1. EightEasy EnglishTeachingGamesthat Require Few Resources
***Rememberthatthe bestgamesactivelyinvolveall studentsatonce.Some of these gamesdon’t
so be sure to monitorstudents’attention.If theyare watchingandlearning,great!Whenyou notice
you’ve losttheirattention,time tomove on!
1. Lines Quiz
Thisis a great reviewgame.Have studentsline upineither2 or 3 or 4 linesdependingonthe size of
the class.Ask the studentsatthe front of the line a question.Whoeveranswersthe fastestgetstosit
down.The othersgo to the back of the line.Youcan use flashcardstoreview vocabulary,give
directionslike jumpfive times,(make sure theycountoutloud),pointtosomethinggreen,sitdown,
raise yourhand, etc. You can also asksimple questionslike“Whatdayisit today?”,“What colouris
my shirt?”,“What isyour favourite fruit?”.Youcouldalsouse thisforblendingpractice withCVC
wordcards.
2. BINGO: Used to practice phonics,vocabulary,andgrammar.
Thisis a classic.Have studentsdrawa 3x3 gridin theirnotebook. Theythenwritethe nine
vocabularywords,grammarforms, or phonemesorCVCwords inthe squaresinanyorder theylike.
The teachercan theneitherreadthe word,describe the vocabulary,draw flashcards,doactionsetc.
The studentsdrawan “x” on the word thatis called.The firststudenttogetthree ina row wins.(You
can make the game longerbymakingthe winnerthe firststudenttogetan “x” or square shape)
Justuse your imaginationwhenitcomes togrammar.For example youcouldpractice pronouns in
the followingmanner:
Pointat the class andsay “ _______________are a good class.”
Pointat yourself andsay “ ______________am a goodteacher.”
Indicate everyoneinthe classandsay “ ___________are in the class.”
Etc.
3. ConversationCircles and TimedPair Practice
Reviewandpractice targetlanguage.(Startwithone questionandone answer.Youcanbuildto
short conversationsasstudentsgetusedtothe drill)
Examples:
A: What’syour name? B: My name is____________.
Later youcan addin “How are you”,“How oldare you?”etc.
Otherexamples:Whatcanyou do?What fooddo youlike?What’syourfavourite colour?Whatdo
youwant to be?Etc.

2. ConversationCircles (or linesifyou don’t have enough space inyour class)
I usuallyseparate the boysandgirlsintogroupsandget themto standin twocircles pergroup. One
innerandone outerfacingeach other. One circle isthe questionandthe otheristhe answer. The
studentsmove aroundthe circle until everyone hashada chance to speakto eachother.Thenthey
switchrolesandmove aroundin the circle again inthe opposite direction. Thiscanalsobe made
intoa race.
TimedPair Practice
The studentsmust practice the targetlanguage withfourdifferentstudents.Once theyhave
exchangedthe targetlanguage withfourpeople,theycansitdown.Studentscanalsoexchange the
target language withstudentswhoare alreadysittingdown.
You can time (orpretendtotime) the amountof time it takesbefore all studentsare sittingdown.
Do it a secondtime andsee if theycan beattheirtime.
Your classroomwill getloud,butrememberthisis productive noise!
4. WhisperGame
Put the studentsinlinesinfrontof the whiteboard. Whisperaword or a sentence dependingonthe
level of the classor whatyouwant to practice.Alternatively,youcouldshow the studentaword
card or sentence strip.Youcanwhisperdifferentwordstodifferentstudentstomake itless
competitive.The studentsmustwhisperthe informationtothe studentinfrontof them.The
studentat the frontruns to the whiteboardtowrite the information,selectaflashcard,anobject
etc.
5. ConversationBall Toss
It’samazinghowfor younglearnersjust throwingaball suddenlymakeseverythingfun. Putstudents
ingroups andsit themonthe floor. A studentasksthe target question(eg.How oldare you?) and
tossesthe ball toanotherstudentwhoanswersthe questionthenasksthe questiontoanother
studentandso on. You can make thisintoa race if you like. Italsoworkswell withtwolinesand
studentstossingthe ball backandforthin a “zig zag”.
6. Charades and Reverse Charades
Charadesisgreat to practice vocabularyor readingcomprehension. Simplyaskastudenttocome up
to the frontof the class andshowhim or her a vocabularywordor sentence fromthe storytoact
out.
You can increase active involvementinthisactivityintwoways:

3. a) PlayinGroups
Give eachgroup a set of pictures,wordcards,or sentence strips.Studentstake turnsdrawingacard
and actingit out.The firststudentinthe groupto guesswhat’sonthe card getsto keepthe card.
The studentwiththe mostcards at the endof the game wins.
b) Reverse Charades
Divide the classintotwogroups,one groupfacingthe other.( You can keepstudentsattheirdesks
and have half the classsimplyturntheirdesksaround toface them)
The class isnow made upof actors and writers.
Holdup a word,picture,or sentence stripthatonlyhalf the classcan see.These studentsmustact
out the information.
The studentswhocan’t see the informationare the writers.Theycanwrite the informationona
mini white boardorin theirnotebooks.
7. Drawing Dictation- a funway to practice vocabularyandlisteningskills
You can use paperor mini-whiteboardsforthisgame,orhave studentssimplydraw intheir
notebooks.
Withmini-whiteboardsyoucouldhave the studentsworkinpairsandpassthe whiteboardbackand
forth.
If each studenthastheirownpiece of papertheycan simplypassthemaroundthe room.
If you are usingnotebooks,youcouldhave the studentsworkingroupsandpass theirnotebooks
aroundthe groupto make it more fun.
Instructions:Decide whatvocabularyyouwanttopractice.Studentsoftenfinditeasierif theyhave
somethingtostartwithto frame theirdrawing.Forexample,if youare practicingbodyparts,you
coulddraw a headand torso.If youare practicingthingsinthe kitchen,youcouldstartwitha square
etc.
Encourage studentstobe creative andhave fun.
Instructions:
1) Draw a nose (make sure youwalkaroundthe roomto assessunderstanding)
Nowstudentspasstheirdrawingtothe nextperson.
2) Draw a mouth
Nowstudentspassthe drawing
Etc.
At the endof the game the drawingisreturnedto the studentwhostartedit.

4. 8. Clap/Don’t Clap
Thisis a great game to getall the studentsparticipatingandcanbe usedtoreview vocabulary,
grammar, phonics,andevencheckcomprehensionforastory.
Students clapwhensomethingiscorrectbut don’tclapwhensomethingiswrong. Iusuallyget
studentstoholdtheirarms openwide whensomethingisincorrectsoit’seasyto check
comprehension.
A) Hold upflashcardsandsay a word.If it iscorrect students clap.
B) Pointtoobjectsinthe classroom.Thiscouldbe usedto practice colours,classroomobjects,etc.
C) Picka categorysuch as animals,foodetc.If the wordis inthe category,studentsclap.
D) To practice phonicsyoucan read variouswords.If the targetsoundis inthe word, the students
clap.If itisn’t,thentheydon’t.
E) You can retell astory.Studentsclapif the sentence istrue,butdon’tclap if itis false.