Game bank

Playground games   Bring me a…

Put various items or pictures of the vocabulary being studied around the
  Circle jump
playground. Say: I want some… shoes. The children run to be the first to bring
Draw two large circles on the ground with chalk. If you are practising colours,
you a shoe. The children who bring the item then sit down, so that others have
you can use coloured chalk; alternatively you can practise vocabulary by
a chance.
placing an object in each circle, e.g. a pencil and a crayon. Call out a word,
and the children run and stand inside the corresponding circle.
  Find my partner
Make photocopies of the flashcards and then cut them in half. Give each child
 Basketball
a half picture. Get them to walk around the space looking for the other half of
Stick coloured pieces of paper onto buckets or wastepaper baskets. Draw a
their picture. Encourage them to say their word when they are showing the
line on the ground in front of them and ask the children to line up behind the
picture. When they pair up they sit down together. At the end each pair shows
line. Give the first child in line a ball and call out a colour. The child tries to
their complete picture and says the word.
throw the ball into the corresponding bucket. Repeat with the next child in line
and continue until all the children have had a turn. You can also play this game
  How many of us?
using flashcards or numbers instead of colours.
Let the children get into groups of various sizes. Then ask them to count how
many of them there are. Give each child in a group a number card (if there are
 Skittles
seven in the group they have the numbers from 1-7). Then ask them to stand
Make skittles from empty plastic bottles and stick a number or colour on each one.
in order according to their numbers.
Place the skittles in a triangle on the ground. Draw a line and ask the children to
line up behind it. The children take turns to roll a ball to try and knock over as many
  Yes or No
skittles as possible. When they succeed, they say the words corresponding to the
Draw a line down the middle of the playground. Explain to the children that one
skittles they knocked over and set the skittles up again ready for the next child in line.
side is Yes and the other is No. Ask a question or make a statement and get the
children to jump to the correct side to show the answer. For example, show a
  Are you hungry, Mr Wolf?
flashcard and say: Is this a…? Or say: Apples are purple.
Give each child a food flashcard, a piece of toy food or a picture of an item of food.
Each item should be repeated several times. Ask the children to stand in a line
 Twister
with their backs to the wall. You be the wolf. Ask them to repeat with you: Are you
Make a twister board in the playground with pictures of vocabulary items. Let
hungry, Mr Wolf? Start walking and ask the children to walk behind you, repeating:
three or four children play at once. Give them instructions such as: A hand on
Are you hungry, Mr Wolf? Each time, answer: No. After they have asked several
an elephant. A foot on a dog.
times, answer: Yes, and I want to eat a (pear)! Try to catch all the children who
have a pear whilst they run back to the start of the game. If they get back before
you have caught them, play again. If you catch a child, they become the wolf.

17

ES0000000039148 737464_Intro_65721.indd 17 27/06/2017 15:16:00

   Circle game
Story card activities Ask the children to sit in a circle and choose one child to sit in the middle.
  Find the story card Show the other children a small object, e.g. a toy car, and tell them to pass it,
Put two story cards on the board. Say: Show me (George with a red crayon)! unseen, behind their backs while you play some music. When you stop the
Alternatively, describe the scene: I can see George with a red crayon. The music, the child in the middle tries to guess who is holding the object. When
children point to the correct story card. they guess correctly, the child who was holding the object sits in the middle.

  Make a story book  Collect

Photocopy the story cards and staple them together to make a story book. Stick coloured pieces of paper onto buckets or wastepaper baskets. Ask the
children to find objects of the corresponding colours in the classroom and put
  Order the story cards them in the buckets. You can also play this game using numbers instead of
Put the story cards in random order on the floor. The children work together colours. You can also give the children the objects so they categorise them.
to put them in order.
  Trace and guess
  Act it out Put the children into pairs. Have one partner in each pair close their eyes.
Put the children into groups and assign roles. The children practise together. Show the other partners a number or a shape. These children then trace the
Allow volunteer groups to act out their story for the class. They can use the shape of the number or shape on their partner’s back. The partner tries
story audio or improvise their own dialogue. to guess what it is.

Hands-on activities Musical activities

  What colour is it?  Transitions
Hold up coloured objects in random order. Ask: What colour is it? The class or Use songs to time events in class, e.g. when the children are tidying up.
volunteers call out the correct colour. Repeat, allowing volunteers to hold up They must finish the activity and be in their places by the time the song ends!
the objects and ask the question.
 Actions
  What’s in the bag? Teach the children a sequence of actions to correspond
Ask the children to sit in a circle. Show the children a small selection of objects with a song. Sing the song together and do the actions.
and name them. Then take the objects away and put one into a bag without Alternatively, you can let them invent their
letting the children see. Ask: What’s in the bag? Let the children guess. When own actions for the song.
they guess correctly, choose a volunteer to take your place and put another
object in the bag for the class to guess. Leading on from this, you can play   Answer back
some music and pass the bag around the circle. When you stop the music, Divide the class into two groups. Ask them
the child holding the bag opens it and looks inside, but doesn’t take the object to sing alternate lines of a song. This can
out. The rest of the class try to guess the object. Repeat until the children also work with three or more groups.
have guessed all the objects.

18

ES0000000039148 737464_Intro_65721.indd 18 27/06/2017 15:16:01

  Match
Put a selection of classroom vocabulary flashcards on the board. Go through
the words with the children, then point to a flashcard and ask a volunteer to bring
  Clap the rhythm you the real object from the classroom. Encourage the child to say the word as
Read out a line from a song. Repeat with the children they hand you the object. Repeat with the other flashcards. This game also works
and encourage them to clap in time with each syllable. with other groups of words that the children can find in the classroom, e.g. toys.
Then clap the rhythm without the words. You can either
sing part of the line and clap the rest or clap whole lines.   Funny voices
Alternatively, divide the class into two groups, one to sing Show a selection of flashcards and say the words in a funny voice for the
the song and the other to clap the rhythm. children to repeat. The voice could match the object being shown, e.g. a
squeaky mouse voice or a gruff dog voice. You can also let volunteers invent
  Musical statues voices for the rest of the class to repeat.
Play songs from the course and ask the children to dance. When you stop
the music, the children freeze.   Mime it!
Look at a flashcard without letting the children see it. Act it out using mime
  Funny voices for the children to guess. When the children guess, choose a volunteer to mime
Read or sing the lines of a song with funny voices and gestures, encouraging the word on the next flashcard.
the children to join in. You can impersonate an animal, a story character or a
person as you sing.   Give me a clue
Hold a flashcard over a volunteer’s head so that the class can see it, but the
volunteer can’t. Ask the children to mime the word for the volunteer to guess.
Flashcard games
Repeat with different volunteers.
  Flashcard dash
Stick a selection of flashcards on the classroom walls. Stand with all the   Repeating game
children in the middle of the space and review the vocabulary. Tell the children Put a selection of flashcards on the board and review the vocabulary. Point to
to listen carefully and call out one of the words. The children run to the correct a flashcard and say a word. If the word is correct, the children repeat it. If not,
flashcard. they stay silent.

  Chinese whispers   Bring me a…

Place a selection of flashcards on the floor and review the vocabulary. Ask the Put a selection of flashcards on the floor. Use the Amanda Panda puppet to ask
children to sit in two lines. Whisper one of the words to the two children at the a volunteer to bring her one of the flashcards. Repeat until all the children have
back of each line. The children whisper in their neighbour’s ear and pass the had a turn.
message on until it reaches the two children at the front of the line. When they
receive the message they go to the flashcards and choose the correct word.   Disappearing cards
Repeat the game, changing the order of the lines. This can be done with two Put a selection of flashcards in a line on the floor. The children name them in
different words or by whispering the same word to each line. order. When they can do this easily, start to turn the flashcards over so that the
children have to remember the sequence.

19

ES0000000039148 737464_Intro_65721.indd 19 27/06/2017 15:16:03

   Help the teacher  Categories
Hold a set of flashcards in front of your face, stacked like a pack of playing Draw three big circles on the board. Each one represents a theme, e.g. family,
cards, so that the children can see the first one but you can’t. Try to guess colours and numbers. Put the corresponding groups of flashcards in a pile.
the first flashcard: Is it a (ball)? The children answer Yes or No depending on Show the children a flashcard, ask them to name it and then stick it in the
whether you guess correctly or not. correct circle. Once the children are more confident you can ask individual
volunteers to name and stick the flashcards in the correct circle.
  Look at my beautiful…
Put a flashcard under the Amanda Panda puppet’s arm and say in Amanda’s   Amanda guesses
voice: Look at my beautiful… Show the children the picture and ask them to Put the objects or the flashcards on the floor. Ask a child to choose a flashcard.
finish the sentence in Amanda’s voice. Encourage the children to take part Have the Amanda Panda puppet turn away whilst the child chooses. When the
saying the words in Amanda’s voice. child is ready, Amanda tries to guess which flashcard the child has chosen:
Is it the…? The children respond: Yes or No.
  Move please, Amanda!
Place a flashcard on the floor with the Amanda Panda puppet partially obscuring   Watch my lips
the picture. Say: Can you move please, Amanda? Move Amanda off the flashcard Show a small selection of flashcards. Mouth a word without making any noise.
little by little and ask: What is it? Is it a (car)? The children guess the flashcard. The children watch your lips and guess the word.

  Moving cards   Wave to mummy

Show a small selection of flashcards and then turn them over. Mix them up. Stick a set of flashcards on the classroom walls. Say: Wave to (grandad),
Point to one of them. The children try to remember the flashcard. Turn the encouraging the children to take part in the actions. Then say: Blow a kiss to
flashcard over to see if they were correct. (mummy), encouraging the children to take part. You can also mix the actions
and say: Wave to (mummy), blow a kiss to (baby).
  Number memory
Put the number flashcards (1-5) in a line. Show five other flashcards and lay   Which one?
them face down, putting one under each number. Point to each number and Put a set of flashcards face down on the floor. Say: Where’s the (pencil)?
see if the children can remember the corresponding flashcards. Ask a child and give him/her the Amanda Panda puppet to hold. Help him/her
to find the pencil turning over the flashcards one by one.
 Remember!
Show a selection of flashcards. Point to one and ask a child to name it and then   Flashcard hunt
turn it over. When all the flashcards are face down, point to each one in turn and Place flashcards from several different categories on the floor. Divide the
see if the children can remember the words. Use the Amanda Panda puppet to children into groups and assign each group a flashcard category. The children
have a look to check and turn the flashcard over when they get it right. find the flashcards from their category. When they have finished, call the
groups forward and ask them to name and show the class the flashcards they
  Same or different? have found.
Put the flashcards face down on the floor. Ask a child to place a classroom
object on top of one of the flashcards. The child helps the Amanda Panda
puppet to turn it over. If the flashcard matches the object, Amanda puts them
to one side. If not, the child replaces the flashcard face down on the floor.

20

ES0000000039148 737464_Intro_65721.indd 20 27/06/2017 15:16:04