Top Tips For Teaching English

T o p t i p s f o r
teaching English
to kids
for ESL kids teachers
INDEX
1. Top 10 alphabet teaching tips ................................................................... 01
2. Top 10 simple flashcard games & activities .............................................. 05
3. Top 10 exciting flashcard games & activities ............................................ 07
4. Top 10 worksheet time activities ............................................................... 09
5. Top 10 tips for using classroom readers ................................................... 11
6. Top 10 listening activities (without a CD) .................................................. 14
7. Top 10 tips for teaching English to toddlers .............................................. 16
8. Top 10 lesson plan routines for 7s and under ........................................... 20
9. Top 10 lesson plan routines for 8s and over ............................................. 23
10. Top 10 supplies for an ESL kids classroom ............................................ 26
11. Top 10 easy Christmas crafts to use in your lessons .............................. 30
12. Top 10 easy Halloween crafts to use in your lessons ............................. 32
13. Top 10 easy Easter crafts to use in your lessons ................................... 34
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Top tips for teaching English to kids All rights reserved
TOP 10 ALPHABET TEAChing tips
Tips for Teaching the Alphabet to Young Learners of English
Teaching the alphabet to our students can be a daunting task. How can we teach all 26
letters (to recognise, read and write) along with their corresponding sounds in a fun
and interesting way? How can we make sure our students internalize these letters?
How can we help our students take their first steps towards reading?
Here are our top 10 tips on teaching the alphabet in your kids English lessons:
1. Different Learner Types
K
When teaching the alphabet for the first time it is important to remember that we all learn in different
ways, so we want to cover all learner types. Simply showing a flashcard of a letter and getting
students to say the letter will not be enough to help a child who is, for example, a tactile learner (learns
by touching and manipulating objects). Here are some methods you can include in your alphabet
Z
teaching routine to ensure all of your students get the most out of your alphabet lessons:
Show alphabet flashcards (such as from ESLKidStuff.com) with a letter on the front
and a picture on the back (e.g. a / apple).
Have alphabet posters on the walls and alphabet picture books.
A
VISUAL
Say the sounds of each letter clearly and repeat a few times so your students can
B
clearly hear the sounds.
Play the ABC song (available on ESLKidStuff.com).
LISTENING
L N
Use alphabet blocks which students can touch and pass around. They can also use
these blocks to put the letters in alphabetical order.
Let students trace the shape of the letters on the flashcards and then “draw” the
shapes with their fingers on the floor and doors, etc.
Use play-doh to make the letters.
TOUCH AND Play the ABC song (available on ESLKidStuff.com) and have the students touch the
MANIPULATION letters as they are sung.
Q
Have students make the shapes of the letters with their hands and bodies.
V
For example, for the letter “c”, students can cup their hands or bend their bodies into
a “c” shape.
For more difficult letters, students can make the shapes in pairs or 3s (e.g. two
MOVEMENT students can make the body shapes for “b”, “d”, “m” etc. by working together).

Top tips for teaching English to kids -1- All rights reserved
Tips for teaching the alphabet to young learners of English
2. Teach sounds
As you teach each letter of the alphabet always teach its associated sound. With each letter that you
teach, teach 3 sounds:
the pronunciation of the sound of the a word which

the letter (E.g. “A”) letter (“ah”) begins with the
sound (“apple”)
Therefore, a teacher may teach as follows for the letter “A”:
T: (showing a flashcard of the letter A) “A ..

L
Ss: “apple”
Q
A .. A .. repeat A” T: “apple”
Ss: “A” Ss: “apple”
Z
T: “A” T: “apple”
K
Ss: “A” Ss: “apple”
T: “A” T: “Good! What’s this?” (showing “A”)
Ss: “A” Ss: “A”
T: “A is for ah .. ah .. ah. Repeat ah” T: “Is for?”
Ss: “ah” Ss: “ah”
T: “ah” T: “Is for?” (turning the card)
Ss: “ah”
T: “ah”
Ss: “ah” A
T: “A, is for ah, is for (turning the card over)
apple .. apple .. apple .. repeat apple”
Ss: “apple”
T: “Well done!” (now asks individual
students)
3. Use worksheet printing exercises
B N
There are lots of alphabet worksheets in our worksheet alphabet section at ESLKidStuff.com.
Use letter tracing worksheets so students can practice tracing the correct shapes. As students
trace each letter encourage them to say the letter as they trace (e.g. “A, B, C, …”). Also, ask your
students questions as they are tracing (e.g. What’s this letter? What sound is it?”).
Use worksheets to copy letters (not just trace). Again, ask questions as the students are writing the
letters. Check the letters are correct in terms of shape and size and that they are written on the line.
Have matching exercises where students match letters to the same letters (e.g. match A to A and B
F
to B) and letters to pictures (e.g. match “a” to “apple”).
For younger kids, always have a coloring in task (e.g. coloring an apple for letter A or coloring in
block letters).
Use a variety of different worksheet exercises to keep the interest of the students.
Always have worksheets to do in class and for homework.
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Top tips for teaching English to kids -2-
V
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4. Make use of posters and real 5. Sing the ABC Song (The Alphabet
materials song) regularly
For e x a m p le, if yo ave

the letter
teaching ents find and
u are
“C” h
F Kids pick
help
th
really quic is song up
kly and it
will
C
d them
your stu letter “C” on remembe
ring the o in
e
touch th Bring
in the alpha
bet.
rder of
poste r s . y o ur
z in e s a nd have (or Download
maga touch
d e n ts find and you on ESLKid the ABC Song
s tu
le tt e r C s. When e Stuff.com
cut out) y to th
r e a d in g a stor times
are ome
u can s
class, yo students ve
to
Q
y o u r
ask they ha
e n ti fy a letter
id
Z
learned.
K
6. Play lots of alphabet games
A We have over 30 great games on our Alphabet

games page at ESLKidStuff.com. Each week,
play a game the class has played previously and
also teach a new game. Before you know it,
your class will have learned lots of great
alphabet games to play.
L
7. Start teaching common letter clusters early on
B N
Kids are surprisingly good at picking up on clusters and this will help your students when they
start to read. For example, when you reach teaching “h” introduce “ch” (you will have taught
“c” in a previous lesson). Teach the cluster in the same way as individual letters (see point 2
on the previous page). Other clusters include: sh, th, ch, st, oo, ee, ou. We have many letter
clusters worksheets on ESLKidStuff.com.
ESLKidStuff
Top tips for teaching English to kids -3-
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8. Start teaching to read simple words from early on
You’ll be surprised how quickly your kids will be able to read simple words. For example, by the time
you have reached the letter “O” put the flashcard letters “d – o – g” on the board. Elicit the sound of
each letter and then see if the students can string the letters together to make the word. Some good
early learning words are:
- bag - cat - hop - kiss - sit

- bat – man (batman) - cup - hot - leg - sun
- bed - fat - jam - pen - van
- big - fox - jet - pot - wet
- cap - hat - kick - rat
K
A
9. Make an alphabet book
with each student
Each student will need a ring

binder folder with white paper
inside. Write the upper and
lower case letter on the top of
10. Review and practice
regularly
It’s quite a challenge to learn to

recognise, read and write 26 new
letters so don’t expect your
students to remember all the
B
letters you have taught previously.
each sheet of white paper. Each
Be sure to review previous letters
week choose a new letter to each lesson. Play games each
work on and bring in some old week which review the letters. Do
magazines, then go through the lots of worksheets which include
magazines with your letters from previous lessons.
students to find pictures that Keep looking back and going
begin with that letter. Cut out forward and slowly but surely
the pictures and stick them on your students will internalize
the page with the corresponding the alphabet (some faster than
others). It’s an ongoing process
letter.
and should be kept fun and inter-
esting by using different games
and different worksheets.
L Q
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TOP 10 simple FLASHCARD GAMES & ACTIVITIES
Simple games & activities to teach vocab using flashcards
There are so many things we can do with flashcards and having a number of quick
flashcard games and activities up your sleeve really helps when going through your
vocab teaching routine. All of the ideas below can be thrown in as you are teaching
new words or phrases. They are all meant to be quick, easy and fun, so don’t spend
much time on them and vary them for each new flashcard word and each lesson so
that your students don’t grow bored with the same activities.
In order of ease to play (No.1 is the easiest) …
3. Slow moti o n
1. PA S S
ts Hold a pack of
s t uden Hold flashcards with the pictures
your circle. t and
Sit in a jec it facing towards you. The last card
i t h you rd or ob ”). Pass should be turned around so it is facing
w c a Pen ho also
flash e.g. “ your students but is hidden as it is
up a name ( tudent w t on to
its s si behind the pack. Slowly pull the
says the next d passe ations:
o a n ri flashcard up inch by inch so everyone can
on t ts name ent. Va speed
i d only see part of the flashcard. As the
says ext stu ctions, y
th e n d ire man 4 . S L AM picture is slowly revealed everyone
ge
chan ds, have und at tries and guess what it is. The first
ro
rou n
t s g oing e. to guess correctly keeps the
c
obje same tim card (for 1 point). Variation:
the Sit ev
eryon To make it a little more
circle e i n
flashca and plac a difficult turn the
rd s i n e so fl a s h c a r d
your s m
tuden the middle e upside
on th t s . Tell
eir he to put the
word o ads. ir han
fo Sho ds
everyo ne of the fl ut out the
PE E K
2 . QUICK
ne ash
studen races to to cards and
t who uch it
get to touch . The
Hold up a keep es it
winne t he first
flashcard with the r is th card. The
the m e o
picture facing towards ost fl ne with s
you. Quickly show it to at the ashcar
d s h card and
end of s a
e fl oom run
your students for a g a m e the Plac the r ne m
quick peek. The one .
o u nd eryo assroo as
ar ev cl ds
who guesses the a v e t he ashcar (e.g.
h nd fl out
card wins a u he ”,
point. aro hing t them car
u c u t e
5. TO U C to sho th us”).
H
you uch the b

“ To ouch
“T

Simple games & activities to teach vocab using flashcards
g
Vanis hi n N
6 .
s G a me 7. AND D O W
rd
la shca UP
F ber of
a num of your You need 2 se
Place t ts of
a rd s in fron m a few flashcards for th
is game. Give
flash c he
t s. Give t orize the each of your st
udents a flashca
stud e n e m e from one set. Te rd
t s to m them to clos acher keeps the
ot
n set. All students he r
mome nd then tell f the
one o to sit down. Teache
u re s a a w ay up one flashcard r holds
pict ake ryone and the studen
yes. T ell eve the same flashca t with
their e s and then t The first to rd stands up an
rd . d says
flashca eir eyes again flashcard the word and th
en sits down ag
t h issing ain.
open the m shcard (for 1
Play the game at
a fast pace so th
u e s s everyone is st at
g that fla a anding up and
a n w in e away G
c
point)
an d t a k
in th
e
N B A sitting down rapidly.
c a rd E A Variation:
8. B
flas h G iv e each
und.
next ro S
student 2 or
TOS
3
flashcards.
rds
u t fl ashca or.
Lay o the flo
M E e tu g
rns
. GI V E o n
ts t a k
ba
0 E uden the bean
1 GA M
St
g ing
tossin i d entify t
Elicit the different and i
fl a s h card
flashcards you have. Then the on.
place all the flashcards around the lands
classroom. Tell your students to coll
ect as 9. JUMP ON
many flashcards as they can. Once the
y have IT
collected all of the flashcards (they’ll pro
bably do
their best to hide them in their pockets
, etc.) say
“Give me a (bus)”. The student with Spread
the (bus) o
flashcard should approach you and
hand it to you, fl a s hcards ut all of the
saying: “Here you are”. Avoid having the have o n the fl
s
thrown back to you as they can go
flashcards end o tudents sta oor and
anywhere f nd at
and it takes a long time to finish the card a the room. on
game. c
n d everyo S hout o e
Variation: instead of having everyon a rd and ne has ut a
e d j u m p to fi n
collect the flashcards, have them o this o d
wins a n it. The fi the
stand around the room, then say Make p o int. V r s t to
2 te
“Give me a (bus)” and The fir ams for a r ariation:
st 2 st elay ra
everyone rushes to be the jump ude ce.
on th nts try and
first to find it and first to e fl
give the card win a p ashcard
their t oint fo
to you. eam. r

TOP 10 EXCITING FLASHCARD GAMES & ACTIVITIES
Fun, exciting games & activities to teach vocab using flashcards
Making your lesson fun and exciting gives your students a chance to enjoy them-
selves as they learn – and they will always look forward to their next lesson! These
activities focus on adding fun and excitement to using flashcards to teach and
review vocabulary. Some of them take a bit of time to set up and explain, but it is
well worth it and once your students have learned an activity you can play it time and
time again.
1. Concentrat
io
n . Pictionary
You n
3
eed 2
flashca sets .
rds for
this ga of ewing vocab
Place b Good for revi sh o w
oth sets me. nt and
on the
floor. S face down Pick a stude
sh card picture
turns in tudents him/her a fla
turning take a word into
(saying ov
the card er 2 cards or whisper
The student
the car s
ds matc aloud). If his/her ear.
icture on the
student h then draws the p t
e first studen
2. Charades
keeps th th
the car e cards e board and th th e
ds are . If to guess
cards a dif
re turne ferent the in the class
to draw the
again db
in the ack over
Have a student come to the picture gets
This can also
places. ir orig front of the class and show a next picture.
the mos The student w l
ina teams with a
t pairs a it
flashcard or whisper a word be played in
the gam t the en h to that student. The student point system.
e is the d of
winner. then acts out that word to the
rest of the class and the first
student to guess what it is
can be the next player. This
works very well with action
the bottle 5. Basketbal
pin
verbs. Variation: divide the
.S class up into teams – the Students l
4 first student to guess trash ca
ta ke a sho
t at the
a circle n / box
it y o u r s tudents in iddle. correctly wins a point for show a / etc. F
irst
S m
ttle in the his/her team. student. flashcar
d to a
with a bo e bottle.
te a c h e r spins th
e correctly If s/he answer
The
it s to p s spinning th th
a shot a en s/he can hav
s
When g to is t the ba e
is pointin student sket. If
student it and gets the the
n a flashcard basket ball in th
sh o w If the then s/h e
to s a y what it is. points. e wins
ask e d that 2
e r is c o rrect then the bas
If the s
tudent h
answ le.
t c a n s p in the bott ke
inside th t without goin
its
studen review e g
h is is a g ood vocab point. T n s/he wins
T he 1
the mo person who gets
activity. st poin
winner. ts is
This ca the
played in n also
teams. be

Top tips for teaching English -7- All rights reserved
Fun, exciting games & activities to teach vocab using flashcards
. Rope jump
6. Fish 7
one!
Before this game ’ll ne ed a rope for this
You hind
you need to ents stand be
have your students Have your stud ro pe in
, in pairs, draw line. Hold a
and cut out a pict each other in a av e a
ure of a fish. of students (h
While they are doin front of the line at a
parallel lines of tape
g this, stick two
en t ho ld th e other end)
st ud ld be
on the floor a students shou
few meters apart.
Have students height that the st ud ents
er (if your
play in pairs – each able to jump ov y the
student behind you can just la
a different line, facin are little ones jump
with the fish in the
g each other
pe on th e flo or for them to
ro the
teacher shows
middle. The
). O n th e other side of
over rds
Student 1 a t some flashca
flashcard and asks rope spread ou m e of
what it is. If the all out the na
student answers and a box. C fir st
correctly s/he shcards to the
can blow once to one of the fla the
forward. Next, the
propel the fish
en t. S /h e ha s to jump over
stud card
teacher asks e correct flash
Student 2, who ca rope, pick up th ot her
n blow the fish the box. For
back towards his/he and put it in ro pe
r partner. The n hold the
student who blows rounds you ca to
the fish over so students have
ver-under
their opponents line w n lo w ,
8. O
is the winner. do
r.
crawl/roll unde
Line up your students in two

teams. Give each of the two
students at the front a flash
card. When you say go, the
to the
Backs first in line says the word and
Ostrich gam
9.
rd game
passes the flashcard over 10. e
boa their head, the next student
says the word and passes This game is re
higher ally good fun.
This one is good for the card under, between You’ll need som
e clothes pegs.
o teams
level kids. Make tw their legs, and so on down Pair up studen
ts and peg a
nt from
and stand one stude the line. The last student in card onto each
student’s back.
of the
each team in front the line races to the front to Both students fa
ce each other
ay fro m it.
board, facing aw hand the flashcard to the with hands
behind backs
tur e on
Place a flashcard pic teacher and say the word. waiting for the te
acher to shout
bu er”)
rg
the board (e.g. “ham The first team to do so wins “Go!”. At this po
int they must
have to
and the students a point. try to discover hi
s/her partner ’s
ir team
explain that word to the hidden flashcard
without letting
n bu y it in
member (e.g. you ca their partner se
e theirs. When
cheese
McDonalds, it’s got the student final
ly sees his/her
The first
and ketchup in it). partner ’s card
s/he has to
standing
student out of the two shout it out to
become the
to guess
in front of the board winner. The stud
ents look like
int for
the word wins a po ostriches when
playing this
his/her team. game.

Top tips for teaching English -8- All rights reserved
TOP 10 WORKSHEET TIME ACTIVITIES
Tips for things to do during the worksheet section of our lessons

There are so many things we can do to help our students during the worksheet
practice section of the lesson. The teacher is there to help, motivate and inspire and
at the same time your students can help each other and do extra activities to
improve their learning and retention. This is a great component of the lesson, if done
right!
Here are 10 fantastic things for you to do and encourage your students to do during
worksheet time.
1. Circulate and monitor

The teacher should never treat worksheet time as their
own personal time out. This is a time to work one-on-one
with students – move from student-to-student and see
exactly what they are doing. You can quickly see who is
struggling and needs help, as well also motivate and
encourage.
2. Model the worksheet task

Always start by holding up the worksheet to the class, explaining what to do, and
then showing how you would do the worksheet. Do all this before handing out the
worksheets to ensure you have everyone’s full attention. By modelling what to
do, there shouldn’t be any confusion once the worksheets are given out and the
activity begins. You don’t need to go through and complete the whole worksheet
in front of everyone, just do enough so it is clear what to do.
3. Praise, praise, praise

Students react well to praise – who doesn’t? As you circulate, point out certain
aspects on each student’s worksheet and praise them on work done well. Use
different phrases as you do so:
- Good / Great job! - That’s beautiful!
- I really like that! - Keep up the good work!
- That’s wonderful / fantastic / amazing - etc.
4. Ask questions
Don’t just look at the worksheets and move on – get involved with what each student is doing by having
a conversation about their work.
- Ask what colors they have used in pictures
- Point to specific images and ask what they are or what the people are doing
- Ask why they have chosen certain answers
- Ask for extra information based on their answers
All of this really helps the teacher check each student’s understanding of the subject and encourages
communication.

Top tips for teaching English to kids - 09 - All rights reserved
Tips for things to do during the worksheet section of our lessons
5. Teacher’s helpers
For any students who finish their worksheets early, have
them take on the role of teacher’s helper – they can also
circulate around the classroom, helping students with any
problems they are having.
6. Encourage students to vocalize

what they are writing
By having students read aloud what they are writing really helps with
pronunciation and internalization. For example, as students write out the
alphabet, get them to say each letter as they write it down. Have them also do
this for words and sentences. The teacher can then quickly help with any
pronunciation errors as well hear mistakes for quick correction.
7. Encourage communication by pairing up students

A great way to get students talking is by having them do a worksheet together. Put
students in pairs and give them one worksheet to complete together. Make sure
everyone uses English and check that no one is dominating the worksheet task.
8. Play English songs

As students are working on their exercises, play a CD of kids English songs – songs
they have sung in class or will do in the future. Kids enjoy singing along as they do
their work.
9. Review past worksheets

If you keep everyone’s worksheets in a folder, you can whip out past worksheets and
test students on them – this is especially helpful for students who finish their
worksheets early!
10. Show and tell

When everyone has finished their worksheets, have students take turns in standing up and showing
their work to the class. Ask each student a question based on their worksheet and give lots of praise!
Finally, have everyone put their worksheets, pens and other stationery items away before going onto
the next section of the lesson.

TOP 10 TIPS FOR USING CLASSROOM READERS
Great ideas for using readers during your lesson

Reading a story with your students is a great way to develop all areas of language
in a fun and engaging way. Here are some quick tips to make the most of this
excellent resource.
1. Create the right setting

Let everyone know that it is time to
start this section of the lesson by
announcing “Story time!” to the class. Get everyone close
in – have little ones sit on the floor around you on cushions,
2. Choose a reader that
older kids can bring their chairs to the front. Having
is linked to the theme
everyone close together with
of the lesson
you allows for easy If you can, choose a
communication during the reader that has a topic linked to the
activity. theme of the lesson. By planning
beforehand, you can make sure that
vocabulary in the reader is introduced
earlier in the lesson, so that this
vocabulary is reinforced during story
time. We have over 60 classroom
3. Use the front cover as an introduction readers at ESLKidStuff.com that
link perfectly with our lesson
Show the front cover of the reader to your plans.
students and elicit as much vocabulary as
possible using the picture, title and prediction.
For example, for our reader “Jamie’s Magic School Bag” (lesson theme:
classroom stationery), show the cover picture and elicit what the picture shows (a boy
/ student with a school bag on his back). Encourage students to predict where he is going
(to school) and ask what everyone thinks is in his bag. This will allow students to reuse
vocabulary from the lesson and also create a sense of anticipation as students will want to
find out if their predictions are true (which creates a motivation for focusing on the story).
If students are able, ask them to read the title (if not, tell the students the
title) and then ask if anyone thinks there are other things in his bag,
seeing as it is magic. This should create a lot of fun predictions.
By now, students will have a good idea of what is coming and

much of the key vocab has been elicited.

4. Use the pictures in the

reader to elicit vocabulary
Before reading each page,
5. Ask for predictions
elicit as much vocabulary from the Always have your
pictures as you can. Point to the pictures students make predictions
and ask what they show. This allows you to throughout the story, so there is
elicit or teach much of continuous interest in what is happening.
the vocabulary used Ask what students think will happen based
in the content of the on the pictures. Ask what they think will
story. happen next in the story. Ask why they
think certain things are happening.
Keep a conversation going by
getting your students to make
guesses.
6. Elicit additional information

Ask as many questions as you can using
the pictures, and try and use different question
types (e.g. wh questions, yes/no questions). Here
are some ideas for questions:
- ask about the colors and weather in the pictures

- ask what the characters in the pictures are doing
- ask students to name items in the pictures beginning
with letters of the alphabet (“Can you see anything
beginning with B?”)
- ask students personal questions based on the story (“Ben likes chocolate ice
cream – How about you Miki? What flavor ice cream do you like?”)
- ask students to point things out from the story in their classroom (“Can
you point to a calculator in this room?”)
- ask students if they can do the actions in the story
(“Can you roar like a lion”?)
7. Use classroom readers
with small groups
If your students are able to read, after you
have read to the class put them in small
groups or pairs to read through the story.
Each student takes a turn reading a
sentence, paragraph or page.

8. Create a library
Having a library of readers means
students can choose readers they have previously
read in class as a review reading activity. It can be a simple
bookshelf with all your readers. You can also assign
readers for homework or extra reading practice. In this
case, encourage the parents to read with their
9. Encourage student
kids at home.
reading
Depending on your students’
reading ability;
- strong readers can “help” the teacher to read, either by reading the words out
loud together or by having individual students read a sentence each.
- have intermediate level students read target vocab. One way to encourage
reading is to ask questions and get students to find answers in the text.
- beginning readers can practice letters, such as pointing to “b” and asking
what letter and sound it makes. Then elicit other words with the “b” sound
(e.g. bag, big, brown). This is a great way to reinforce any alphabet
learning you are doing in the lesson.
10. Have a follow-up activity

Reinforce new learning and check understanding by having
a follow-up component to your lesson:
- create comprehension question worksheets (all our readers come with a post
reading worksheet).
- older students can write reviews on a reader that they have read. These reviews can be
placed on the classroom walls or even included in your school magazine.
- have students draw a picture that summarizes the story, or a cartoon strip about the
story.
- have students write a follow-up story.
- have students write comprehension questions and then have their classmates answer their
questions.
- create “fill in the blanks” questions. Write key sentences on the board from the reader with
a blank for target vocabulary. Students have to guess the missing words.
- have students create audio versions of the readers –
record them onto a phone as they read. They will love
hearing themselves back!
- have groups act out the story they have just read.

TOP 10 LISTENING ACTIVITIES (WITHOUT A CD)
Listening practice activities to use in your classes

which do not require CDs
There are lots of activities we can do in class to help develop our students’ listening
ability which do not require a formal listening practice set up (CDs, videos, PC, etc.).
Of course, having regular listenings in class is great but we can also combine this with
listening to the teacher and fellow students. Below are some fun and interactive ways
to provide listening practice in your lessons.
1. Listen and draw a story 2. Adjectives draw

The teacher reads or makes up a story - as the students listen After teaching various adjectives
they draw the different scenes. You can help them by explaining (big, small, long, short, tall, high,
which scene to draw. This can be done individually or in small low, etc.) give each student a piece
groups on large sheets of paper. This really of paper. The teacher says an
helps you to see if the students are adjective / noun combination and the
understanding and they will often ask students have to draw it (e.g draw a
questions if they don’t understand long snake, draw a big house, etc.). It
(because they’ll be so keen to draw the is fun to make silly words (draw a small
picture!) elephant). The
teacher should also
3. Blindfold walk draw so he/she can
compare with the
This is really fun. students’ pictures at
Teach: go forward, go backwards, (3) steps, turn right / the end.
left. Then place a blindfold on a student and direct
him/her around the room to eventually pick up a
flashcard or object (e.g. “Go forward 3 steps, turn right, 4. Secret message
go forward 5 steps, now go backwards 2 steps, turn left,
etc.). Finally, have students work in pairs – one Make two teams and have each stand in a
blindfolded and one giving directions. line (parallel with each other). Take two
students from the front of each line outside
the classroom and whisper a sentence to them
(e.g. “Tonight it is going to rain and tomorrow it
5. Listening with flashcards is going to be sunny”). Then the students come
Scatter a lot of flashcards that students have back and whisper the sentence to the next
already leaned around the room and have the student, who in turn whispers it to the next, and
students sit on floor. Make up a story and so on down the line. The student at the end either
incorporate all of the flashcard pictures … as you writes the correct sentence on the board or says
say the flashcard word the student nearest that the sentence to the teacher (depending on the
card must touch it. For example, if students level of the class). Points are awarded: 2 points for
have learned lots of animal vocab the story a perfect sentence, 1 point for nearly perfect and a
could start “Once upon a time there was a bonus point if the
farmer who had some cows (touch), sheep team finished first
(touch) and pigs (touch). One day he was and got the
surprised to see lots of new animals on his sentence right.
farm. Next to the gate was a zebra (touch) Then do it again
and in the pond was a hippo (touch …), etc, with two new
etc.”. students.

Listening practice activities to use in your
classes which do not require CDs
6. Guess what it is
Put students into teams of 3 or 4. Then everyone sits and listens carefully to the teacher
for a description of something or someone (e.g. “This is an animal which lives in 7. Put
Africa and Asia loves taking baths. It flaps its ears to keep cool. It has a in order
really long nose” – answer: elephant). Then each team discusses
what they think it is before giving an answer. You can give the
description sentence by sentence, encouraging the Put your students in teams and
students to guess each time, until one group wins. have them sit together. Give each
You can start off with easy clues and slow group around 10 objects or picture flashcards
speech but then progressively choose – each team must have the same
more difficult words and speak things. The teacher now says all the
more quickly so the words for items in front of the students …
students really have the students listen but mustn’t touch the
to concentrate. objects. Finally, the teacher says “Put the objects in
the correct order” and the teams have to put in order the
objects in the order that the teacher said them. Make sure you
write down the order as you say it or else you’ll forget!
9. Number /
8. Listening dialogs
Word bingo
10.
Before class, prepare some dialogs based on the Spelling Playing bingo requires
lesson theme. Also, prepare some comprehension students to listen carefully.
questions based on the dialogs. In class, have
messenger You can use either
two students read the dialog and the other numbers or words that
students have to listen and then answer Put students in teams they have been
the questions. In higher level classes, of three. Student 1 is learning. Creating
make groups and give each group the bingo sheets
given a word on a piece of
15-20 minutes to write a dialog and and words takes a
paper and mustn’t show it to
questions (questions on a large bit of time but
his/her teammates. He/She once done
sheet of paper). Then each
stands at the end of the room can be
team reads their dialogs
while the rest of the furthest from the board facing used with
class answers the the wall. Student 3 is at the board o t h e r
questions which facing the board. Student 2 acts as classes,
have been the messenger. Student 1 whispers the time and
taped to the first letter to student 2 who then runs and t i m e
blackboard. whispers it to student 3, who in turn writes it on the again.
board. Student 2 goes back and forth until the
word is written on the board. All the teams
compete – they have different words but all with the
same number of letters. The first team to complete
the word correct wins a point.

TOP 10 TIPS FOR TEACHING ENGLISH TO TODDLERS
Ideas for teaching 2 and 3-year-olds in your ESL classroom

Teaching 2 and 3-year-olds can be a lot of fun and extremely rewarding. However,
many teachers worry about teaching this age group as it requires teachers to rethink
their teaching strategies and classroom management. It is actually much easier
than you may think to teach little ones, and once you “crack the code”, you may end
up enjoying teaching this age group more than any other.
Here are some great tips to get you started.
1. Understand their limitations and abilities
Don’t get discouraged that they can’t read or write and sometimes
barely speak! There is plenty of time to work on that boring stuff
when they get older. 2s and 3s are able to do a lot in class, and the
cool thing is, you’ll see huge improvements each time you see
them.
Understanding what they are able to do (and not do) is the first
step in knowing how you can help them learn English:
They are extremely curious – they want to They can speak in short sentences (4 to 6
explore the world and learn new things. words).
They are able to remember things – they They can say names and ages (usually up
may recall events from the previous day to their own age) and use pronouns.
and can remember as many as three
They can match objects to pictures.
objects that are presented visually.
They have a vocabulary of around 300
They can identify what’s missing from a
words (in their first language).
picture or group of objects.
They can listen attentively to short stories.
They are able to follow simple instructions.
They can complete puzzles of a few pieces.
They can identify simple primary colors.
They are able to describe actions in
They are good at naming and labeling.
pictures.
They can draw lines, circles and squares
They can take turns in games.
with a pencil.
They can express affection and wide range
They can ask many who, what, where, and
of emotions.
why questions.
They can turn pages in book one at a time.
They love to imitate playmates and adults.
They can build a tower of more than a few
blocks.
… and much, much more. You’ll be surprised by your students’ abilities every time you see
them!

2. Play, play, play 3. Use a glove puppet
One of the hardest things to get used to Using a fun glove puppet each class
as first-time teacher of toddlers is the (such as Cookie Monster) makes a huge
concept of “not teaching”. At this age, difference in your toddler lessons. Shy
kids learn though exploring the world students will open up more to a puppet
around them and imitating people, and and kids often become very excited at
all of this is usually done through play. the beginning of class to see their
As such, the teacher should see favorite puppet! They will think it is real
him/herself as more of a playmate than a (students may ask questions about the
teacher. puppet’s daily routines, etc.) and believe
it is their friend.
Sit with your students and explore things,
play games and sing songs together,
have fun and laugh a lot. Your students
won’t care that you are doing this in a
strange new language. They will try to
talk to you in their language and this is
fine – answer back in
English and focus on Start and end the lessons saying hello
sharing nouns, verbs and goodbye to the puppet and bring him
and adjectives from out every now and then to ask students
your own language. questions or to sing a song.
4. Play lots of games
Toddlers can’t read or write, but they are master game players! Games can be really simple and
shouldn’t be too competitive – make sure that everyone is a winner. Here are just a few ideas for
simple and fun games:
Patting balloons to each other, or kicking the correct balloon (“kick the blue balloon”)
Jumping over a rope laid on the ground to pick up an object
Touching a flashcard from a set of flashcards laid out on the floor
Retrieving objects and giving to the teacher (e.g. “Go and get me a crayon”)
Playing “What’s missing” games – students close their eyes as the teacher
removes an object or flashcard, then recall what is missing)
Sitting in a circle and passing a ball around
Doing action games (“Who can roar like a lion the best?”)

5. Short activities
Toddlers have a short attention span and lose interest in activities very quickly. It’s not that your lesson
activity is boring, it’s just that there are so many other fun and interesting things in their immediate
environment that demand their attention! Basically, you are competing with everything else in the world
for their attention, so changing activities frequently helps to focus their little
minds on what you are doing with them.
Make sure that each activity lasts no more than 5 to 10 minutes. Therefore, plan
for lots of activities and always have a few extra up your sleeve, just in case!
Your lesson doesn’t have to have 10-15 brand new activities – you can recycle activities from previous
lessons, sings songs, read a story, play a game, play with toys or just jump around a bit. Try to ‘bookend’
calm activities with energy burning activities, to stop your students getting restless.
6. Use lots of visuals
Students really learn well when their attention is engaged visually. Make sure
you have lots of flashcards (we have over 1,500 at ESL KidStuff), pictures from
magazines, posters on the walls, and lots of toys and real objects (realia).
Always pass objects around and play simple games, such as catch, as
touching and interacting with the objects really helps them to learn.
7. Only teach a few words each lesson
Try not to introduce more than three new words in one lesson. They will have a hard time remembering
them.
Some teachers may feel that they are not really teaching their students much if all that they have
covered is three new words, but you’ll be surprised at how much more your kids are taking in. Every
time you talk (your classroom metalanguage) they take in some of what you
say. You’ll be amazed when students come out with phrases without being
prompted (good job, well done, here, sit down, thank you, what’s this?, pass,
give me, etc.) that they have picked up from you. Then there are the songs and
stories that also add to their lexicon.
You can use our lesson plans at ESL KidStuff with your younger learners – simply teach the lesson plan
over a series of lessons so they cover three new words at a time, and add some of the extra activities
explained in this article.

8. Praise all the time
Positive reinforcement is so important at this age. It doesn’t matter if a

student got something wrong, the fact that they tried deserves a round of
applause. If the your enjoy the class, they will return next week because
they want to be there … and a side effect is that they will learn English!
When praising, use a variety of phrases (well done, good job, great,
wonderful, amazing, fantastic, etc.), give out stickers, use high-fives,
draw happy faces on worksheets, and smile a lot.
9. Sing lots of songs 10. Allow a parent to join

their child the lesson
Kids love singing good songs and doing all I always teach both
the gestures and dance moves. They are toddler and one of their
sponges for learning songs – many a time parents together in the
we revisit a song and I am having to watch class (usually mother
my students for the words because I have but it can even be a
forgotten some of them! grandparent!). Your
students won’t suffer from separation anxiety
Songs can be used to introduce or and it will make your life as the teacher a
whole lot easier. The parent will help with
reinforce new words (e.g. “Let’s go to the
bad behavior and keep their child focused on
zoo” for animals), to start or end a section
the activities.
of the lesson (e.g. “The hello song” and
“The goodbye song”), as an energy burner
Have the parent sit next to their child (you
(e.g. “Head, Shoulders Knees and Toes”) can use cushions on the floor) and take an
or a calm down song (e.g. “The rainbow active part in the lesson. They can help with
song”). Always review new songs and coloring sheets, dancing to songs, playing
keep recycling them. You can also take games, and everything else in the lesson.
requests – students love telling you what They are also there to help out with any little
song they want to sing! problems and toilet emergencies.
We have 50 songs at ESL KidStuff that you You’ll also notice that as the parents know
can download and sing in class. exactly what their child is learning in class,
they’ll reinforce learning between lessons –
and often teach more. I’ve frequently noticed
children coming to class and saying 5 or 6
color words when we had only worked on
three in the last class!

TOP 10 LESSON PLAN ROUTINES FOR 7S AND under
Tips for regular items to add to your 7s and under lessons

Building a routine into your lesson planning creates a feeling of familiarity for kids, which
helps them to gain the confidence they need in class. It also allows the teacher to build on
previous lessons by recycling old vocabulary before introducing new language.
Here are 10 key elements that can be included in your lesson plans on a regular basis for
the younger students that you teach.
2. Hello
(warm-up / Goodbye song
1. Name tags (warm-up section) and wrap
-up sectio
n)
Start and
en
Using name tags can be a life saver if song – this d each lesson with
h a
you have lots of kids classes – learning that it is ti elps to signal to you familiar
everyone’s name at the beginning of the me to start r students
serious!) a the lesson
school year can be a nightmare! nd time to (and get
Our Hell go home a
Younger kids also love to wear their o and G t the end.
ESLKidStu oodbye s
name tags – they do so with pride. ff.com are ongs on
perfect for
Sticky tags are good – write their names this.
Sit in a cir
and stick on their shirts. cle and
sing along
to the
- Pre-writing age: when your students song. Enc
ourage
are too young to write their name, start students to
clap
each lesson by sitting in a circle around or pat the
ir laps
the name tags with the names of your in time wit
h the
students written on them. Point to each music.
tag and ask whose it is. Students will
start to recognize their names pretty
quickly, after a couple of lessons they’ll
be picking out their tags straight away.
When they pick out their tag they can
stick or pin it to their shirts.
)
up section
(wrap-
- Writing age: once your students are
a n u p
3. Cle
able to recognize their names you can
move onto writing. Start by making
of
dot-to-dot name tags for each student,
s d o t he end d
so they can trace their name. At some tudent ys an
point your students will be able to h a v e your s y away to clean
id ,
progress onto Always clean up: t shions away bags
u ir
copying their lesson ry, put their c hings in the u will
a t io n e t h e ir t s t , y o
st put t fir
names and a r d , a t s . A , but in
the bo on their co e what to do this at
finally writing t n
and pu show everyo be able to do
their names o il l
need t at all they w
without needing e
no tim of a hat.
to see them. p
the dro

work
e c k / A s sign home
ork ch
4. Homew r a p - u p section) 5. Puppet greetings
an d w
(warm-up (warm-up and wrap-up section)
sson, you
g s e c ti o n of the le rk. Ask
innin ewo
In the beg our student’s hom out their Use a glove puppet (such as a Sesame
c k y tion ab
s
can che t s ome ques “What color is
Street puppet) to greet each student.
tu d e n Keep him in a cloth bag. Bring out the
each s t (e.g.
workshee then put
a
homework ts of praise, and .g . a bag, open it enough to see in and shout
lo et (e
it?”), give e homework she y face). into the bag the puppet’s name (e.g.
mark on
th a smile “Cookie Monster!”). Then move your
a s ta m p or draw put their
sticker, o u r s tu d ents to ear to the opening to listen – nothing.
ll y .
Finally, te ack into their bags Go to each student and encourage
o rk b
homew them to shout the puppet’s name into
ill need to
f th e le s son you w the best the bag – each time nothing happens.
do is
At the en rk – a worksheet t Finally, get all the students together to
m e w o o rk workshee
set ho h o m e w shout the name at the same time. This
ld up the e out the
option. Ho how to do it. Giv mework time the puppet wakes up and jumps
el ho
and mod and say “Put your out of the bag! The puppet then chats
h e e ts to do so.
works ” a n d h e lp them to each student: “Hello”, “What’s your
gs
in your ba name?” “Goodbye / See you” before
going back into the bag and back to
sleep.
Do this at the beginning and end of

each class. Over time you can add
6. Review time (warm-up section) more questions to the conversation,
such as:
- How are you?

Always include a review section in your lesson. You
can review the previous lesson and also language - How old are you?
from any lessons from the past. The key is to make - Where do you live?
this section fast and fun! - Do you like (apples / milk / cheese /
Here are some things to review: etc.)?
- do a couple of games and activities from a - What (food / colors / animals / etc.) do
previous lesson, especially ones that went down you like?
well! - What is your favorite (food / color /
- review a story – you can read a classroom reader animal / etc.)?
from a previous lesson. If you display all of the - Can you (jump / sing / fly / etc.)?
readers your students have read, they can choose
what to review.
- review a song from a previous lesson – again, you
can do a different review song each week. A great
way to involve your students is to have your
students choose which song to do. Each time I learn
a new song with a class, I put the song poster on the
wall (each of our songs have accompanying
posters). Students use these to choose which song
to review.

9. Exercise
y routine (war
P la y t im e (half wa section and m-up
7. any other t
he lesson) ime)
through t
This is a fun activ
ak is ity to do each less
5 -m in u te play time bre our – it gets everyo
ne up and mov
on
o rt y
Having a sh way to get to know around and is a
go
ing
a re a lly n ic e
la y – this is e s p e c ially start of the main pa od signal for the
p class, rt
ro u g h
students th 5s and under. Each Say the following of the lesson.
h
effective wit t it is “play time” the
and students follow yo and have your
th a ur lead: “Stand up
announce mething in (teacher stands an
e c a n choose so crayons else), “Hands up /
d so does everyone
every o n
y w it h … toys, hands down” (x 3-
classroom
to p la bviously, “Jump” (x 3-5), “R 5),
b a lls , b lo cks, etc. O room! un
“Turn around! / St ! / Stop!” (x 3-5),
and paper, ked class
u ir e s a well-stoc tudent –
op
“Sit down”. Throug !” (x 3-5), finally
this re q
a n d p la y with each s your can introduce othe
hout the course yo
u
Then join in ! As you play, talk to fun! r
is e as “Hop”, “Star commands, such
they love th sk questions, and hav “Crouch” and so on
Jump”, “Wiggle”
,
da
students an This is a great tool
.
to use at any time
during the lesson
to kick everyone in
a higher gear, or if to
yo
to burn off some en u need everyone
ergy.
-up section)
t h e ba g? (warm
‛s in
8. What 10. Line up – quick check and
goodbye (wrap-up section)
t the
a t a c ti v ity to do a
re l a
This is a g f your lessons. Fil
o om
beginning bag with items fr When it is time to leave the class
large clo th . plastic make sure everything is put away
v io u s le ssons (e.g s any
your pre as well a an and the students have gathered
als, etc.) ing lying
fruit, anim m objects (e.g. c up – anyth
up their belongings. Have them
ra n d o p la s ti c line up at the door and place
other ttle, a
plastic bo
eraser, a . yourself between the door and
d safe!) le the
around an d s h a ke it to ratt eir the students. For each student,
a n
r students ach/elicit th check one new word (e.g. hold up
o w th e bag to you different objects, te objects a color or fruit and ask, “What’s
S h
in s id e . P ull out
ld a n d pass the out of
objects ents ho objects this?”). When they answer
ave stud dents pull ce
names, h can even have stu student. Finally, pla correctly, say goodbye and let
n d . Y o u c ts p e r e e a ch them leave. If they get the
arou 2 obje om and
hav
b a g . P u ll out 1 or c la s s ro a m e a nd question wrong, they go to the
the
ts a ro u n d the o u c a ll o u t its n
the objec ve each object as y back of the line to try again.
trie
student re .
c k in the bag s to the
put it ba n d more item
m o re a g full of
y e a r, slowly add r you’ll have a ba ll!
During th e the ye a or them a
– b y th e end of il l k n o w the names
bag nts w
your stude
items and

TOP 10 LESSON PLAN ROUTINES FOR 8S AND OVER
Tips for regular items to add to your 8s and over lessons
Having a familiar structure to your lesson helps to build a routine which covers all the
key elements for learning and reviewing English. Here are 10 key elements that can
be included in your lesson plans on a regular basis for students 8-years and up.
1. Greetings (warm-up section)

Sit everyone in a circle around you and throw (or roll) a ball to each student randomly. As you do so, ask
questions, starting from the simple (What’s your name?, How are you?) to more involved questions (Where
do you live?, What is your favorite food, Do you like Superman?, Can you fly?,
etc.). You can review questions from previous lessons and introduce new
questions.
Try to introduce one or two new questions a month – the first time they are
introduced ask everybody the question, then always review in the preceding
lessons.
2. Review the day, date and month (warm-up section)

After you have taught the days and months lessons, you can include this section in every class. You’ll need
a large calendar for this, ideally with the days and months written in English.
Sit everyone down facing you and turn the page of the calendar to January. Ask “Which month is this?” and
have everyone shout out “January!”. Then ask, “Is it January now”? Elicit “Yes” or “No” depending on the
month it is. Keep turning the pages and eliciting months until you reach your current month.
Next ask, “What day is it today?”, pointing to the days at the top of the page. Get everyone to shout out the
day.
After that, point down the column of dates and ask, “What is the date today?”, and elicit the correct date.
Finally, invite a student to come up to the calendar and stick a star or sticker onto the correct date.
Additionally, you can sing the “Days of the Week” song or “Months March” song on ESLKidStuff.com.
3. Homework check / Assign homework (warm-up and wrap-up section)

The beginning section of the lesson is a good time to check your students’ homework. Ask each student
some questions about their homework worksheet, give lots of praise, and then put a mark on the homework
sheet (e.g. a sticker, a stamp or draw a smiley face). Finally, tell your students to put their homework back
into their bags.
At the end of the lesson you will need to set homework – a worksheet is a good option. Hold up the home-
work worksheet and model how to do it. Give out the worksheets and say, “Put your homework in your
bags” and help them to do so.

4. Play the “Can you” challenge (warm-up section)

This is a fun activity to do each lesson – it gets everyone up and moving around and is a good signal for the
start of the main part of the lesson.
Ask your students “Can you …?” questions, such as
jump 10 say the name three things in

pat someone find a
times in alphabet this room that begin e.t.c.
on the back? black pen?
10 seconds? backwards? with the letter “M”?
5. Talk about the weather (warm-up section)

After you have taught the weather lesson, you can include this section in every class.
You’ll need to prepare a weather board. Before class, prepare a piece of cardboard and cover it with blue
felt (to represent the sky). Write at the top of the board, in large letters, “How’s the weather today?”. Below
that write “Today it’s”. Cut out weather pictures (such as from our weather flashcards) and stick some velcro
on the back of each picture. Arrange the weather pictures around the edge of the board and put the board
on the wall of your classroom. You can now use this weather board at the beginning of every lesson.
In class, start by singing the Weather Song. Sing the song together doing all of
the gestures.
Next, look outside. Get everyone to look outside by saying “How’s the
weather? Look outside”. Elicit the weather for that day.
Finally, we’ll put the weather pictures on the Weather Board. Invite some
students to come up and put the weather pictures on the board. Make sure
these students say the word as they put the card on the board.
6. Notice board (warm-up section)

This is a great way to encourage students to use their reading and writing skills. Put a cork notice
board up in the classroom and put new notices on it each class. Notices can include birthday
announcements, homework setting, words of praise or encouragement to individual students, your
thoughts on different issues (e.g. a new pop song or movie), lost & found items, up and coming events
and so on. Also, encourage your students to reply to your notices and add their own notices.

7. Alphabet scrap books (warm-up section)

You’ll need a big scrap book for the class, or if you have a lot of students, one for each group of 4-8
students. In the first lesson, students will prepare and decorate the book – put a letter of the alphabet in the
corner of each double page (upper and lower-case), so you have a double-page for each letter of the
alphabet.
For homework each week, assign a topic, such as the kitchen, weather,
stationary, movies, animals, etc. Students have to find 3 (small) pictures of items
in that category and bring them to class (they can cut out of a magazine, for
instance). In class, students glue the pictures onto the page with a first letter of
the item (e.g. a frying pan will go on the “F” page) and write the word underneath
the picture.
Over time, the book will grow as more and more picture words are added.
8. Clean up 9. Line up – quick check and

(wrap-up section) goodbye (wrap-up section)
Always have your students to When it is time to leave the class make sure
clean up: tidy away classroom everything is put away and the students have
objects and stationery, put gathered up their belongings. Have them line up at
their chairs neatly under their the door and place yourself between the door and
desks, clean the board, put the students. For each student, check one new word
their things in their bags and (e.g. hold up a flashcard and ask, “What’s this?”).
put on their coats. At first, you When they answer
will need to show everyone correctly, say goodbye
what to do, but in no time at all and let them leave. If they
they will be able to do this at get the question wrong,
the drop of a hat. they go to the back of the
line to try again.
10. Review time (warm-up / review section)

Always include a review section in your lesson. You can review the previous lesson and also language from
any lessons from the past. The key is to make this section fast and fun!
Here are some things to review:
play a vocabulary review game, such as hangman, I spy, etc.
do a couple of games and activities from a previous lesson, especially ones that went down well!
Review a story – you can read a classroom reader from a previous lesson. If you display all of the
readers you have read, students can choose what to review.

TOP 10 SUPPLIES FOR AN ESL KIDS CLASSROOM
What are the must have teaching tools for an English kids teacher?
Teaching kids necessitates having loads of supplies at hand – some will be lesson
specific and are only used for certain lesson themes, however, some classroom tools
can be used over and over for many different activities.
I have a big sports bag that I take to all my kid’s classes, and along with the essentials
(pens, pencils, crayons, marker pens, scissors, etc.) the following items are always
given a space.
r and s topwatch
1. Egg time
Egg timers are great for timed games, throwing around the
classroom (such as for the time bomb game below) and setting
time limits for tests, etc. I use mine all the time.
Time bomb: You need a timer that counts down (such as an egg
timer) for this exciting game. If you can, get one that audibly ticks.
Choose a category (e.g. animals, food, words beginning with ‘S’, etc.) and set the timer to 1 minute.
Start by saying a word in that category (e.g. for animals – elephant) and then throw the timer to a
student. S/he must catch the timer and say another word from the category before being allowed to
throw to another student. The student holding the timer when it goes off is out of the round. The game
continues until there is one student left.
A stopwatch is a brilliant classroom supply. It can be used to add an element of competition to

activities (e.g. put the alphabet in order in less than 1 minute) and students can try and beat their
previous best times. It is also a good tool for the “How long does it take?” game.
How long does it take?: You’ll need to set up various simple activities for students to complete and be
timed. These can be written on a worksheet or on the board for students to copy into their workbooks.
Some examples are:
- How long does it take you to count to 100?
- How long does it take you to say the alphabet? (forwards or backwards)
- How long does it take you to run around the classroom 10 times?
- How long does it take you to write your address?
- How long does it take you to shake hands with everyone in the class?
Students work in pairs or small groups and time each other as they do the activities. At the end you can
round up all the times to find out who is the fastest in the class for each activity.
Note: you can also play the similar “How long can you?” game (e.g. How long can you hold your
breath?, stand on one leg?, balance a balloon on your head, etc.).

s
l loon
3. Ba
n dfold
2. Bli
A blindfold Kids
is a great l o v e
teaching balloons
supply to have and they
(a cotton scarf make a
is fine) as kids nice souvenir
love to be at the end of the lesson. They can be used in
blindfolded. I use ones that airlines give out for lots of games:
sleeping. There are lots of activities you can do
with a blindfold: - pat the balloon to each other in a circle as
you say vocab, ask and answer questions,
- for question practice, have students stand in a
and so on.
circle with one student in the center wearing the
- play “No hands” – teams stand in a line with
blindfold. Spin him/her around a few times and
one balloon per team. The balloon needs to
have him ask the nearest student a question.
be passed to the back of the line without
When the student answers the blindfolded student
using hands.
must guess who it is.
- color games for learning the colors (kick the
- for fun “Where are you?”, “I’m here” games. blue balloon, touch the green balloon with
your nose, etc.)
- for giving directions: to find a hidden object give
- reading & writing games – have all of your
directions to the blindfolded student, such as “Go
vocabulary written on different balloons (the
forward (3 steps), go back, turn left, turn right”.
students can do the writing). Then say a
- have blindfold students guess objects by feeling word and a student must kick the right
or even food by tasting. balloon.
- racing games with a straw – students race
to blow the balloon to a finish line.
f rope
4. A length o
A cheap length of rope can be used in many fun ways.
Held at a height kids can jump over or limbo under it to collect the
correct flashcard or object (for little ones just lie the rope on the floor
for them to jump over).
To teach left/right, lie the rope down the center of the room, have students
stand over it legs either side. Teacher shouts left and the students jump to the left, etc.
It can be used a rope train – everyone holds the rope and follows the teacher around the classroom
making train noises.

5. Blu Tack
This is extremely useful. You can use it to stick posters, pictures,

colored paper, students’ work – virtually anything on the walls of
your classroom. It can also be used to stick pictures on your board
(e.g. of two characters to create a dialog). It’s also good for the
prepositions treasure hunt game:
Preposition Treasure Hunt: In this game students practice saying prepositions of location and yes/no
questions. You need something sticky, like ‘Blu Tack’ that you can roll into a ball and stick on anything.
Model the game first: give the Blu Tack to a student and indicate that they should put it in a difficult-to-find
place. Leave the room and give them a few moments to hide the Blu Tack (e.g. on the underside of a desk,
on the wall behind a curtain, etc.). Then come back in and ask yes/no questions to locate it (Is it on the
desk?, Is it near the desk? Is it in the front half of the classroom? Is it under the chair? etc.). When you
finally find it have a student take the questioner’s role. In a large class try having students play in pairs.
g of
7. Ba od
t ic fo
itter p l a s
6. Gl
Kids just love F o o d

using glitter with objects
their drawings and o f t e n
crafts – it can really come in
liven them up. By using handy. Just
a glue stick, students can having these
draw shapes and objects, sprinkle glitter over the glue objects allows you to practice different:
and then lift up the picture so the unwanted glitter falls off.
- food vocabulary
Some other glitter usage examples: - colors
- weather pictures (yellow glitter sun, blue glitter rain, - likes / dislikes / favorites (e.g. Do you
rainbow glitter!) - like apples?)
- stars and moon - hot / cold (e.g. Touch the food that you
- Christmas pictures eat cold / hot)
- glitter face pictures - big/small (if you have different sized
- glittery Easter eggs food objects)
- glitter snow globes (glue figures to the inside of a jar lid, - and so on
put water and glitter into a jar, close the lid and shake)

m i paper
8. Origa
Great for teaching colors and just for doing fun paper folding. You
can get it quite easily in arts and crafts stores and stationery stores.
There are lots of simple activities you can do:
- Give each student two pieces of different colored paper. Teacher calls
a color (e.g. “Blue”) and the students with that color hold it up.
- Give each student a different colored paper (or even 2 colors). Teacher calls a color and an action (e.g.
“Blue – Jump!”). Other actions can be stand up, spin around, run on the spot, sit down, hop, wiggle, star
jump, etc.
- Place different colors around the room. Teacher calls out colors and students go and touch or retrieve
the origami papers.
- Give each student a color and make sure at least 2 students have the same color. Teacher says “Blues,
high 5!” and the kids with blue paper need to find each other and High 5 each other.
- Make a line of papers with the Rainbow Song – as the song is played students put the papers in the
same order as the song. Alternatively, the teacher puts the papers in the correct order and the students
touch each paper as the song is sung.
anb ags
ay doh 10. Be
9. Pl
Play doh Hand-sized

is such a bean bags
u s e f u l are a really
s u p p l y , u s e f u l
especially for classroom
y o u n g e r supply, especially
students. It can be used for making food and for teaching actions, body parts and colors.
animals, teaching colors and even used to make Instructions such as the following can be used:
alphabet shapes.
- Put a (green) beanbag on your head
You can buy it at most toy stores but it can be - Put a (yellow) beanbag between your knees
easily made – either before class or during class - Jump over the (red) beanbag
as an activity. - Pick up the (blue) beanbag
- Throw the (purple) beanbag to a friend

10 EASY CHRISTMAS CRAFTS TO USE IN YOUR LESSONS
Quick & easy crafts for your ESL Christmas lessons

There are so many great activities you can do in your lessons in the lead up to
Christmas. At ESLKidStuff.com we have a lot of Christmas games & activities,
Christmas themed flashcards and worksheets as well as craft sheets.
Crafts are always popular, kids of all ages love doing them, and they can really liven
up your Christmas lesson. Here are 10 great crafts you can use:
Christm
hristmas card e cone as
1. C s Pin
In many parts of the
Tr
ee
2.
world there are pine cones
all over the place at this time of year
and they can be used for making great
mini-Christmas Trees.
All you need is pine cones, glitter, cotton

balls, small beads threaded onto some
cotton or dental floss and a star for the top.
You can easily make these in class
with some construction paper and
Have your students paint and
common craft supplies. Before
decorate their “Christmas trees”
class, cut out enough card for each
student. Then have students draw, and docrate your classroom
paint or use felt to make a Christmas with their finished
scene on the card (Santa, holly, a crafts.
Christmas Tree , etc.). Students can
then decorate the cards with glitter,
cotton wool for snow, shiny stickers,
er puppe
Fing
etc.
3. ts
Older kids can write a Christmas These are easy to
message inside the card and for make and look great - you
smaller kids you can help them write can get the materials from most
their own message (even get them to art & craft stores. You need some
trace over a message written lightly felt which you wrap around rolls
in pencil). made from card (finger size). The
heads are made from wooden
A nice idea is to have each student balls which can be found in art
give their card to another student (in & craft stores and then pipe
an envelope if you can stretch your cleaners and buttons for
budget far enough!). decoration. Lots of fun
making these!
We have some Christmas card
templates in our Crafts section at
ESLKidStuff.com.

Quick & easy crafts for your ESL Christmas lessons
istmas Wreaths 5. pa
per plate
r MA
. Ch ITH HAND PRINT DE snowman
4 W S
This one is so easy to Just glue 2 white paper
do and nice and messy! You plates together (slightly
need red and green paint in overlapping) to form the body
separate trays. Have each and then use felt or colored
student put a red and green print paper to decorate. You
of their hands onto card. When can use pipe cleaners
the paint has dried, cut out the for the arms.
hand prints and either glue
together in a circle shape or
glue onto a ring made
from card.
nta’s
6. sa aft 8. christ
cr
hat stocking c
ma
s
Use red Just r af
construction paper to stockin cut t
aper chain make a cone shape constru
g sha
pe ou
a
p
7. corations and then decorate ction pa t of
felt, rib per, the
de your with cotton constru
bons a
nd
n use
te sy wool. ct the fur trim to
Decora with this ea , Cotton s
wool is tocking.
o m age
classro ood for any as substitu a good
G nes te for
craft. y little o ch / fur. the
e c ia ll tea
esp can
y o u colors.
practice eer hat
e ind
.r nd A
NTLERS
10 h a nd t
t h n ice a need a lo d.
i i s i s ’ l l a r
w T h
fun.
Yo u
per o
r c
of
reat pa tline
a s y and g nstruction aw an ou per and
e co dr a
own kids truction p s of the
icture frame of br ave your ip
9. p
n s t r )
t , h t he co t some s the class
ornament F i r s d s o n G e r e u
ha n ut. be f o yy o
their ut them o r (cut out est done b (not
Here is a nice craft c p e
then uction pa ds head ( ith staple lly,
b s
le as a r i w a
which could doub your const t to each k – fasten ead!!). Fin ce
present i t ) h
Christmas their and f ther adul e child’s eindeer fa
r o r r
students can mak
e fo or an t still on th draw the the antle
ents . whi l s id s ko n
parents or grandpar the k d stic psicles to
have eir hat an po
ure frame
Simply create a pict corate! on th ds using in place.
out of card and de han them
keep

TOP 10 EASY HALLOWEEN CRAFTS TO USE IN YOUR LESSON
Quick & easy crafts for your ESL Halloween lessons

There are loads great activities you can do in your lessons in the lead up to
Halloween. On ESL KidStuff.com you can find a full Halloween lesson plan, a
downloadable Halloween song, lots of Halloween games & activities, Halloween
flashcards, worksheets and craft sheets.
Crafts are popular and fun to do in your Halloween lessons – kids of all ages love
doing them! Here are 10 great crafts you can use in your Halloween lessons:
1. Halloween paper 2. Hand-print

plate mask craft ghosts poster
You’ll need enough paper plates for each student with
elastic straps to keep the masks on. The you can use as Upside down hand prints make great ghosts! Get
many craft supplies as you like to decorate the masks – everyone to paint their hands white and place upside
colored pens, glitter, felt, wool, pipe cleaners, stickers, down on black construction paper. Then paint on
colored card, tape, glue, etc. eyes and add other decorations.
Then let your students go wild creating their own

masks. It helps if there are pictures of Halloween char-
acters to use for inspiration (check out our flashcards). 3. Paper pumpkin
You can even have a competition with prizes (e.g. best craft
witch, scariest mask, funniest mask, etc.)!
This is a nice easy craft to decorate your classroom

with. Get brown paper bags and stuff them full of
newspaper. Then paint orange and use green yarn to
tie the top. Finally add cut-out eyes and mouths.
4. Happy
Halloween cards
5. Cotton ball ghosts

This is a really fun and easy way to make Halloween
cards. Give out a piece of construction paper to each
student and get them to follow your instructions (you
This one is very simple and great for little ones to do.
can model and they follow along): Fold it in half. Open
Before class cut out the ghost shape on white card
up the card and squeeze some paint in the middle of
and then the black eye and mouth shapes out of felt.
the card. Fold it back in half and press down with your
Get lots of cotton balls. Have your students put glue
fingers, spreading the paint out. Open the paper and
all over the ghost shaped card and stick on cotton
let the paint dry. Then you can create all sorts of
balls, covering the whole card. Then glue on the eyes
Halloween characters such as ghosts, bats, spiders,
and mouth.
monsters, pumpkins, black cats, etc.
You can hang the finished crafts all over the walls.

Quick & easy crafts for your ESL Halloween lessons
6. Egg carton bat

decorations 7. Skeleton made
of Q-tips (cotton
bud sticks)
Get all of your students to help decorate your class-
room with these egg carton bats. Just cut out 3 of the
cups from an egg carton, cut shapes out of the outer
two cups to make wings, paint black and finish by This one is very easy and a lot of fun! You’ll only need
adding some eyes. Q-tips, black craft paper, glue and scissors. First, draw
You can hang them from the ceiling of your classroom. a skeleton head on white paper and cut it out. If you
have very young students, you may want to prepare
the heads before class as this is the trickiest part.
Next, glue the head on black craft paper or card.

Then, let your students make the body out of Q-tips,
cutting and sticking them onto the card.
8. Yummy spiders
Have your students help

you make some tasty
party treats. All you need
are some sandwich cookies (such as Oreos), candy
sticks or pretzels for the legs and marshmallows with 10. Rolled-up mummies
black frosting for the eyes and teeth.
Kids of all ages can enjoy making and eating this These are really cute, easy-to-make decorations.
craft! Simply, paint toilet rolls black, glue on some craft
eyes and wrap with white gauze or cheesecloth.
You can hang them around the classroom or make
long strings of mummies.
You can even turn them into party candy holders – fill
the tube with tissue and top off with candies!
9. Pumpkin
stamps
All you need is an apple and orange paint. Cut the

apple in half, dip in paint and press down on paper.
Then decorate!

10 EASY EASTER CRAFTS TO USE IN YOUR LESSONS
Quick & easy crafts for your ESL Easter lessons

There are loads great activities you can do in your lessons in the lead up to Easter.
On ESL KidStuff.com we have a lot of Easter games & activities, as well as an
Easter lesson plan, flashcards and worksheets, a classroom reader and a song!
Crafts are always popular, kids of all ages love doing them, and they can really liven
up your kids lesson. Here are 5 great crafts you can use in your Easter lessons:
as 2. Easte
abbit m ks u need , r
decora egg
err o s
All y r plate r (a
tion
ast is
pape k pape nose n Use re
E blac or the o shells
(before gg
al e
k or f
pin t i t y a n d co t t
s t , g e class
quan dboard erial. Fir ard t some
1.
a l l r t t u e g g s ,p
sm ), ca t ma rdbo re a ho
le at bo unc-
n d ears ther sof m the ca s ears. a n d blow o th end
a
o r ano pes fro b u nny’ lored o f ut the s
a l l s s h a o u r c o t h e in s id
b al y the nk out). e
Use c gg, then w
es
ut ov ome om of pi n-
cut o will bec nose fr triangles f the bu e paint,
g
olored ash
eo f
is he
– th ut out t n also c the insid oles in en
ut th and an lue and gli elt pens,
c a h y t h in t t e r, stick
, c e o Th g else
Next per. You r to mak . Cut tw e y es. a n d eggs.
Yo u can t o d e c
ers
pa pape ny’s ear late for rs, eyes alls the ‘E use th orate the
r p ea b ast ese
pape e on the c otton ake use s er Egg Blow eggs in
t e t r a w ’ gam
r e g g cards pas
e . Past face to m oft. across s to blow e –
s te e n o s r t he o k s the cla the eg
. Ea e a sily m ome
a k e
all ov bunny l ve a
o
f ir s t
ssroom
–
gs
3 You ca n ith s u h a across t h e
class w felt and the
e in h e r e yo sk. is the
thes paper, . Before
T y ma winner
ction
constru craft supplies d for each bunn This craft will !
o n c a r t have your students
comm nough cut ou 4. Easte
t out e al card. Also, t and
cla s s , c u tu
r the ac r each stude e eggs.
n hopping around the bunny ea r
d e n t fo fo th classroom acting out being rs
stu
g r e e n grass val shapes for e ribbons bunnies! Before class prepare
the do r th
t colore f felt fo class,
differen ut out strips o n the eggs. In ards. the shapes: cut a strip of card for
ll y, c ti c k o th e c
Fina s to s the felt
onto the headband and two ear shapes
all circle e inside
and sm r students glue Easter messag n help (including pink inner ears) per
u
have yo s can write an er kids you ca n get student. In class, give out the head-
r k id mall ( e v e
Olde fo r s
messa g e band strips and ear shapes to your
d and ritten
the car rite their own r a message w is to students and let them decorate the
e
them w em to trace ov ). A nice idea ard headband and ears with crayons,
th pencil their c
lightly in h student give n enve- markers, glitter, etc. Finally, mea-
c a
have ea r student (in sure the headband on each
e
to anoth u can stretch student’s head and glue or
o
lope if y udget far staple in place and glue
your b ough!).
en on the ears.

Quick & easy crafts for your ESL Easter lessons
aster fi
6. Emoji eggs 7. E pi ngerpr
cture in
print cra t
k hand ft This is so much fun This is a
hic for students old enough to do w fun activity
ith your
.C h i s
T re mo to have cell phones. You’ll You jus
t need kids.
essy – Before
5
m need a lot of hard boiled eggs p a d s , s o m e ink

g e t s s! card,
the kid o yellow for this (6 per student) so it may fi n g e rs! p e n s and
fun for t tw Have yo
s s , cut ou udent from be a good idea to ask parents to ur stude
cla t r nts pres
le s per s r (larger fo prepare these for students to bring to fingers
onto th s their
c ir c pa p e I n p ress on e ink pad
u ction e head). class. to and
co n s t r
er fo r t h
uare At the beginning of the class, have construc a piece of card
the oth student a sq d tion pap or
body, ch an students paint the eggs bright yellow a pen dr er. The
give ea paper aw ears n with
class, construction . T en
h (acrylic paint works well). Then leave to whisker
s, paws
, eyes, n
oses,
sheet
of t h e card ave wings a , ta
to glue
t o
irst, h
dry – they should be dry by the end of nd feet. ils, beaks,
circles aint out. F s, class. know it, Be
you’ve g fore you
t t h e p in t t h e eye ot a gre
ge s pa em Give out black, red and blue marker pens to Easter p
tudent y, let th icture! at
your s d hair. Finall in your students as well as white out (Tipex) for
e a k a n s c o vered white parts. Students
b nd t
eir ha paint to prin
get th hic k ’s can use their phones to
the c and find emojis to copy
hands onto their eggs.
feet. Creative and fun!
aster flow
10.E or e
dec ation rs
These
eek-a-boo chic opsicle chick can be all-yellow to make
9. P s
8. P k For each chick
daffodils, or you can use a
This super variety of colors for a
simple craft just you’ll need 5 popsicle
multi-colored decoration. All
needs a clothes peg, sticks (painted yellow),
you need are popsicle sticks
card and glitter. Help your orange and yellow card,
(painted green), cupcake casings,
students create an egg and cardboard, 2 craft eyes, scis-
colored card, glue and scissors.
chick by cutting out the sors and glue.
Simply have your students cut
shapes from card and deco- Glue the yellow popsicle sticks
out the flower shapes from the
rating them. Then cut the onto a cardboard base and cut
card, then glue everything
egg into two with a zigzag around cardboard so you have the
together to make the flower.
cut. Finally, glue to a clothes shape of the chick. Then cut out
Make lots and fill your
peg, as shown in the photo some feet, beaks, and wings
classroom with this
below. Lots of fun! from the card.
beautiful decoration.
peek-a-boo chick Finally, glue on all the
pieces – a really cute
decoration!


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T o p t i p s f o r

1. Top 10 alphabet teaching tips ................................................................... 01

2. Top 10 simple flashcard games & activities .............................................. 05

3. Top 10 exciting flashcard games & activities ............................................ 07

4. Top 10 worksheet time activities ............................................................... 09

5. Top 10 tips for using classroom readers ................................................... 11

6. Top 10 listening activities (without a CD) .................................................. 14

7. Top 10 tips for teaching English to toddlers .............................................. 16

8. Top 10 lesson plan routines for 7s and under ........................................... 20

9. Top 10 lesson plan routines for 8s and over ............................................. 23

10. Top 10 supplies for an ESL kids classroom ............................................ 26

11. Top 10 easy Christmas crafts to use in your lessons .............................. 30

12. Top 10 easy Halloween crafts to use in your lessons ............................. 32

13. Top 10 easy Easter crafts to use in your lessons ................................... 34

ESL KidStuff © Copyright ESL KidStuff

Tips for Teaching the Alphabet to Young Learners of English

1. Different Learner Types

ESL KidStuff © Copyright ESL KidStuff

the pronunciation of the sound of the a word which

Therefore, a teacher may teach as follows for the letter “A”:

T: (showing a flashcard of the letter A) “A ..

3. Use worksheet printing exercises

For e x a m p le, if yo ave

A We have over 30 great games on our Alphabet

8. Start teaching to read simple words from early on

- bag - cat - hop - kiss - sit

Each student will need a ring

It’s quite a challenge to learn to

Simple games & activities to teach vocab using flashcards

you uch the b

ESL KidStuff © Copyright ESL KidStuff

ESL KidStuff © Copyright ESL KidStuff

Fun, exciting games & activities to teach vocab using flashcards

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Line up your students in two

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Tips for things to do during the worksheet section of our lessons

1. Circulate and monitor

2. Model the worksheet task

3. Praise, praise, praise

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6. Encourage students to vocalize

7. Encourage communication by pairing up students

8. Play English songs

9. Review past worksheets

10. Show and tell

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Great ideas for using readers during your lesson

1. Create the right setting

By now, students will have a good idea of what is coming and

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4. Use the pictures in the

6. Elicit additional information

- ask about the colors and weather in the pictures

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10. Have a follow-up activity

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Listening practice activities to use in your classes

1. Listen and draw a story 2. Adjectives draw

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Ideas for teaching 2 and 3-year-olds in your ESL classroom

Here are some great tips to get you started.