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10 Fun ESL Games and Activities for Teaching Kids English language Abroad

Increase student engagement and satisfaction through these 10 ESL games and activities.

Games and fun activities are a vital part of teaching English language as a foreign linguistic communication. Whether you lot're teaching adults or children, games will liven up your lesson and ensure that your students will leave the classroom wanting more.

Games tin be used to warm up the class before your lesson begins, during the lesson to give students a break when yous're tackling a tough subject, or at the end of class when you have a few minutes left to impale. There are literally hundreds, probably thousands, of games that you can play with your students. EFL games are used to examination vocabulary, practice conversing, acquire tenses - the list is endless.

This list of ten archetype ESL games every teacher should know will assistance become y'all started and feeling prepared. Having these upwards your sleeve before stepping into the classroom volition ensure your lessons run smoothly, and, should things get a piddling out of control, you'll exist able to pull dorsum the attention of the class in no time.

Desire to jump right into the list? Here are the height ten games we think your students will beloved:

1. Board Race
2. Call My Bluff / Two Truths and A Lie
3. Simon Says
4. Word Jumble Race
5. Hangman
6. Pictionary
7. The Mime
8. Hot Seat
9. Where Shall I Go?
10. What's My Problem?

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1. Board Race

In that location isn't an EFL instructor I know who doesn't utilize this game in the classroom. Lath Race is a fun game that is used for revising vocabulary, whether it be words from the lesson you lot've just taught or words from a lesson you taught final week. Information technology tin can also exist used at the start of the class to become students active. It is a great way of testing what your students already know about the subject you're about to teach.

This is all-time played with 6 students or more - the more, the better. I've used information technology in classes ranging from seven-25 years of age and it's worked well in all age groups.

• Why use it? Revising vocabulary; grammar
• Who it'south best for: Appropriate for all levels and ages

How to Play:

• Split the class into 2 teams and give each team a colored marking.
• If you accept a very large grade, it may be better to split the students into teams of 3 or 4.
• Describe a line down the middle of the board and write a topic at the acme.
• The students must then write as many words as yous require related to the topic in the grade of a relay race.
• Each team wins ane point for each correct word. Any words that are unreadable or misspelled are not counted.

2. Phone call My Bluff / Two Truths and A Lie

Call My Barefaced is a fun game which is perfect at the commencement of term as a 'getting to know you' kind of game. It is as well a brilliant ice billow betwixt students if yous teach classes who do not know one another -- and peculiarly essential if yous are teaching a small class size.

The game is excellent for practicing speaking skills, though make sure you save a time for later on the game to comment on any mistakes students may have made during the game. (I generally like to reserve this for later the game, so you don't disrupt their fluency by correcting them every bit they speak).

With older groups you can take some real fun and yous might exist surprised what you'll learn most some of your students when playing this detail EFL game.

• Why use information technology? Water ice-breaker; Speaking skills
• Who it's best for: Appropriate for all levels and ages but best with older groups

How to play:

• Write 3 statements almost yourself on the board, ii of which should be lies and one which should be truthful.
• Allow your students to ask you questions near each statement and then guess which ane is the truth. Yous might want to do your poker face before starting this game!
• If they guess correctly then they win.
• Extension: Give students time to write their own two truths and ane lie.
• Pair them upwards and take them play again, this time with their list, with their new partner. If you want to really extend the game and give students even more time to practice their speaking/listening skills, rotate partners every five minutes.
• Bring the whole grade back together and take students announce one new thing they learned nigh another student as a epitomize.

3. Simon Says

This is an fantabulous game for young learners. Whether yous're waking them upwardly on a Monday morning or sending them home on a Friday afternoon, this one is bound to get them excited and wanting more than. The only danger I have found with this game is that students never want to stop playing it.

• Why utilize information technology? Listening comprehension; Vocabulary; Warming up/winding down class
• Who information technology'southward best for: Young learners

How to Play:

• Stand up in front of the course (y'all are Simon for the elapsing of this game).
• Do an action and say Simon Says [action]. The students must re-create what yous exercise.
• Repeat this process choosing different deportment - yous can be every bit silly equally you lot like and the sillier you lot are the more the children will love you for it.
• Then do an activity only this time say only the action and omit 'Simon Says'. Whoever does the action this time is out and must sit down.
• The winner is the last student continuing.
• To make it harder, speed up the actions. Reward children for adept behavior by allowing them to play the part of Simon.

4. Word Jumble Race

This is a great game to encourage team work and bring a sense of contest to the classroom. No affair how old we are, we all love a good competition and this game works wonders with all age groups. It is perfect for practicing tenses, give-and-take club, reading & writing skills and grammer.

• Why use information technology? Grammar; Word Society; Spelling; Writing Skills
• Who it'southward all-time for: Adaptable to all levels/ages

How to play:

• Write out a number of sentences, using different colors for each sentence. I suggest having 3-5 sentences for each team.
• Cut up the sentences so you have a scattering of words.
• Put each sentence into hats, cups or any objects you can find, keeping each separate.
• Split your class into teams of ii, 3, or 4. Y'all can have as many teams as yous want simply remember to have plenty sentences to get around.
• Teams must now put their sentences in the right order.
• The winning squad is the get-go team to have all sentences correctly ordered.

5. Hangman

This archetype game is a favorite for all students but it tin can go boring quite chop-chop. This game is best used for 5 minutes at the start to warm the class up or five minutes at the end if yous've got some fourth dimension left over. It works no affair how many students are in the class.

• Why employ it? Warming up / winding down form
• Who it's best for: Young learners

How to play:

• Call back of a discussion and write the number of letters on the board using dashes to bear witness many letters there are.
• Ask students to suggest a letter of the alphabet. If information technology appears in the discussion, write it in all of the right spaces. If the letter does non announced in the discussion, write it off to the side and begin cartoon the image of a hanging human.
• Continue until the students guess the word correctly (they win) or you complete the diagram (you win).

6. Pictionary

This is another game that works well with any age group; children love it because they can get creative in the classroom, teenagers love it because it doesn't experience like they're learning, and adults beloved information technology because it's a pause from the monotony of learning a new language - even though they'll be learning equally they play.

Pictionary can help students practice their vocabulary and it tests to run into if they're remembering the words you've been teaching.

• Why use it? Vocabulary
• Who information technology's best for: All ages; best with young learners

How to play:

• Before the class starts, prepare a bunch of words and put them in a bag.
• Split the class into teams of 2 and draw a line down the center of the board.
• Give one team fellow member from each squad a pen and ask them to choose a word from the pocketbook.
• Tell the students to draw the word as a motion picture on the board and encourage their squad to guess the give-and-take.
• The beginning squad to shout the correct answer gets a bespeak.
• The student who has completed drawing should then nominate someone else to draw for their squad.
• Echo this until all the words are gone - make sure yous take enough words that each student gets to describe at least one time!

7. The Mime

Miming is an splendid mode for students to practice their tenses and their verbs. It's also great for teachers with minimal resources or planning time, or teachers who want to break up a longer lesson with something more interactive. It'due south adjustable to about whatever language signal that you lot might be focusing on.

This game works with any historic period group, although y'all volition find that adults tire of this far quicker than children. To keep them engaged, relate what they will be miming to your groups' personal interests as best as possible.

• Why utilise it? Vocabulary; Speaking
• Who it's best for: All ages; all-time with young learners

How to play:

• Before the grade, write out some actions - similar washing the dishes - and put them in a bag.
• Split the course into two teams.
• Bring i educatee from each team to the front of the class and one of them choose an activeness from the bag.
• Accept both students mime the activeness to their team.
• The first team to shout the correct respond wins a point.
• Repeat this until all students take mimed at least i activeness.

8. Hot Seat

This is one of my students' favorite games and is always at the top of the list when I ask them what they want to play. I have never used this while pedagogy ESL to adults, only I imagine it would piece of work well.

Hot Seat allows students to build their vocabulary and encourages competition in the classroom. They are also able to practice their speaking and listening skills and information technology can be used for whatever level of learner.

• Why use it? Vocabulary; Speaking and Listening
• Who it'south best for: All ages and levels

How to play:

• Split the class into two teams, or more if you have a large form.
• Elect one person from each squad to sit in the Hot Seat, facing the classroom with the lath backside them.
• Write a word on the board. Ane of the team members of the student in the hot seat must help the pupil judge the word past describing it. They have a limited amount of time and cannot say, spell or depict the word.
• Continue until each team member has described a word to the student in the Hot Seat.

9. Where Shall I Go?

This game is used to test prepositions of move and should be played after this subject has been taught in the classroom. This game is so much fun but it can exist a petty scrap dangerous since you'll be having one educatee in each pair be blindfolded while the other directs them. So make sure to proceed your eyes open!

Information technology is also fantabulous for the developed EFL classroom, or if yous're teaching teenagers.

• Why use information technology? Prepositions; Speaking and Listening
• Who information technology's all-time for: All ages and levels

How to play:

• Before the students arrive, plough your classroom into a maze by rearranging information technology. It's great if y'all tin exercise this outside, but otherwise button tables and chairs together and move furniture to make your maze.
• When your students arrive, put them in pairs exterior the classroom. Blindfold one pupil from each pair.
• Let pairs to enter the classroom one at a time; the blindfolded student should exist led through the maze by their partner. The students must use directions such every bit footstep over, go under, go up, and go down to pb their partner to the end of the maze.

ten. What's My Problem?

This is a vivid EFL game to practice giving communication. It should be played afterward the 'giving advice' vocabulary lesson has taken place. It is a nifty way for students to run across what they have remembered and what needs reviewing. This game works well with any age group, just conform it to fit the historic period you're working with.

• Why use it? Speaking and Listening; Giving Advice
• Who it'due south all-time for: All ages and levels

How to play:

• Write ailments or issues related to your almost recent lesson on post-it notes and stick one post-it notation on each student's back.
• The students must mingle and ask for advice from other students to solve their problem.
• Students should be able to guess their problem based on the communication they get from their peers.
• Utilise more complicated or obscure problems to brand the game more interesting for older students. For lower levels and younger students, announce a category or reference a recent lesson, like "Wellness", to help them along.

These games volition keep your students engaged and happy as they learn! Remember, these are just 10 on the hundreds of dissimilar EFL games that you can plat with your students. Every bit you get more confident in the classroom, you tin offset putting your ain spin on games and eventually make up your ain.

Whatever the age of your students, they're guaranteed to love playing EFL games in the classroom. An EFL classroom should be fun, active and challenging and these games are certain to go you heading in the right direction.

This article was originally published in October 2013; we redesigned and updated this article in May 2018.

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Source: https://www.gooverseas.com/blog/10-best-games-esl-teachers

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