ESL Games
This page is more for my referece than anthing else. I am putting together a list of games I can use in the classroom. Most of these have been pasted directly from the Daves ESL messageboard!
Action Race:
This is a game that the children absolutely love. Using actions like run, jump, clap, run etc. the children race from one point to another. Have the children split into two teams and sitting in two rows on the floor with a chair in front of the first person in line. One student from each team stands up beside his/her chair and when you yell out an action, e.g. “jump!” the children must then jump all the way to the other side of the room and back to their chair. When the children come back and sat they must say “I can jump!” First student to get to their chair wins a point for their team. I like to give an extra point if they say the sentence properly too, that way you can even out the points, and everybody wins, this is especially important to the younger kids.
Airplane Competition:
First, have your students make paper airplanes. Stand the students in a line, side by side and let them test fly their planes. For the competition assign different classroom objects for the children to hit with their planes. I use this game also when learning the body parts and various other themes, have the students try and hit the specific part you tell them to. You can also ask a question first and only if they answer correctly are they given the chance to fly their plane. All these work well in teams, and my kids love it.
Behind Your back:
Before the game starts, show the class the series of flashcards you intend to use. Give a series of descriptions for each one. (This game can be played in teams or as a whole class depending on the age and so on.) Have one child at a time come up to the front. Using tape, stick the picture on the child’s back. I have the children yell “Turn around!” and then the child turns around so as the class can see the picture on his/her back. Have the children give descriptions as to what is on their back. The child then has to guess what the picture is. (When playing in teams, you can give extra points if it is guessed in less than three guesses. You can also play that if the other team happens to say anything, they lose a point.)
Body Parts Touching Game:
Have two decks of cards. Each card should have a part of the body on it; the more parts there are the better. Separate the class into two or more teams. One child comes up to the front at a time and picks a card from each pile. The child then must try and touch the body part shown on one card with the one shown on the other. Obviously some of these will be near or completely impossible, but they will also be very amusing. Every success, or near success, wins a point for his/her team. Another simpler way of playing this is to have two children come up and each picks a card. One child then has to touch the part shown on their card with the other child’s part (e.g. nose to knee, mouth to elbow.) Even though this game is very simple, my younger children love it.
Cross the River:
Place flashcards on the floor in a winding manner. Each card represents a stepping-stone in a river. As the students go across the river, they must say the name of the picture they are stepping on. You can play this game where you have two students racing across at the same time, each from opposite ends, or one at a time in teams. This is a great game for reviewing.
Drawing Review:
This game is great for reviewing vocabulary skills. Have two squares drawn on the board. Have the students write their names above the squares. The teacher then calls out a word and the students draw it (it could be simple nouns e.g. “dog, ball, train…” or verbs e.g. “running, flying a kite, swimming…” or adjectives e.g. “a big elephant, a small mouse, a pretty girl…”) this game can be played in teams, the correct drawing wins.
Directions:
Draw a square grid on the board. Write a series of numbers or letters in the squares of the grid. Blindfold a child and have him come up and draw a circle around the correct number or letter according to the directions given by the rest of the class. This game is great for learning up, down, left, right.
- Posted by j150vsc on 22/12/2006.
