Huge List of Language Learning Games - an across the board resource bank

[Admin]

Hi everyone,

I've got a list of some 67 language games that comes from our head office in Shanghai. Its not divided by level or game aim, we'll be categorizing these over time but for now, here is the 'raw' list:


Language Learning Games For Children

1. Slap: A very simple game for learning vocabulary from flashcards. Run through the cards quickly then spread them out on the table. Call out the word and the students race to slap the card. The winner takes the card. With young children, get them to put their hands on their heads before each round to avoid cheating! Penalties such as putting an already won card back on the table for slapping the wrong card can also be added.

2. Stand UP/Sit Down: Young children enjoy this very simple game. Give the command and children respond as quickly as possible. Then give the wrong command (i.e. Stand up when they are already standing.) This can be adapted to a Simon Says type game: Students only respond if the caller says ‘please’. Students can take the teacher’s role.

3. Touch: Children love running around the room. Call out “Touch the door” and students rush to do so. Always get the students to call out what they are touching so that the students are producing language, not simply reacting. With boisterous students it may be useful to teach the difference between “touch” and “Bang the table”. The game can be developed from simple objects to: Touch something red/big/an animal/a red fruit/something you like/something beginning with ‘a’ etc.

4. Pelmanism For this game you need two identical sets of cards. Spread both sets out face down. A student turns over two cards, calling out what they are; if the cards match, the student keeps them; if they do not, the student replaces them face down. Play until all the cards have been claimed.

5. Greetings Theatre: Every lesson should begin with greetings but they can also be used as an acting game. Get two or more students to walk around the table in opposite directions. When they meet they must greet each other. This can be extended to incorporate other Q’s. Note that `theatre` should always be an event, not just random wandering around. Get the students who are not participating to sit at one end of the room as an audience. (Students clap, teacher sells popcorn …)

6. Initial Letter Slap: A variation on Slap. Spread flashcards on the table then call out a letter. Students take any card beginning with that letter.

7. Alphabet Relay: Needs 4 or more students. Line them up in two teams as far from the whiteboard as possible (even in a small space this can be done if the chairs/tables are used as an obstacle course). The members of each team are given a pen and the teacher shouts “A”. Thereafter each team member runs to the board in turn, writes the next letter of the alphabet, and runs back to the next team member to hand over the pen. This can be done with or without obstacles depending on classroom size and equipment.

8. Rub Out: Draw a selection of pictures, numbers or words on the board. Students take turns to rub out items. This can be a team game if you have time to draw two sets on the board. Variations are endless: coloured pictures, numbers, letters etc. For word recognition draw pictures with words underneath. First time round students rub out pictures, second time they rub out the words.

9. Put the Mouse In The Box: Use flashcards, pencils, books, bags, pencil cases etc to practise in, on, under. Students respond to the teacher’s commands either individually or all at once. Make sure that the vocabulary items are familiar so that students only need to concentrate on the preposition. If a student is doing the task, keep the others` attention by getting them to check: Ask “O.K.?” with exaggerated questioning intonation. Students respond with “Yes!”, “OK!” or “No!” (This can be applied to many other games.)

10. Kim’s Game: Put a number of small objects, flash card, or pictures of objects on the table. Decide what you want the students to remember, for example: noun only, noun + definite/indef. Article, adjective +noun, etc. Cover the objects for thirty seconds. The students must say or write as many of the objects as they can.

11. Think Of A … This is a very useful game for revising all sorts of vocabulary. To introduce the game extend from “Touch a vegetable" ”What is it?” Once students understand the command “Think of a …” develop the game into a guessing game: One student thinks, the others try to guess what it is.

12. This/That Game: Using exaggerated gestures will help students remember the difference between `this` and `that`. Call out “This is a chair” and students must rush to touch a chair and repeat the phrase. Then call out “That is a table” and students must distance themselves from the table, point and repeat the phrase. Students can then take the teacher’s role.

13. Word Relay: A variation on the alphabet relay. Give each team a word (with the same number of letters) to write on the board. If the vocabulary is relatively new, write the words on the board, get students to look (e.g. for 10 seconds) then rub out the word and play the game. To revise better known vocabulary (numbers, colours etc.) write the group of words on the top half of the board. Run through them orally, and then play the game. (Getting students to play this game simply from memory is of limited value: it is either too easy or too difficult!) This can later be extended to completing a simple sentence, with the initial letter of each word provided. Again students must know what they are supposed to be writing.

14. Reading Race Game/Heidi’s Game: This is a fun way to practise word recognition. Divide the class into two teams. Put a series of (about 12) word cards in a line down the middle of the table. The object is for a team to get to the end of the line by reading all the words. Teams start from opposite ends and take it in turns to read one word. Teams may confer and should be helped if they can’t read the word. Each turn the team advances one word using a counter. When the teams meet on the same word they must play scissors, paper, stone. The loser must go back to the beginning. The winner continues to advance. Teams can take it in turns to read or can change reader each time the team is sent back to the start. Note that the game can go on for a long time without any team getting to the end, so a time limit may be necessary. Also, students may memorise the words rather than read them so it may be necessary to shuffle the cards occasionally. Do not use unknown words.

15. Action Statues: A variation of the children’s party game Musical Statues. Give a command (e.g. “Walk”) and get the students to walk around the table. Change the action several times, and then call out “Stop!” Children must freeze. The last one to do so or anyone who moves is out. Musical Chairs can be adapted in the same way, though it is more rowdy.

16. Miming: Give the student a short description of a situation, such as: brushing your teeth; driving a car; washing an elephant; trying to read a newspaper on a crowded train, or simple actions like reading or jumping. The student must mime the action until another student guesses it. Adjectives such as dirty, hot, etc. can also be used.

17. Line-up: Children have to stand in a line according to age, height etc. Ideally students should sort themselves by asking the appropriate QA (e.g. “How old are you?” “When is your birthday?”) Other possibilities for line-ups include giving a group a set of word cards which make a sentence. They must stand in order to make the sentence.

18. What’s The Time Mr Wolf? Teacher or a student is the wolf and stands facing the wall. The group advance towards the wolf one step at a time asking “What’s The Time Mr Wolf?” The wolf answers one o’clock, two o’clock… Dinner time! The wolf turns and tries to catch a student before they get back ‘home’ (e.g. touching the window.) If a student is caught they become the wolf. Can be riotous. Be careful when playing this with very young students as they may become scared of the teacher.

19. What Is It? Draw the first line of a picture on the board and ask “What is it?” or “What’s this?” Encourage students to guess using a question (“Is it a pig?” or simply “A pig?” with questioning intonation.) Draw another line and repeat until a student guesses correctly. That student draws the next picture. An alternative is to hold up a flashcard with the picture masked. Get students to guess. Expose the picture in gradual stages, asking the students to guess each time. These games can be further developed by writing the initial letter of the word, or even the word itself on the board before you play. This way the students either have a hint or learn to associate the letter/read the word.

20. Snap: Use the small bingo flashcards. Deal all the cards out face-down. Count “1…, 2…, 3!” On 3, everyone turns a card over. If any cards match, then the first student to say “SNAP” takes all the turned cards of the other students with matching cards. Stop when one student has all the cards, or use a time limit. A variation is to have the students say the name of the matching cards.

21. Hunt the Flashcard: Send all the students out of the room. Then hide or spread the flashcards around the room. Students have to find each card as it is called. When they find the card you can have them say the name or use a particular construction.
A variation could be to give directions to find the hidden card.
E.g. The house is behind the clock.

22. Blindfold Fruit: Blindfold each student in turn. Other members of the group take it in turns to place a plastic fruit in the hand of the blindfolded and ask “What is it?” Students answering correctly keep the fruit, otherwise the fruit is returned to the basket.

23. Blindfold Faces: Pre-teach parts of the face. Draw a circle on the board and ask a student to come the board. Blindfold her/him, give them a pen and say (or get other students to say), “Draw (a) nose/eyes, “etc… When the face is complete let the student see. Let all the students have a turn, and finally the teacher tries invariably causing great hilarity. This game can be adapted to parts of the body, house, animals, etc…

24. Fruit Salad: This needs some space. Arrange the chairs into a circle or horse shoe and have enough chairs for all but one student, who stands in the middle. Give each student a fruit name. (Give flashcards or plastic fruit if necessary). The person in the middle shouts out the name of two fruits, and those two students have to change chairs without the person in the middle sitting on one first. The one left in the middle calls the next names. This can be extended to three or four names. “Fruit Salad” means everybody changes places. Other vocabulary items can be used.

25. Yes/No Chairs: Set two chairs at opposite ends of the room and divide the class into two teams. Designate one chair as ‘yes’ and the other as ‘no’, or other desired construction. Ask one member from each team a question. The first student to run to the correct chair scores a point for their team.

26. Simon Says: Use simple instructions, such as: “Stand up”, “Shut your eyes”, “Open your book”, “Look at the door”, and so on. The students only obey the command if it is preceded by “Simon says”. A possible alternative is “Say please” or “Teacher says”.

27. Chair Games: Get the students to stand up. Begin counting around the circle. The first student to make a mistake or to hesitate sits down and the rest continue until only one student is left. This can be used for any sequential information, e.g. months, weekdays, etc… As a variation, students can be given a number of “lives”, maybe in the form of blocks, and one of these is given up each time a mistake is made. Alternatively, at the first mistake, the student sits on her/his chair, but continues to play; at the second error, she/he sits on the floor; at the third, she/he sits under the table, and is ‘out’.

28. Guess the Flashcard: Very simple, but very effective with the young ones. Go through any flashcard set with “What is it?” “It’s a …” then simply present the cards back to front and the students must uses. The correct answer gets the card. This can later be extended to practise the question “Is it a …?” After a while a student may act as teacher. Or it could be modified to include teams. The teams try and guess what card the other team has.

29. Grab: Draw a square on the whiteboard for each student (2-3 at a time works best), and write their names above. Spread the magnetic numbers around the board evenly outside the squares, shout out numbers, or write down numbers and get other students to shout them out. The object of the game is for the students to grab the numbers, and put them into their own box. The student with the most numbers (or the highest total) is the winner. The younger the students, the simpler the numbers called.


30. Dice Commands: Write 12 commands on the board e.g. “Sit under the table” “Open the window” “Draw a green dog” etc… Using two dice, the first student throws a number, and then asks his neighbour to perform the corresponding action. This technique can also be used more widely to apply to revision or consolidation work of any kind e.g. a number is given for 12 verbs, sit, stand, jump etc…, and the present continuous must be used in a sentence, “ I am jumping”. It could even be used to determine lesson content: if No.1, we play bingo, No2 play snap etc.

31. Categories: On the whiteboard, write the numbers 1-6 and under each number, write a category, e.g. drinks, transport, sport, colours, parts of the body etc…Each student throws a die and has to give an example in the corresponding category, When most categories have something in them, reverse the process so a sentence must be made with the first word in the category thrown. If there is no word in the category, no sentence need be made.

32. Word Groups: Write headings for word groups (ANIMALS, ROOMS…) on the board. Then ask students to name things that fit into those groups. E.g. ANIMALS>dog, ROOM>kitchen… A variation is to have a list of words which must be put into the proper categories.

33. Unscramble: Give the student a scrambled word or sentence, which must be unscrambled. A variation is to give them a list of various words including nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs and prepositions. The students must then make a complete sentence. (E.g. wall on a pink jumping rabbit A is. A pink rabbit is jumping on a wall.) Understanding can be checked by having the student draw a picture which corresponds to the sentence.

34. I Can See… Find an object in the classroom (e.g. chair) and then say “I can see something beginning with ‘c’”. Students try to guess the object by asking, “Is it a …?”

35. I Went Shopping… Start by saying, “I went shopping and I bought…” Each student must then add to the shopping list. (Students can be given alphabet flashcards to use as prompts.)
E.g. T: I went shopping and I bought a banana.
i. S1: I went shopping and I bought a banana and two bottles of coke.
Variations: “I went to a farm and I saw…”; “In my room I have /there is …”; “My friend went to Timbuktu and rode on a camel, took a … (transport)”, etc… For younger students they can just say the vocab/noun. E.g. Fruit; an apple, an apple and a banana, an apple, a banana and a peach etc…

36. Word Chain: Say a word (cat), a student must the think of a word beginning with the last letter of that word.
E.g. cat>tall>letter>red>dog…
A variation on this could be an exhaustive list of words beginning with the same letter.
E.g. balls bird, big, breakfast…

37. Work It Out: Write these 4 maths symbols on the board: + plus – minus x times ÷ divided by
Prepare a series of simple sums, for example:
two plus seven minus eight
six minus three times zero
eight divided by two plus one
Give a time limit on each question. If the student cannot get it or gives an incorrect answer, the question goes to the next student.
Variation: Get the students into two teams, each with a large die. A player from each team throws the die, and the teacher, or another student, calls, plus/minus, etc. The first student to call the correct answer wins a point for her team.

38. Aunt Agatha’s Cat: This game uses adjectives. Start by saying “Aunt Agatha has a (cat)”. The next student must add an adjective to describe the cat. To make it more difficult, do the adjectives in alphabetical order e.g. angry, black, clever, dead…

39. Alphabet Game#1: Deal out a set of picture cards. Have the students arrange their cards in alphabetical order. Decide if nearest to A or Z wins. On the count of three each student puts out one card. The winner must say all the words and then s/he takes those cards.

40. Alphabet Game#2: Lay out a grid of small bingo alphabet cards, having previously discarded the Z’s, X’s and Q’s. Make sure there’s an even distribution of vowels both in the grid and in the remaining letters. Grid size should be about 8x8-10x10 letters. Then lay word cards face down and ask a student to pick one out. Once they have read it, they have to try to make the same word form the letters in the grid. If they can, the letters and word cards are laid down in front of the student, and the missing letters in the grid are replaced from the pile of alphabet cards. If they can’t make the word another student has a go. After the first round using the word cards, try the next round using pictures only.

41. Word/picture Maze: Useful for word recognition, especially as back-up for vocab. Draw 10 things on the board, and write the respective words around the board at random. The students must circle the appropriate picture and word and join them with a line. No two lines must cross, so it becomes progressively more difficult. Try and ensure the first picture/word combination is at opposite ends of the board for maximum difficulty. This can also be used for numbers and number words.

42. Picture Grid: Pre-teach above, below, left and right. Draw a grid of 9 or 16 squares on the board and in one of the squares draw a picture. Give the pen to a student and say (or get another student to say), “Draw a (car) above the (ice-cream)”. After the student has done this, she/he gives the pen to another student, and asks her/him to draw something above/below/to the right/left of the… until the grid is full. Any kind of words, numbers, or pictures may be used and the level can be adjusted by changing the requirements for a correct answer.

43. True/False: This can be used with any set of flashcards. Get the students to stand in front of their chairs. Hold up a flashcard and say “It’s a pink elephant” or “They are walking” etc… If the statement is true, the students must sit down; if it is false, they must put their hands on their heads. Play it a few times with the teacher making the statements. Once the students understand the procedure, the last student to respond to the statement then becomes the caller, saying “It’s a dog”, or “It can fly” etc… The last to respond becomes the caller etc…

44. Clock Alphabet: Revise time briefly. Draw a big clock on the board with alphabet letters distributed evenly around the outside where the numbers are. Write a word on the board, e.g. “pencil”. Take the first letter of the word. Whichever number it corresponds to is the hour. The last letter corresponds to the minutes. For example, if P=3 and L=6, the time is 3:30. “What is it?” and “what time is it?” can be asked. This can be played as individuals or as teams. To extend it, the word can be spoken not written, or a time can be given and a word found to fit it.

45. (Mother) May I? For this game you need a large room or corridor. The teacher stands against one wall and the children line up against the opposite wall. The teacher then issues commands to each student in turn: e.g. “Emma, take 3 giant steps forward”. On hearing the command the child must ask, “May I?” If the child asks, then the child may proceed. If the child forgets to ask, he/she must go back to the start. The ‘steps’ can be very imaginative: baby, small, medium, giant, large, big…bunny hops, kangaroo jumps, frog leaps… sideway, backwards…etc.




46. Finish the Word: Write a number of known words on the board, leaving out the same vowel in all of them. E.g. bk hme huse ld ne dg by (o). Set a time limit, in which students have to finish the words. To make it more difficult, don’t say which letter.

47. O’s and X’s: Deal out a random selection of flashcards face down on a 9 square grid. S(X) chooses a card and says what it is, at an appropriate level. E.g. It’s a frog, I like frogs, frogs can jump, it’s a green frog, frogs have big eyes… If the student is correct he/she gets an ‘X’ in that spot. If wrong, put an ‘O’. You can play in teams. One can also use a series of cards per square, e.g. a ‘blue’ ‘frog’ ‘skipping’ (‘in’ a ‘box’). Draw a grid and fill with 9 items. S(X) chooses a place and uses the item in that position appropriately to get his/her ‘X’. If she/he can’t then it passes to the other team to try.
E.g. speak eat take In this case, students must drink run see make a sentence using the
i. swim go fly correct irregular past simple form.

48. Switch: Select three cards from a set of flashcards. Show them to Ss and put them face down on the table. Shuffle the cards around so that Ss might not be able to follow them. Point to a card and ask “Is this a banana? How about that?”

49. Ball Game: one S randomly throws a ball to another and asks that S a question, such as “What’s you name?” That S answers and throws the ball to someone else.

50. Q & A Match: Divide the class in half. Pass out a statement or question to each S in the first group and a response to each in the second. Each S in the first group approaches someone in the second and reads the question. The St must continue asking people until the correct response is found.

51. Feely Bag: Bring in a soft bag full of items. Ss can guess what is in the bag by feeling it, looking at the general outline of things inside, or reaching in and taking hold of something. This can be used together with different activities, e.g. What Is It?

52. Obstacle Course: Set up a race course and give teams sets of instructions to follow. For example, “Jump over the yellow paper, walk between the two boxes, stand on the chair in the middle of the room…”




53. Blindfold Hide and Seek: This activity practises prepositions. Specify several hiding places in the classroom, such as in front of the window, under the table, next to the blackboard. One s is blindfolded and everyone else chooses a hiding place. The one S calls out someone’s name and asks for example “Where are you? Are you behind the desk?” If the person is really at that spot, he or she calls out “Yes, I am” and thus is “caught.” However, if the person is not there, the answer is “No, I’m not.” From hearing this voice, the S should now have an idea where the person actually is and continues guessing. In all, ten guess are allowed and finally the number of persons caught is tallied.

54. Sticky ball prepositions: Draw a large box on the board and write the word “in” inside. Mark a line above the box and write “on”, as well as one below with the word “under” by it. Ss take turns throwing a sticky ball and stating where it landed, e.g. “It’s under the box.” Other prepositions such as “next to”, “near” even “between” (two boxes) can be added. Points can also be assigned to turn this into a competition, such as two points for “in the box” and one each for “on “and “under.”

55. Basketball Prepositions: Place a bag on the table. Ss take turns throwing a small object such as coin (Balls tend to roll away too easily.) and must state where it lands, e.g. “It’s on the table.” Points can be assigned to turn this into a competition, such as two points for “in the bag”, one for “in front of the bag” etc.

56. Do What You’re Told: Several Ss stand in front of the class. Point to a class member who gives a command. The Ss must do what they are told. Continue asking for more commands as quickly as possible. Any S in the front who does not follow the command is out.

57. Carrying out Orders: Write commands on numbered cards and place then on the desk. Ss draw a number from a hat, find the corresponding command on the desk and perform it.

58. I Saw the Cat: Hide a toy cat or other animal while Ss have their eyes closed. Ss walk around the room and look for the animal. Once they have seen it, they sit down and declare “I saw the cat and the cat saw me” until everyone has located it. Ask them where it is and then give someone else the chance to hide it.

59. What’s the Word? Attach a card with a word, letter or number to the front of each of two Ss. They stand back to back, then turn around and call out the other’s word. The first to say the other’s word is the winner.


60. Glimpse: Expose an object or flashcard for just about one second, and then ask questions about it. This can be used for practising adjectives (“Is it new or old?”), numbers (ask Ss how many they saw) and comparatives (show two objects and let Ss try to compare them).

61. Cocktail Party: Pass out a series of questions to everyone. For example, if the class is working on “introductions” the questions might include “Where does Simon live?” and “How old is Maria?” Ss rush around the room asking questions like “Simon, where do you live?” and Maria, how old are you?” trying to find out as many answers as possible within the allotted time.

62. He and She Game: Girls stand on one side of the room, boys on the other. Call out a St’s name. If it is a boy’s name, all the girls run over to the group of boys, point at the one called and yell “He is [name]!” and vice versa if a girl’s name is called.

63. What Do Want to Do? Ss all think of some action to perform. One S comes to the front and whispers the action to the T. The other Ss guess what it is, using either “You want to ___” or “Do you want to ___?” When someone guesses correctly, the S replies “Yes, I want to [jump] and carries out the action. This can also take the form of “What Do I want draw?” Instead of “want”, “would like”, “will” or “going to” can also be used.

64. How? One S goes out and thinks of an action (e.g. sitting down). meanwhile, the other Ss decide on an adverb. The S comes in and starts performing the action in various ways until doing it in the manner they decided on. When wrong, the class should say “No, it isn’t ‘loudly.’”
Variation The S does not perform the action but rather tells others what to do. For example, “Linda, draw a picture.” Linda draws it in manner the class decided on. The first S then guesses what the adverb is. If incorrect, the S gives another class member a different command.

65. Where Is He/She/It? Show one picture of a female (representing “she”), one picture of a male (representing “he”) and a small object (such as a marble) and put each under one of three cups. Mix the cups around and invite three Ss to the front. Ask the first “Where is the marble?” Each S must not only pick the right cup but also use the correct pronoun, pointing at one cup and saying for instance “He’s here.”

66. Chopsticks Games: Two teams stand at one end of the room, each with an empty box. On the other side of the room is a basket of plastic fruit. The T calls out a colour and a S from each team rushes to grab a piece of fruit of that colour with a pair of chopsticks, brings it back and drops it in the box. As soon as one S has completed the task, the T calls out a different colour, and the next Stakes the chopsticks. The T calls out a set number of colours (e.g. seven). Sts race to fill up their box first. Instead of colours, this can also take the form “Get something long.” Alternately, call out all the types of things desired first and set a time limit. One point is scored for each correct object. Ss do not need to pick up the objects in order and for some of the descriptions (e.g. “something purple”), perhaps only one item exists.

67. Connect: The T or Sts draw a series of pictures on the board. Write the words for these objects randomly across the board. Sts take turns connecting the words and pictures. They can either be assigned a word or be allowed to choose one themselves.

[sick j.]

Excellent! Thanks!

[Keola]

This is a great list! Thanks for posting.

For me, getting to see a variety of teachers, observing or just talking to them has been inspiring for me to teach. Seeing a wide variety of drills has been helpful for my classes. I feel lucky to have had the opportunity to see lots of classes and see and hear about the great things teachers are doing in class.

Get talking! Use lists like this! If you have time, observe each other. You all are doing great things in your classes. Don't keep them a secret. Share, share, share.

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