7 more games to teach English
1. Action Race game: This is a fun game using actions words. Use actions words like jump, hop, clap, run etc. First, split the students into two teams and make them sit in lines with a chair by each team and one chair at the other end of the room. One student from each team stands next to their chair and the teacher calls an action word like Jump. The student must jump to the chair on the other side of the room and back, sitting down on their chair student say "I can jump." First one to do it gets their team a point. 2. Adverb/Action game: In this game, the teacher writes an activity on the board "brush your teeth." Then pick one student, to come to the front of the class. The teacher then shows the student a card with an adverb written on it, such as "slowly." The chosen student then does the activity in the manner described by the adverb. The other students have to guess the adverb. The one who guesses right gets a point and mimes the next action/adverb combination. To help them you can give them a list of options.
3. Badminton game: This game is good for reviewing target vocabulary (words or communicative expressions). Set a "court" in the classroom by placing a skip-rope tied up to two chairs. Make two teams (the other students can be the crowd and/or challengers). Give each student a racket. Inflate a balloon (this will be the badminton birdie). Remember: the younger the students, the bigger the balloon must be (so it’s slower). Decide who serves first and for every winning shot the winning team calls out the flashcard or picture card shown by the teacher to get a point. Lots of fun! (NOTE: be careful since they might hit the others' faces when playing).
4. Bang! game: The materials for this game are: a small piece of paper and a shoe box or coffee can. Write words on pieces of paper and fold them in half (sight words, vocabulary, blends, etc.). Also add a few cards that say "BANG!" Students take turns picking cards and if they read the word correctly they get to keep the word. If they draw a BANG! card they yell BANG! and then return all their cards (except the BANG! card) to the can/box. The student (or team) with the most cards, wins! Very simple and the kids love it. 5. Buzz game: This is a counting game (that you may recognize as a popular drinking game). In this game, make the students sit in a circle. The students should pass the ball around while counting (1, 2, 3, etc.). When the number reaches 7 the student must say buzz. Any number with a 7 in it must be buzz (7, 17, 27, 37, etc.) and any multiple of 7 must be buzz (14, 21, 28, 35...). 6. Category Tag game: Choose a category (such as food, weather, transportation, etc.). The students should run around the room while the teacher chases them. When the teacher tags a student, the student must name a word from the category (e.g. food: cheese, fish, bread, etc.). You can give a time limit to answer (e.g. 5 seconds). If the student cannot answer or says a word that has already been used s/he sits out until the next round.
7. Charades game: Call a student to come to the front of the class and whisper a word or show a flashcard to that student. The student then acts out that word and the first student to guess it right wins a point and can act out the next word. This works very well with action verbs. Variation: divide the class up into teams - the first student to guess wins a point for his/her team.
There are still more games to come. If you want more games, comment below. I know some of my readers have fun games as well, please share with us so that we all can learn from you.
