Activities and Games For Students

International House Montevideo
Teacher Development
Activities and Games for students
Requiring minimal preparation, these will allow you to always have

something up your sleeve for your class. They can be used with
texts from coursebooks, authentic material and the students’ own
output.
Reading / Writing
Running dictation
 With any text, find a section that is relevant to your lesson (contains a language
point, for example) and get the students into two teams.
 On student is the reader, who dictates the text, line by line, to a runner, who
runs to the board to write up what they heard. The runner changes after each
line.
 Compare the results!
Shouting dictation
 The same as the above except there’s no running, only shouting the lines to the
team-mate who needs to write it on the board – great for an energetic
adolescent class.
Guess the word

 Pupils work in pairs. One pupil chooses one of their spelling words, and then
writes one letter on a whiteboard at a time.
 They can begin anywhere in the word – it does not have to be at the beginning.
The other pupil tries to guess the word after each letter is added.
 If they guess correctly, they must spell the whole word to win the points. The
fewer letters that have been given – the more points to be won.
Mnemonics
 Show the students an example of a mnemonic and explain why they are used
e.g. big elephants can always understand small elephants because
 Working with a partner, pupils try to make up a mnemonic for one or two of
their trickiest spelling words. A time limit should be set – again about 10
minutes.
Source – Alastair Grant, Nick Warry and Melody Storms

and adapted from: www.hvlc.org.uk/hlp/docs/phonics_ spelling/spelling_guidelines.doc
http://www.onestopenglish.com/community/lesson-share/extras/spelling/spelling-spelling-tennis/145330.article
Teacher Development
 Their mnemonics can then be shared with another pair, the whole group or
displayed on the wall for everyone to use.
Spelling tennis
 Physically divide two teams with a row of chairs or a line to give some semblance
of tennis.
 Choose a word for them to spell and line them up facing their opponents. Say
the word and the first student from Team 1 says the first letter of the word.
 It then falls to the first player in Team 2 to say the 2nd letter.
 It then goes back to the 2nd player of the first team and so on until one player
says an incorrect letter. They then leave their team and sit out.
 In smaller groups you can group students into pairs/smaller groups so they spell
alternate letters in a word.
Variation
 Two teams bounce lexical items such as 'apple', 'banana', 'pear', etc. back and
forth until one team member can't think of an item. It's a lively way to revise
vocab.
 It could be incorporated with throwing a ball or clapping before saying the word
to keep a rhythm up. Time limits can be at the teacher's discretion.
Stolen phrases
 As you are listening to a speaking activity, write done some phrases which are
good, not so good, and bad! Put them on scraps of paper about A5 size.
 At the end of the speaking activity, tell SS they must list them under the
headings:
things I want to hear more of – things that were so-so – things that could be
better!
 Then have the students lay the bad ones in a line on the floor and stand opposite
each other and talk for 30 seconds about why it’s bad, and then move round, so
eventually all the students will have spoken to each other about each point.
 Then review their verdicts as a class.
Games to spice up exercises
Tic tac toe

 Everybody knows how to play this one and it’ll turn an ordinary exercise review
into an instant competition.
Snakes and ladders

Teacher Development
 Another game our students are acquainted with – make the grid and have it on
the OHP or eBeam with any language point you want.
Agustina’s game
 Created by a student, the class all stand up and you pick a student to tell you the
present simple, past simple and past participle forms of a verb.
 If they get it right, they can sit down!
Backs to the board

 Great for recycling lexis – two students stand at the board and the teacher writes
up a word, phrasal verb etc. The teams then describe the word to the students at
the board and they have to guess what it is.
Grammar auction
 Just like a real auction – the students have $100 and have to buy correct
sentences in team. These sentences can be any language point or just feedback
from a speaking activity they’ve just done.
 Keep it brisk and lively. It gets extremely competitive.
 Then review who’s got the most correct sentences and students correct the
others.
Tutti frutti
 An ever-popular game – write up in columns on the board:
 Normal: Brands – Cities/countries – colours – food – animals
 Lexical sets: Food – transport – health – sport – work
 Students write the same in their copy books in teams.

 Then have to race to think of words beginning with a letter you give them!
 The team finishing first must shout “tutti frutti!” and will get an extra point.
Whiteboard football
 See the IHWO Games Bank (to be introduced at the TD session on 14th March) –
works with any language point!
Wordsnake
 Write up a word students have seen recently and get them to add a related word
the another letter in the word, going in a different direction:

Teacher Development
Basketball
 In two teams. One team to write up on the board, for example, as much lexis as
they can re. sport and the other team, in turns, to throw three “baskets” into the
waste paper bin, as fast as they can, so the first team have less time to write up
words.
Grammar Speed Dating

 The learners are divided into boy/girl teams (a little creativity/understanding is
sometimes necessary!) and given a tense/word/phrasal verb which they must
decide how to describe in their groups.
 The two teams are then placed opposite each other as in speed-dating and they
must describe the language point which they represent. The boys swap round
after two minutes and the team to have guessed more at the end wins.

Teacher Development
Other games for reviewing language or just for learning fun!
MAFIA: The Idea: A role-playing game of survival and strategy.
How to Play: Prepare enough playing cards for each student to

receive one. Two cards should be noted as mafia, two as police
officers, and one as a doctor. The rest of the cards are plain citizens.
Explain to the students which cards signify which roles. (For
example, 2 black jacks are the mafia, 2 red kings are police officers,
and 1 red ace is the doctor. Numbered cards are citizens.) Shuffle
cards and distribute them, making sure students do not show anyone
else their cards.
The moderator (teacher) then tells “the town” to go to sleep, and all
students close their eyes. The mafia are instructed to wake up,
choose one person to murder, and again go to sleep. The police are
instructed to wake up, choose one person to investigate (the
moderator will nod to either affirm or deny), and then go back to
sleep. The doctor is instructed to wake up, choose one person to
save, and go back to sleep. Finally, the whole town wakes up to find
out who was murdered or perhaps injured in an attempted murder.
The town then has to make accusations as to who might be mafia.
Once an accusation is made, it must be seconded by another player.
Two players must be accused and put on trial. When they are on
trial, they can defend themselves, and other citizens can also defend
them. Finally, take a vote to decide which player is guilty and thus
out of the game. Everyone left in the game must vote on one of the
two accused, and a player must be voted out each round. Players
who have been killed or voted out cannot say anything or influence
the game in any way.
Continue until either mafia are the last players left and thus the
winners, or the mafia are eliminated and thus the town, police, and
doctor have won.
Useful for the Classroom: giving opinions, persuading, defending,

vocabulary: legal, crime, (or any other, depending on how creative
you can be!)
* In describing the murders, you can be as creative and descriptive as

you’d like!
Teacher Development
* After your students get familiar with the game, you might let one of
them act as moderator.
BALDERDASH: The Idea: Discerning real definitions from made-up definitions.

How to Play: Get into groups of four (or more). Students take turns
moderating. The student moderating takes a card with a word on it,
and says both the word and how to spell the word (note: the teacher
will have prepared these word/definition cards in advance). The rest
of the students write the word on a small slip of paper. Then they
make up a “believable” definition for that word, as getting other
students to believe that their definition is the real definition will win
them points. The moderator collects the slips, mixes them up, and
then reads back all of the definitions including the real one. The
other students then guess which definition is legitimate. If a student
guesses the legitimate definition, he/she receives two points. If a
student’s phony definition is chosen by other students as the real
definition, that student receives one point for each vote the phony
definition received. Switch moderators each round. Tally up points
or use a board game.
Useful for Classroom: ever-necessary letter practice, practicing

relative clauses.
* Vocabulary should be strange and most likely unseen by students

to make the game fair.
CHINESE The Idea: Students alternate between drawing pictures to match a

PICTIONARY: sentence they’ve read, or writing sentences to match a picture
they’ve seen.
How to Play: Students are seated in a circle and each student has a
pile of small blank papers totaling the amount of students there are
in the class. Each student writes a sentence on the first piece of
paper, and then passes the pile to their right. Students read the
sentence they’ve been given, move that piece of paper to the back of
the pile, draw a picture to represent the sentence they’ve just read,
and then pass the pile again to the right. Now students analyze the
drawing, move that piece of paper to the back of the pile, and write a
sentence—guessing the meaning of the picture. This cycle continues
until the pile is back to its original student, and students share how
Teacher Development
the sentences and drawings have evolved.
Useful for Classroom: practicing particular tenses, vocabulary

groups.
SECRET The Idea: Students ask questions to determine their own unknown
FAMOUS identities.
IDENTITY:
How to Play: Give each student a card with the name of a famous
person on it. Students cannot look at their own cards. Each student
must stick the card to his/her forehead. Students take turns asking
one question to find out information about the identity until they
have enough information to guess who they are.
Useful for Classroom: practicing questions, practicing particular

tenses (use dead people to practice past tense, imagine they are not
yet born in order to practice future tenses, or use current celebrities
to practice present perfect).
BALLOON 1. Review: In pairs, give out permanent markers and balloons,

GAMES: each balloon with a different heading that relates to your
recent classroom material (e.g. adjectives with negative
prefixes, adverbs, festival vocabulary). Pairs write one item
on their balloon and wait for the teacher’s signal to throw the
balloons into the air. Pairs then catch a different balloon and
write something that has not already been written under the
heading. Continue until you have 10 on each balloon and
have your students read the lists back to the class. If the
students have left any out for a particular heading, elicit from
the class and have the pair with the balloon add to the list.
2. Emotions: Draw faces on balloons and use them to introduce

or review various emotions.
3. Balloon Race Quiz: On small slips of paper, write a set of

questions (can be related to recent class material as a review,
or just general knowledge as a fun class break) and insert the
questions into balloons (one questions per one balloon). Put
all balloons in a bin at the front of the room. In teams of
about 4, one student per team runs to get a balloon and takes
it back to his/her team. Students pop their balloons, read
Teacher Development
their questions, and write the answers on the back of their

slips (or a question mark if they’re stumped!). They must
bring their slip back to the teacher before getting another
balloon. After all balloons are gone and all questions read,
the teacher reads back all questions to the class, elicits
answers, reads the group’s answer, and awards points to the
groups. The team with the most points wins!
K’BOOM! The Idea: A very versatile and interactive game to test/review

students’ knowledge of any subject recently taught in class. Students
have to answer questions to score points for the team but avoid the
traps that will lose them points.
How to Play: Draw an empty grid on the board and also have a
smaller completed grid in your hand that is kept secret from the
students. (as per diagram below)
1. Empty grid on board 2. Grid key kept secret
A B C D A B C D
1 1 X B ? X
2 2 B ? X B
3 3 X B ? ?
Complete the grid key using 3 different symbols (? = 1 point question,

B = 2 point Bonus question, X = K’BOOM! -1 point) N.B. You can
increase the size of the grid depending on the number of questions
you have. You can also increase or decrease the number of K’Booms /
Bonus questions. Bonus questions can be more difficult if you prefer.
Put students into teams. They must then choose a square from the
grid (e.g B2), hoping it will be safe. The teacher reveals the symbol by
drawing it in the square (build the suspense here!) and then asks the
team a question. If they are successful they win the point, and if not,
it moves to the next team. If they choose a ‘K’Boom’ square they lose
a point and don’t get a chance to answer a question.
Question Topics: Vocabulary – give definition and students guess the

Teacher Development
word (visa versa for higher levels), Opposites, spelling etc. Grammar
– Conditional sentences, verb tenses. Or just general knowledge.
Useful for Classroom: Game can be played as a warmer to review

previous class topics or played at end of class as a fun way to
reinforce what has just been taught.
Revision – K’Boom is a very motivational way to conduct a revision

lesson. Students work through revision question in pairs and then
teacher uses K’Boom at each interval to award points for correct
answers.
“HEADS OR The Idea: This is a group board game played using the backboard. In
TAILS” teams students use luck (guessing “heads or tails” correctly) and
their English knowledge to be first to the finish.
BOARDGAME
How to Play: Draw a grid on the board as below.
START If I get
If I am at sick while If I found
home, … I’m on a bag full
holiday, of money,
… …
If I went
to
California,
…
If I don’t I would If I dance I go crazy

pass my start all if…
exams,.. crying night, ..
if…
I’ll tell
the
teacher
if…
I would FINISH
I eat If I were enjoy
chocolate you, … English
if… more if…
Have counters for each team to stick on the board and keep track of
team positions (magnets or pieces of paper with team name on).
Toss a coin to decide who goes first. The team then decides on the
coin toss (‘Heads’ = advance 2 spaces and ‘Tails’ = advance 1 space).
The teacher tosses the coin and if they predict correctly they can
Teacher Development
move on to answer the question. If not they stay where they are.
N.B. Or, remove the guessing element and simply toss the coin and
move the team on depending on the result.
Students then have to complete the sentence using the correct form.
In the example above students must complete conditional sentences
being sure to use the correct tense (for 0, 1st or 2nd). If they fail to
answer correctly they stay in the same place until their next turn. If a
team lands on the same square they must give a different example
than the one already given.
Useful for Classroom: Fun way to check student understanding of a

topic. Teacher can adapt the game to use different structures e.g.
present perfect v past simple. Or review vocabulary using different
definitions in boxes.
CROSS IF The Idea: An energetic game where students try to avoid being the
YOU… last one standing in the middle.
How to Play: Students sit in a circle with the teacher in the centre.
The teacher then instructs students to move if they have, have done,
or can do something (i.e. “cross if you have ever eaten sushi”, “if you
have blue eyes”, “If you can juggle” etc). Students that can give a
positive answer to the question stand up and cross the circle and find
an open seat of someone else that answered positively. Since you
have one less chair then there are people in the group, and you
found an opening quickly, there should be one person left in the
centre. This person then gets to pick the next topic.
Useful for Classroom: A fun way to introduce the present perfect

tense. Questions and commands can be adapted to suit most
language levels.
THIS IS The Idea: A fast and frenetic game to introduce or practice

WHAT? vocabulary (nouns)
How to Play: Students sit in a circle. You will need several objects (or
pictures) which you can pass from hand to hand around the circle.
The teacher starts by looking to the person next to them with an
object in their hand (let’s say a comb) and says “This is a comb”,
student responds “A what?” teacher responds “A comb”, Student
repeats again “A what?”, Teacher says “A comb”, Student then takes
Teacher Development
the comb and says, “Oh, a comb”. Student then turns to the next
person and repeats the interaction with that person. After a few
seconds the teacher introduces another item into the mix, starting in
the same way, and joining into the same rhythm established by the
comb. The goal is to have as many items going around as there are
people in the circle so once you have passed one item you are ready
to receive a different item. As the game speeds up students make
mistakes and find it very amusing.
Useful for Classroom: Great for young learners. Can be adapted for
many groups of nouns (people/professions, animals, items from the
classroom and so on…)


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International House Montevideo

Activities and Games for students

Requiring minimal preparation, these will allow you to always have

Guess the word

Source – Alastair Grant, Nick Warry and Melody Storms

Games to spice up exercises

Tic tac toe

Snakes and ladders

Backs to the board

 Students write the same in their copy books in teams.

Source – Alastair Grant, Nick Warry and Melody Storms

Grammar Speed Dating

Source – Alastair Grant, Nick Warry and Melody Storms

Other games for reviewing language or just for learning fun!

MAFIA: The Idea: A role-playing game of survival and strategy.

How to Play: Prepare enough playing cards for each student to

Useful for the Classroom: giving opinions, persuading, defending,

* In describing the murders, you can be as creative and descriptive as

BALDERDASH: The Idea: Discerning real definitions from made-up definitions.

Useful for Classroom: ever-necessary letter practice, practicing

* Vocabulary should be strange and most likely unseen by students

CHINESE The Idea: Students alternate between drawing pictures to match a

the sentences and drawings have evolved.

Useful for Classroom: practicing particular tenses, vocabulary

Useful for Classroom: practicing questions, practicing particular

BALLOON 1. Review: In pairs, give out permanent markers and balloons,

2. Emotions: Draw faces on balloons and use them to introduce

3. Balloon Race Quiz: On small slips of paper, write a set of

their questions, and write the answers on the back of their

K’BOOM! The Idea: A very versatile and interactive game to test/review

1. Empty grid on board 2. Grid key kept secret

Complete the grid key using 3 different symbols (? = 1 point question,

Question Topics: Vocabulary – give definition and students guess the

Source – Alastair Grant, Nick Warry and Melody Storms

Useful for Classroom: Game can be played as a warmer to review

Revision – K’Boom is a very motivational way to conduct a revision

If I don’t I would If I dance I go crazy

Useful for Classroom: Fun way to check student understanding of a

Useful for Classroom: A fun way to introduce the present perfect

THIS IS The Idea: A fast and frenetic game to introduce or practice

Source – Alastair Grant, Nick Warry and Melody Storms

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