GAME BOX
Game 1
Tic-Tac-Toe (10 minutes) Preparation time: 0
· You can use any lexical set or structure for this
· It’s very adaptable
· Any vocabulary with Primary
Material
1.
Nine flashcards
2.
Blutak
3.
Whiteboard/blackboard
4.
Board pen or
chalk
How to play
· Stick the pictures of nine items of vocabulary face
down on the board, in three rows of three, like noughts and crosses.
· Number each card by either writing on the board or the
back of the card.
· Divide the class into two teams
· Taking turns, each team chooses a number and one child
in that group says the word that corresponds to the picture.
· If the answer is correct the picture is stuck back,
facing upwards, next to the grid of cards. A cross or a bought is put in its
place.
· The first team, to get a row(horizontal, vertical or
diagonal) is the winner.
Adaptions
Opposites -
they must give the opposite of the word on the card.
Make a sentence – children use the word (text or picture) to make a
complete sentence about themselves.
Past simple - the
infinitive is on the card and they must give the past
Find the word – there are definitions on the card and they must
guess the word ( or vice versa)
Game 2
The Chair Game(10 minutes) Preparation time: 0
· You can use any lexical set or structure for this.
· It’s very adaptable
· Any lexical set or structure
Material
1.
One chair for
each student.
2.
Enough space to
make a circle with the number of chairs
How to play
· Children sit in a circle on their chairs, the teacher
stands in the middle of the circle.
· The teacher says a colour, an item of clothing or
makes a statement (I can ride a bicycle) – whatever you decide your game is
about.
· If the children are wearing this colour, or item of
clothing, or the statement is true for them, they obligatorily change chairs.
· The teacher sits in one chari, which leaves one child
without.
· This child continues, as the teacher did before.
Game 3
For Present Continuous
For Present Continuous
Material – nothing
Preparation time – 0
1.
One student goes
to the front of the room and faces the wall.
2.
The teacher asks “Who
is wearing a red jumper ?(for example)
3.
The student
answers “Juan” or “Juan is wearing a red jumper”
4.
If the student at
the front doesn’t know, ask the rest of the class.
5.
After a couple of
rounds pass the teacher role over to the students.
Alternative
1.
Send one student
out of the class. (explain to this student why you are doing this)
2.
Ask the rest of
the class what the student outside is wearing.
3.
Write their
answers on the board (He’s/She’s wearing ……………), and leave this until the end
of the class
4.
Tell the student
to come back in and check with the class
what is right and wrong on the board.
5.
Repeat with
various students.
6.
At the end of the
class, or straight after the game, ask the students to remember who each
description refers to. (This is a good reading activity !)
Game 4
Run to the board – can be adapted to almost anything.
Run to the board – can be adapted to almost anything.
Material –a board to write on and two bits of
chalk/board pens
Preparation time – 0
1.
Decide on a theme ( opposites, a lexical set,
pronunciation, numbers, correct spelling )
2.
Divide the class
into two teams.
Sitting along the front row on the desks is a good
set-up, or alternatively in two rows, perpendicularly to the board.
3.
Give each team a
name and piece of chalk/board pen
4.
Establish what
the children will have to write/draw/touch on the board.
5.
Number the
children in each team, so that you have one of the same number in each team.
6.
The teacher says
a number and a word (ie: triangle, seventy, ) If you have an odd number of pupils,
just say the two names instead of a
number.
7.
The two pupils
with this number run up to the board and write/draw/touch whatever the teacher
has said
8.
The first child
to do this correctly wins one point for their team.
Alternatives
Write a complete alphabet on the board for each
team, and each time a child runs to the board they must add a word next to a
letter, beginning with that letter.
Game 5
The “Pools” any lexical set
Material : flashcards of a specific lexical set ( max. 9),
blutak, board and board pen
Preparation time: 0
· Stick the flashcards face down on the board and number
each one underneath.
· Students write the numbers 1 – 9 (or whatever number
you have) in their workbooks.
· Each student/pair of students, guess what word is
hidden in each number. They write the word next to the number, at this stage
the spelling is not important. They could draw instead of write if you think
that is more appropriate.
· Build up the expectation, playing it up a bit
· One by one, show the flashcards.
· Check in open class. 2 points if they have the right
word in the right number and 1 point if they have the word, but not in the
correct position.
· Once you have shown the word, write it underneath the
number and students correct their own spelling.
Adaptions
of the same activity
This
is a good game to prepare on a Power Point or flipchart.
Game 6
Scribble any
lexical set
Material : 1 pre-prepared worksheet between every two students, (there
is an example attached for Farm animals)
coloured pencils/crayons.
Preparation time: 5 minutes (+ photocopying !!) This takes longer to
prepare the first time, but once you have a template saved on the computer it
will only take you five minutes, plus photocopying time.
· Draw 10 – 15 circles on an A4 or A3 paper
· Write a different word from your lexical set in each
shape, or draw a picture, stick a photo.
· Photocopy one for every two students (althought they
normally want to play again, so do one for each student in that case)
Playing the game
· Students sit in pairs, with one photocopy per pair.
· Each student has a coloured pencil, which must be a
different colour to their partner.
· The teacher says one of the words that are
written/drawn in the circles, one by one.
· The students have to scribble with their colour in the
correct circle, trying to do so before their partner.
· Lay down the rule that the first to touch the word is
the one who scribbles.
· The winner is the one with the most scribbles !
Adaptions
This is a good game for
identifying minimal pairs, but you must check after each word !
You can also use it for
practising irregular verbs, by saying the verb and they have to scribble on the
past form.
Game
7
Animal alphabet 15 minutes to
play and ten minutes to check.
Preparation time 0 , if the
children have a reasonable animal vocabulary ( Lions and Panthers)
Materials Paper and
pencil
Language Animals
· Children write the alphabet down one side of an A4
sheet of paper, or in their notebooks.
· They write one animal for every letter
· It doesn’t matter if they don’t finish
· Check in open class. 2 points if nobody else has it. 1
pint if someone else has the same.
WARNING !! The checking stage is NOT
a settler !!!!
Adaptions of the same
activity
· Food
· Transport
· Sport
Possible answers for
animals
A-
Anteater, ant,
ape, antelope
B-
Bear, beaver,
bat, bison
C-
Cat, cobra, cow
D-
Dog, dragon
E-
Elephant, emu
F-
Fox
G-
Giraffe
H-
Horse, hedgehog
I-
Iguana
J-
Jaguar
K-
Koala
L-
Lion,lynx
M-Monkey,
mouse
N- Nightingale, nutcracker (bird), newt
O- Orang-utan,
ostrich
P-
Panda, panther,
pig, puma
Q- Queen bee
R-
Rat, rabbit
S-
Snake, spider,
shark
T-
Turtle, tortoise
U- Umbrella bird(bird from South America) , unicorn,
urchin
V-
Vixen, viper
W-
Whale
X-
X-ray fish,
xenops (South American bird)
Y-
Yak
Z-
Zebra
Game
8
Verb memory 10 minutes
to play Panthers
To prepare the cards
· Three different colours of card
· A list of verbs the children know in the past simple
(regular and irregular) .
· A marker pen
· After the first time you will only need the pack of
cards
Language Past Simple
To prepare the cards (one set for every 3-4 students)
· Cut the cards into 4 or 5 cm squares
· Write a different verb infinitive on each square of
one colour (1)
· Write the past simple of all regular verbs on one
colour (2)
· Writer the past simple of all irregular verbs on the
third colour (3)
To play the game
· Mix up all the cards and place them face down.
· The first player picks up a colour 1 card and decides
if it is a regular or irregular verb.
· Then they pick up a colour 2 or colour 3 card,
according to the type of verb.
· If the card they pick up is the one that corresponds
to their infinitive (colour 1) they keep the pair of cards
Adaptions of the same
activity
· Adding another colour card you can play using the past
participle and infinitive, or past simple and past participle.
· Any lexical set, matching picture and word.
· Matching opposites (long and short)Pairs (shoes and
socks)
· Matching phonemes (girl and curl)
Game
9
Say it three times
Preparation time: 0
Language: any lexical set
Materials: any set of flashcards, from one lexical set, so that there are enough for a different one
for each student in the class.
How to play:
· Position students so that everyone can see the
flashcards of all the others. Eg. In a circle with the cards on the floor in
front of each student, or in a horseshoe, with their cards held up at chest
level.
· The teacher starts by saying one of the words three
times.
· The person that has the flashcard of that word must
say their word once before the teacher has said it three times.
· If they succeed in saying the word before the teacher
says it three times, they then say another word three times before the student
holding the corresponding card can say their word once.
· If the person holding the corresponding card does not
say the word in time, the first person repeats the process, until someone says
their word before the three times. This person then lead the game.
· This is game that keeps all students on task –
otherwise they look a bit stupid !!
Game
10
Football hangman
Language : alphabet, vocabulary, any structure.
Preparation time – 10 mins the first time, then only the time it
takes to draw the football pitch
Making the football :
· Look for a good football on Google images.
· Print it out so that it is about 4 – 5 cms in diameter
· Laminate it
· Cut out the ball, leaving a millimetre of plastic
around the outside.
Materials: chalk/board pen,
a small laminated picture of a football, blutak
How to play:
· Draw a basic football pitch on the board and divide each
half into four, making sure you draw the
goals and the centre spot. The pitch should fill most of the board, leaving room
for the scoreboard and the dashes for the word they must find (as in hangman).
· The game proceeds the same as Hangman
· The ball starts off on the centre spot
· The first team say a letter. If this letter is correct
then put into the correct letter space in the word and the ball moves towards
the opponent’s goal. If the letter is incorrect then ball moves towards the
team’s goal.
Game 11
The Longest Sentence
Preparation time: 0
- Divide the class into to two teams, or more if you have a big class.
- The first person in each team puts a word on the board.
- The following team members all add a word to what is already there, at all times being a correct collocation of words.
- The team to finish the longest, grammatically correct sentence is the winner.
- The teacher must give a warning that the time is running out and that the teams must complete a correct sentence.
Game 12
Word tennis
Preparation time: 0
- The class is divided into two teams.
- One team starts by saying a word and the other team must say a word that begins with that last letter.
- This goes back and forth as if it were a game of tennis and scoring is the same as in tennis.
Game 13
Stand up/Sit down
Preparation time:0
Materials needed
- 5-10 flashcards (one lexical set, or a mixture of lexical sets)
LANGUAGE:any vocabulary
How to play:
- The teacher shows a flashcard and says a word or “This is a ……..”
- If the teacher is correct the children stand up.
- If the teacher is incorrect the children sit down.
Adaptions of the same activity
- Instead of standing up and sitting down, they can touch their noses or put up their hands, or show a card saying “true” or “false”, or ticks or crosses.
- Children can jump to the side of a rope on the floor, one side is true and the other false. Or run to one side of the class/playground.
