, they do not get the

point.

Comments: Good for older students, but insist that the whole group says the

sentence, otherwise the smart kids will do all the work and the lower level kids

won’t get any benefit!

62. Title: Voice disguise



Materials: None

Procedure: Students close their eyes and one student is chosen by the teacher.

That student must say the vocabulary word out loud, but use a distorted voice so

that the others don’t know who said the word. The students open their eyes and

try to guess who said the word. The student who guessed correctly gets a point.

The student with the most points at the end wins.

Comments: Practice distorting the voice before playing the game as this is hard

for students who are not yet comfortable with the English language. It may help

to have certain voices ready such as ‘robot voice’ ‘high voice’ ‘low voice’

‘squeaky voice’ ‘fast voice’ etc.

63. Title: What time is it Mr. Wolf?

Type: Active Game

Target: Time

Materials: None

Procedure: One student is the Wolf. All the rest line up far away from the Wolf.

They ask in unison “What time is it Mr. Wolf?” and the wolf answers any time.

The students then take the same number of steps towards the Wolf as the time

that the Wolf said. For example, if the wolf answered “It’s 4 o’clock” students

should take 4 steps toward the wolf. Once the Wolf is ready s/he can call out “Its

lunchtime!” When this happens the wolf chases all the students back to the safe

zone and tries to catch them. If anyone is caught they become the new wolf.

Comments:

64. Title: Wheel of Fortune

Type: Game

Target: Any vocab, sentences, and conversation patterns

Materials: Wheel to spin

Procedure: Put a hangman sentence/word on the board in blanks.

Divide the class into teams and then spin the wheel. If a team says a letter that is

in the puzzle, then they get the amount of money on the wheel multiplied by the

number of times the letter is in the puzzle. They keep going until they either hit

the bankrupt square or they guess a letter that is not in the puzzle. Keeps going

until one team wants to solve the puzzle. Only the team who solved the puzzle

gets to keep their money from that round. The team with the most money at the

end of the game wins.

Comments:

65. Title: Whispers

Type: Active game


Materials: None

Procedure: Students are divided into 2 teams. Each team stands in a line. The

first student from each team comes to the teacher where the teacher whispers the

secret word to them. They then run to the back of their respective lines and

whisper the word to the last person in line 9they stay at the back and don’t

return to the front). The last person whispers the word to the person in front of

them who whispers it to the person in front of them and so on, until the word

reaches the person who is now at the front of the line. That person runs to the

teacher and whispers the word to the teacher. If it is correct they receive a new

word and run to the back of the line and continue the whispering game. If it is

wrong they must restart from the previous word. They first team to finish all the

words correctly is the winner.

Comments:

66. Title: Whiz Bong

Type: Active game

Target: Any Vocabulary (small amount, 2-5 words)

Materials: None

Procedure: Get the students to stand in a circle. The first person starts by

asking “Will you help me?” and doing the action of putting their arm across

their chest in one direction. The person on the same side as the moved their arm

(i.e. they moved their left arm the person to their left is next) should answer

“Sure” and move their arm in the same direction. Then it is the next person’s

turn and they should start again with “Will you help me?” This continues in the

same direction until somebody answers something different, like “Of course.” If

someone answers something different then they should move their arm across

their body in the other direction and then the person on the opposite side

answers. Answering with a different sentence changes the direction of the

movement. Also, If someone answers with the words “Sorry I can’t” They

should put their hands on their head. Doing this mean that it continues in the

same direction, BUT skips the next person in line. Do a practice with a few

students and then begin the game as a whole class. If someone makes a mistake

the whole class should throw their hands in the air and yell out “Oh no!” Then

the game continues!

Comments: If the class is already familiar with the game, changing the key

words a few times during the game could incorporate more vocabulary.

67. Title: Word chain


Target: Any vocabulary or sentence form

Materials: None

Procedure: The first student must say a vocabulary word or sentence such a “I

played soccer.” The next student must say what the person before him did, and

then something new like “He played soccer. I watched TV.” The next student

must remember all those who came before “He played soccer. She watched TV.

I played computer games.” Count the number of sentences students can

remember. Continue until a student makes a mistake or can’t remember. When a

student makes a mistake or forgets, start again with that student and see if they

can beat their last record.

Comments: This can be made more motivating by setting a limit and then

rewarding all the class if they reach that goal (“If you can remember more than

10 sentence, the whole class will get a sticker.”) It can also be made into a

competition by recording the top scores of all classes in a certain grade and

rewarding the best class. Beware as this makes the students very competitive

and they can be harsh on students who have a hard time remembering.

68. Title: Word Delete


Target: Any sentence, question, or conversation pattern

Materials: None

Procedure: One student at a time says one word from the chosen pattern. For

example, if the pattern is “Will you help me?” student one says “will,” student 2

says “you,” student 3 says “help,’ and student 4 says ‘me.” The next student

begins again with “will” and so on. A word is chosen to be deleted and the

student whose turn it is should clap instead of saying the word. If “you” is the

chosen word, the game is played like this: S1= Will, S2= clap, S3= help,

S4=me, etc. If a student claps when he is not supposed, says a wrong word or

says the word instead of claps he is out. The winner is the last student standing.

Comments: This can be made harder by choosing more complicated

vocabulary, deleting 2 or more words at a time, or by using patterns with more

than of the same word in it. Manipulating the speed of the game can make it

easier or harder.

Education

68 classroom-games