Summary: 

Kick the “ah, um” habit and avoid these words in natural
conversation.

Goal: Avoid saying the taboo words “Ah”, “Um”, “Like”, or “You

Know”.

Preparation:
- List of topic ideas 
- Timer/watch

How to Play The Ah, Um Game:

1. Separate everyone into groups of about three or four. A person
must talk to their group about a certain topic for one full minute
without saying the following taboo words: “Ah”, “Um”, “Like”, or “You
Know”. If the person does not say the taboo words in the round, then
the person can move to the second round. If they accidentally say a
taboo word, then it'll be the next person's turn.

2. Have one person in each group volunteer to be first. Use the

timer/watch to track a minute and announce one of the topics listed
below.

3. Afterwards, have a different person from each team volunteer to

go next and repeat the same exercise as above. The people who
avoid saying the taboo words are the winners of the game.

List of Topic Ideas:

-Favorite Movie
-Favorite Animal
-Best Gift
-Favorite TV Show
-What did you do last week?
-Summer Activities
-Birthday Party
-What would you do with $10,000?
-What do you want to be when you grow up?
-What is your favorite activity?
-What is your favorite dessert?

Summary: Trace the letter on your partner's back and have them

guess the secret letter!

Goal: The group to correctly guess the most letters wins the game.

1
Preparation:
- Pen and paper

How to Play The Alphabet Back Game:

1. Split everyone into pairs. Ask one volunteer from each group
comes up to the front. 

2. Secretly write down a letter on the piece of paper and show the
letter to the volunteers. The volunteers are not allowed to speak, say
the letter, or give any hints to their partners.

3. When you say “go”, the volunteer traces the letter on the back of
their partner using only their finger. 

4. If the partner figures out the letter, the partner must raise his/her
hand and share what he/she thinks the letter is. If the letter is correct,
the pair receives one point. If the letter is incorrect, the game
continues until one pair guesses the letter correctly. The group with
the most points wins the game.

Variation:
For middle school aged kids, you can write down three or four letter
words instead of one letter. The partners will then try to guess each
letter written on their backs in sequence, and then combine all the
letters to form the secret word. Whoever correctly guesses the word
wins a point for their team.

Summary: Sample baby food and guess what flavor is in each jar!

Goal: To have the most correct guesses for your team.

Preparation:
- Baby food in jars, with labels removed from jars. Mark each jar "1",
"2", etc. with a permanent marker.
- Answer key (remember to record what flavor is in each jar!)
- Pen and paper for each team 
- Toothpicks for sampling 

How to Play the Baby Food Guessing Game:

1. Split everyone into teams of three or four and arrange each team
into a circle. Hand everyone a pen, paper, a bunch of toothpicks, and

2
a marked jar of baby food.

2. When you say "go", each team tries to identify the baby food
flavor by looking, smelling, and tasting the food. Have each team
record their guesses on the piece of paper.

3. After everyone writes their answer, have the teams hand their
baby food jar to the team to their right. Do the same thing until all the
teams have sampled all of the baby food jars.

4. Finally, reveal the flavors of each baby food jar. The team with
the most correct answers wins the game.

Summary: Test each teams' knowledge of the opposite gender-

sports, fashion and more!

Goal: The team with the most correct answers wins the game.

Preparation:
- Download the Powerpoint
- Projector
- Laptop
- Cables
- Pen/Paper for each team

How to Play the Battle of the Sexes Game:

1. Set the laptop to project on a screen. Separate everyone into
two teams (men vs. women) and provide each team with paper and
pens. Open the Powerpoint and let the teams know that their goal is
to get as many correct answers as they can. Each correct answer is
worth one point.

2. There are 15 questions in the Powerpoint. Go through each slide

one by one. The answers will appear at the end of the slide 

3. The team with the most points wins the game.

ummary: Who has the The Highest... Jump? The Fastest... Crab
walk? This game showcases hidden and incredibly random talents

3
and skills. Fun group game, especially for groups getting to know one
another.

Goal: Win the category points for your team.

Preparation:
- The organizer will have to emcee for this game
- Download and print the List (make sure to provide objects listed as
well) 

How to Play The Best Game:

1. Arrange everyone into groups of 4 or 5. Everyone has to
participate in at least one round. Explain the rules: You will be
announcing a contest category for the group (for example, “The
Tallest”). Each group needs to select one person who they think will
win the category. There'll be a category contest and if a person has
"the best" within the category, his or her team gets a point. 

2. Each group needs to select one person from their group who
they think will win the category.

3. Reveal the specific action or measurement the selected people

have to do to win the contest (example: Whoever has the “The
Tallest” thumb). The person with the best action or measurement
wins a point for their team. The team with the most points wins the
game.

Summary: Great creative group game- See whose team can build

the highest tower using newspapers!

Goal: Build the highest newspaper tower as possible.

Preparation:
- At least 4 - 5 stacks of newspapers
- 5 rolls of masking tape
- Measuring tape

How to Play The Build Tower Game:

1. Split everyone into teams of five. Hand each group a stack of
newspapers and a roll of masking tape.

4
2.Explain the game: The object of the game is to build the highest
newspaper tower, using only the newspaper and masking tape. The
teams will be given a couple of minutes to strategize.

3. Give the groups about 15 minutes or more. Measure how high

each team’s newspaper tower is. The team with the highest tower
wins the game.

Variation:
- Instead of building the highest tower, ask teams to build the
strongest bridge using masking tape and newspapers. For this, you’ll
need to have about a dozen pop cans. At the end, place pop cans
one by one on top of the bridge. The team whose bridge can hold the
most pop cans wins the game.

Special Rule: A pop can must be able to roll through the base of the
bridge.

ummary: Use your decorating skills in this fun activity! Good game

for bridal showers and large groups.

Goal: Decorate and present the best-looking cake.

Preparation:
- You’ll need to bake and bring 5 to 6 cakes before the challenge
(boxed mix cakes are recommended!)
- Tables for people to decorate their cakes
- White frosting (buy 5 tubs or make your own), lots of candy, food
dye, plastic spoons, forks, knives
- Volunteer judges
- Decide on a “secret theme”: Animals, Sports, School,
Holidays/Seasons, Places, etc.
- Download and print the judges' scoresheet

How to Play the Cake Decorating Challenge Game:

1. Separate everyone into teams of five. Explain the game: Each
team gets one cake. They need to decorate the cake based on the
secret theme. Whoever has the best looking cake wins the game.
Reveal the "secret theme".

2. After decorating their cakes, everyone must briefly present their

cakes to the judges.

5
3. Judges base their score on creativity, how close the cake is
related to the theme, teamwork, and presentation. The team with the
most points wins the game.

Variation:

- You can play a similar game with cupcakes. Each person gets a
cupcake, and each team will have to use their creativity to create the
best-looking cupcakes.

*Size of group can vary, but five people in a team is optimal

Summary: Show off your acting skills. Little preparation for a fun

game. Easy word list provided, ready to print.

Goal: Try to guess or act the secret word or phrase. Whoever has

the most points wins the game.

Preparation:
- Download and print the word list (Theme: Movies)

How to Play Charades:

1. Separate everyone into teams of about four*. Ask one volunteer
from each team come up. The volunteers are not allowed to talk
during the game, and aren’t allowed to motion any letters or
numbers.

2. Show the volunteers only the first word/phrase. When you say
“Go”, the volunteers need to start acting the word/phrase or other
hints and help the team guess the word. The first team that raises
their hand and guesses the object correctly wins one point for their
team.

3. Go through the list of words with new volunteers. The first team
to reach 10 points wins the game.

*You can adjust the number of people within each group as you wish.

Summary: Show off your acting skills. Little preparation for a fun

game. Easy word list provided, ready to print.

6
Goal: Try to guess or act the secret word or phrase. Whoever has
the most points wins the game.

Preparation:
- Download and print the word list (Theme: Movies)

How to Play Charades:

1. Separate everyone into teams of about four*. Ask one volunteer
from each team come up. The volunteers are not allowed to talk
during the game, and aren’t allowed to motion any letters or
numbers.

2. Show the volunteers only the first word/phrase. When you say
“Go”, the volunteers need to start acting the word/phrase or other
hints and help the team guess the word. The first team that raises
their hand and guesses the object correctly wins one point for their
team.

3. Go through the list of words with new volunteers. The first team
to reach 10 points wins the game.

*You can adjust the number of people within each group as you wish.

Summary: Test your corporate slogan & tagline knowledge now!

Goal: Guess the company tagline- the team with the most correct
answers wins the game!

Preparation:
- Download the Powerpoint
- Projector
- Laptop
- Cables
- Pen/Paper for each team

How to Play the Company Slogan & Tagline Game:

1. Set the laptop to project on a screen. Separate everyone into
two teams and provide each team with paper and pens. Open the
Powerpoint and let the teams know that their goal is to write down the
names of the company associated with each tagline. Each correct
answer is worth one point.

7
2. There are 25 company slogans & taglines in the Powerpoint. Go
through each slide one by one (the answer will appear as you go
through each slide). 

3. The team with the most points wins the game.

ummary: Fun icebreaker game for groups who know each other well.

Goal: Have the most answers chosen by the dating panel.

Preparation:
- Download and print the worksheets (one per team) 

How to Play The Dating Game:

1. You’ll need 3 volunteers to sit up at the front. Arrange everyone
else into teams of five. Hand each team a worksheet and ask them to
fill it out as a team, with answers that best entice the volunteers. 

2. Select one of the volunteers to be first. Ask a question to the

volunteer and have each team say their answer. Once all of the
answers have been given, the selected volunteer will award a point to
the team whose answer the volunteer likes the best.

3. The second volunteer will be next. Ask another question to the

entire group. Repeat rules 2-4, and rotate throughout all the
questions with all the volunteers. The team with the most points wins.

Summary: Fool other teams into choosing your team’s definition.

Goal: Get the most points by choosing the correct definition or

fooling the other team into choosing your definition.

Preparation:
- You’ll need a pen/paper for each group
- Download and print aoubt 4 to 7 team worksheets. Print out the key
worksheet for yourself.

How to Play The Dictionary Game:

1. Split everyone into groups of 3. Pass out the worksheets (one per
team). Each team will need to create definitions for each word. The

8
object is to create the most dictionary-sounding definition, even if you
don’t know what the word means. After about five or six minutes,
collect all of the worksheets.

2. Read the first word aloud. Read all of the team’s definition for the
word, including the correct word definition. Each team has to choose
which definition they believe is correct.

3. If the team picks the right definition, they get 1 point. If a team’s
definition gets chosen by other teams, the team with the definition will
get 2 points for every team they fool. Continue with the rest of the
words. The team with the most points wins the game.

Summary: Tape your teammate on a wall using duct tape!

Goal: To tape your teammate on the wall and leave them hanging for
one full minute.

Preparation:
- 10 rolls of heavy duty duct tape (depends on how many teams are
playing- usually 3 per team) 
- Bare walls or trees (be careful- the duct tape might damage the wall
paint!) 
- Chairs
- Timer or watch

How to Play the Duct Tape Game:

1. Split everyone into teams of 6 or 7 and evenly distribute the rolls
of duct tape to each team. 

2. Explain the game: Each team has five minutes to tape a

teammate on the wall or tree. Afterwards, if the person is able to
remain on the wall or tree without any help, the team wins.

3. Have each team select one person from their group to be taped
on the wall or tree. Have the volunteers stand on a chair against the
wall or tree. Start the game.

9
4. Time the groups for five minutes. Then, remove the chairs from
the volunteers and see if they are able to remain on the wall or tree
for a minute. If the person does, then his or her team wins the game.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Different Variation:

Summary: Stick as many paper balls on your teammate as you can!

Goal: To get the most points as possible.

Preparation:
- 8 rolls of heavy duty duct tape (depends on how many teams are
playing- usually 2 per team) 
- Colored paper (one color set per team)
- A judge per team 
- Scissors

1. Split everyone into 4 different teams and evenly distribute rolls of

duct tape to each team. Give each team a pack of colored paper (one
color per team). 

2. Explain the rules: Each team has 10 minutes to wrap a person

with duct tape, with the sticky side out. After 10 minutes, each
wrapped person stands in a line 7 or 8 feet away from the group and
must stand absolutely still. The goal is to stick as many paper balls
on them as possible. If there's another team's colored paper on the
person, then the team loses one point per "other colored paper ball".

3. Have each team select one person from their group to be taped.
Start the game.

4. Time the groups for ten minutes. Then, arrange each wrapped
person to stand in a line. Mark a boundary where everyone else can
throw colored balls at the person. Everyone can throw colored balls
at any person for five minutes. If a paper ball sticks at any time
(determined by the judge), then it counts as a point for or against the
team. At the end of five minutes, tally the points. The team with the
most points wins the game.

10
Summary: Brainstorm, plan, and protect your eggs from being
smashed.

Goal: Protect the egg from being cracked or broken.

Preparation:
- A carton of eggs
- 1 bag of cotton
- 1 newspaper
- String
- Tape
- 1 roll of toilet paper
- Plastic trash bags

Split all materials evenly, to be distributed to each team.

How to Play the Egg Drop Game:

1. Arrange everyone into groups of about 4. Give each team a
couple of minutes to plan how to best protect their egg (they cannot
touch any materials or eggs).

2. Evenly distribute the materials to all the groups before the game.
Give each team about five minutes to their protect their eggs using
the provided materials.

3. Afterwards, give the tallest person in the room all of the eggs.
Lay out the plastic trash bags on the floor. The tallest person will lift
each team’s egg as high as he/she can over the trash bags, and let
go of the egg. The team(s) whose egg doesn’t crack or break wins
the game.

Summary: Squeeze your teammate's hand as quickly as possible-

only if the coin comes up as heads!

Goal: Be the first team to grab the object, if the quarter comes up as
heads.

Preparation:
- A quarter
- An object for teams to grab (ball, stuffed animal, water bottle, etc.) 

How to Play Electricity:

11
1. Arrange everyone into two equally numbered teams. Have both
teams line up in parallel lines. At the end of the line, place the object
about five feet away (in equal distance from both ends of the line).
You’ll be at the head of the line. 

2. Explain the rules: Everyone in line will need to hold hands and
close their eyes. Only the first person of both lines can open their
eyes. Flip the coin in the air, catch it, and reveal the quarter to the
first person of both teams.

3. If the quarter comes up as “heads”, the first person squeezes the
next person’s hand. The second person squeezes the next person’s
hand, and so forth. At the end of the line, the last person runs to grab
the object. The team that grabs the object first wins a point for the
round. If the quarter comes up as “tails”, then no one squeezes
anyone’s hand. If there’s an “accidental” hand squeeze and the
quarter comes up as “tails”, the team that grabbed the object loses a
point for the round.

4. For the second round, the first person goes to the back of the line
and the game continues. The first team that reaches 10 points wins
the game.

Summary: Classic easy to play card game- similar to slap jack, but

with a twist!

Goal: Collect all the cards in your hand.

Preparation:
- Deck of cards

How to Play Egyptian War:

1. Shuffle and deal the cards out to all players. The players must
keep their cards face down, in hand. Egyptian War is played
clockwise from the dealer. 

2. The player left of the dealer (we’ll call the person Player A) goes
first by flipping his/her card face up in the middle of the table. 

There are two basic scenarios:

12
- If the card reveals a number from 2 – 10, nothing happens. The
next person to the left (Player B) flips his/her card, and the game
continues on. 
- If Player A flips a royal card (Jack, Queen, King, or Ace), then
Player B has a certain number of chances to flip over a royal card:

Royal Cards
Jack- One Chance to flip a royal card
Queen- Two Chances to flip a royal card
King- Three Chances to flip a royal card
Ace- Four Chances to flip a royal card

Example: If Player A reveals a King, then Player B has to flip three

cards to try to reveal a royal card. If Player B flips a royal card within
his/her chances, then the next player has a certain number of
chances to flip a royal card.

If a player does not flip over a royal card within his/her chances, then
the previous player who had the royal card collects the middle card
pile. The game resumes again with the collector flipping his/her card.

3. If a player flips a royal card, the same thing occurs from Step 2
with the next players. The game is played clockwise, until one person
has all of the cards and is the ultimate winner.

Variation:
- Many people play with “sandwiches”. In this case, if the cards 4, 7,
4 are flipped, the first person to slap the middle cards wins the pile.
(Other examples include King Queen King, 3 8 3, etc.)

Summary: Classic easy to play card game- similar to slap jack, but

with a twist!

Goal: Collect all the cards in your hand.

Preparation:
- Deck of cards

How to Play Egyptian War:

1. Shuffle and deal the cards out to all players. The players must
keep their cards face down, in hand. Egyptian War is played
clockwise from the dealer. 

13
2. The player left of the dealer (we’ll call the person Player A) goes
first by flipping his/her card face up in the middle of the table. 

There are two basic scenarios:

- If the card reveals a number from 2 – 10, nothing happens. The
next person to the left (Player B) flips his/her card, and the game
continues on. 
- If Player A flips a royal card (Jack, Queen, King, or Ace), then
Player B has a certain number of chances to flip over a royal card:

Royal Cards
Jack- One Chance to flip a royal card
Queen- Two Chances to flip a royal card
King- Three Chances to flip a royal card
Ace- Four Chances to flip a royal card

Example: If Player A reveals a King, then Player B has to flip three

cards to try to reveal a royal card. If Player B flips a royal card within
his/her chances, then the next player has a certain number of
chances to flip a royal card.

If a player does not flip over a royal card within his/her chances, then
the previous player who had the royal card collects the middle card
pile. The game resumes again with the collector flipping his/her card.

3. If a player flips a royal card, the same thing occurs from Step 2
with the next players. The game is played clockwise, until one person
has all of the cards and is the ultimate winner.

Variation:
- Many people play with “sandwiches”. In this case, if the cards 4, 7,
4 are flipped, the first person to slap the middle cards wins the pile.
(Other examples include King Queen King, 3 8 3, etc.)

Summary: Fun-filled word and memory game- Charades, Taboo and

Password combined! Little preparation required.

Goal: The team with the most points wins the game.

Preparation:
- Pens
- Paper (3 pieces of paper for each person playing) 
- A container to hold the pieces of paper

14
- Timer 

How to Play Fishbowl:

1. Separate everyone into two equal teams (Team A and Team B).
Have each person take three pieces of paper and write any word or
familiar short phrase on each piece of paper. Have each person fold
their pieces of paper in half and put them into the container. There
are three rounds in Fishbowl: 1) Taboo 2) Password 3) Charades. 

2. Round 1: Taboo
Team A needs to select someone to go first, while Team B needs a
volunteer to watch the timer (set at one minute). The person from
Team A will grab a piece of paper from the container and try to have
his/her teammates guess the word on the paper using only use
words and sentences as hints, without using any motions, "sounds
like...", or spelling hints. (For example, if the word is "ribs", the person
can say "baby back ___"). The person tries to have their team guess
as many words as they can within one minute. The teams will need to
remember the guessed words/phrases for subsequent rounds.

If the team is unable to guess the word/phrase, the person has the
option to "pass", puts the word/phrase back into the container and
continues with a new word/phrase. The person can only pass once
during his/her one minute.

After one minute, Team A counts the number of successfully

guessed words/phrases. Each guessed word/phrase counts as one
point. Team B is next, and selects a volunteer from their team to
start. A person from Team A will watch the timer, to be set at one
minute. This alternating process continues until all of the words from
the container run out. When the words run out, place all the
words/phrases back into the container for the second round.

3. Round 2: Password
With the same style as the first round, the next team will select
someone to go first, with the other team sets the timer for one
minute. However, in this round, the person can use only one word as
a hint for their team to guess. (For example, if the word is "ribs", the
person can say the word "bone"). The team needs to recall the
words/phrases in the previous round. Once all the words in the
container runs out, place all the words back into the container for the
third round.

15
4. Round 3: Charades
In this final round, the person needs to act and use motions as hints
for their team to guess the word/phrase. (For example, if the word is
"ribs", the person can point to their rib cage). When all the words run
out, tally all the points. The team with the most points wins the game.

Summary: Great bonding activity for adults. Create a 2-course meal

with the secret ingredient.

Goal: Create and present the best-tasting/looking 2-course meal

using the secret ingredient.

Preparation:
- This game can only be played when there’s a nearby local grocery
store
- You’ll need a large gathering place with at least 2 - 3 stoves and at
least 2 -3 ovens available
- Notify everyone in advance that they need to bring $3.00
- Determine three designated judges
- Choose, buy and provide a “secret ingredient” for the group to use.
Examples of “secret ingredients” include: Ketchup, rice, corn,
mustard, etc.
- Download and print the downloadable Judges' Scorecard and Rules

* Be aware of any food allergies for the judges and game participants

How to Play the Food Challenge Cook-Off Game:

1. Split everyone into groups of 6* (make sure each group has
access to a driver and car). Hand each team the Rules Worksheet.

2. Each group needs to cook and create 2 different dishes using

the secret ingredient. All groups will have 1 hour and 30 minutes to
go out to a nearby grocery store, buy ingredients, return to the
gathering place, and cook a 2-course meal for all three judges. The
“secret ingredient” will be already provided.

3. Each group needs to save their grocery store receipt to show the
judges. The group who spends the least amount (total cost divided by
number of people) gets 5 additional points. The first group that
returns from the grocery store will receive 5 additional points.

16
4. Give the Judges Scorecard to the judges. Once the meals are
done and plated, each group briefly present their meals to the judges.
The judges will taste and judge each dish based on taste, use of the
“secret ingredient”, originality, oral and visual presentation, and
overall teamwork. Calculate the score. The team with the most points
wins the game.

*You can adjust the number of people in each group as you wish.

Summary: Fun strategic memory game for medium to large groups.

Great for teenagers to adults!

Goal: Try to get four of your teammates on the couch!

Preparation:
- Four marked chairs or a "couch" that can fit four people. Four
people must sit on the couch at the beginning of the game. Everyone
else can sit on the ground in a circle or in unmarked chairs, with the
outer circle boundary including the four special chairs/"couch".
- One piece of paper for every participant and pens
- A bag to collect the pieces of paper

How to Play Four On A Couch:

1. Split everyone into two equal teams and ask them to sit in a
circle. Add one empty seat in the circle. When starting, each
participant needs to sit next to his/her opponent on both sides
(alternating team members), including the four people on the "couch".
Hand out the pieces of paper and pens (one per person). Ask
everyone to write their names on their piece of paper and to put their
pieces of paper in the bag.

2. After this, pass around the bag and ask everyone to draw one
piece of paper with someone else's name on it. Each person should
read their own piece of paper without letting anyone else know what
his or her paper says. 

3. Explain that the goal of the game is to get four of their teammates
on the couch. The person on the right of empty chair/spot calls the
name of a game participant. The person whose piece of paper has
the called name sits in the empty chair. Whoever sits on the right of
the new empty chair calls out another name.

17
4. Start by asking the person to the right of the empty chair to call a
name. The person with the piece of paper with the written name sits
in the empty chair. Continue this pattern. The first team to have four
of their members on the couch wins the game.

Summary: Good icebreaker game, especially for kids. Easy to learn

and play, with little preparation.

Goal: Avoid being left in the middle of the circle.

Preparation:
- Chairs (one chair per person) 

How to Play Fruit Salad:

1.Have everyone sit in a chair, arranged in a circle facing inwards.
Select one person to be in the middle and remove his or her chair
from the circle.

2. Explain the rules: The person in the middle needs to say

something that applies to at least 2 people in the circle. For example,
“Anyone who has a pet”, “Anyone who is wearing jeans”, “Anyone
who has a brother or sister”, “Anyone wearing the color purple”. If the
person’s statement applies to someone sitting in the circle, that
person has to move from his or her seat and sit in a different chair. If
the person says "Fruit Salad", then everyone needs to move to a
different chair.

3. The person in the middle tries to sit down. There'll be one person
left without a chair- this person will be the next person in the middle
of the circle. The standing person starts a new round by saying a
different statement.

Note: People cannot move to seats on their immediate left or right.

For example, a person is allowed sit two seats away, but they cannot
move to the left or right of their current chairs.

Summary: Show off your acting skills, Halloween-styled! Easy word

list provided, ready to print.

Goal: Try to guess or act the secret word or phrase. Whoever has

the most points wins the game.

18
Preparation:
- Download and print the Halloween word list

How to Play Halloween Charades:

1. Separate everyone into teams of about four*. Ask one volunteer
from each team come up. The volunteers are not allowed to talk
during the game, and aren’t allowed to motion any letters or
numbers.

2. Show the volunteers only the first word/phrase. When you say
“Go”, the volunteers need to start acting the word/phrase or other
hints and help the team guess the word. The first team that raises
their hand and guesses the object correctly wins one point for their
team.

3. Go through the list of words with new volunteers. The first team
to reach 10 points wins the game.

*You can adjust the number of people within each group as you wish.

Summary: Funny icebreaker game, especially for larger groups.

Easy to learn and play, with little preparation.

Goal: To have the player at the end of the line do best imitation of
the original action.

Preparation:
- Print the list of actions below and plan what your actions will be
- You'll be the moderator and judge 

How to Play the Halloween Telephone Charades Game:

1. Split everyone into teams of five or more (can have teams of up
to 10 people each). Ask each team to stand in a line.

2. Explain the game: You (the moderator) will be showing an action

scene to the person at the front of the line, with no words or sounds.
Everyone else will have their backs turned to you, except for the
person at the front.

19
3. Once the person understands the action scene as best as he/she
can, he or she taps the shoulder of the next person in line. The next
person turns around, and the person imitates your action scene to
that person, with no words or sounds. Once he or she understands
and remembers the action scene, he or she taps the shoulder of the
next person, and so forth. An action scene can be continually
repeated until the person understands the action scene.

4. The last person in the line is eventually reached. You will judge
who has the most accurate action scene to what you did originally.
The team with the most accurate action scene will get one point. The
team with the most points wins the game.

List of Actions:
1. Get a bedsheet, cut out two eyes, dress up as a ghost, get your
candy pail and knock on the door. 
2. Drive in a car, start noticing fur on your body, get out of the car and
howl at the moon 
3. Walk down the stairs to the basement, turn on a large electrical
switch, and make Frankenstein come alive

Summary: A great icebreaker game, especially for newcomers.

Goal: Find out as much information as you can about another

person.

Preparation:
- Download and print the Interview Questions 
- Provide enough pens/pencils for at least half the people
participating
- Timer or Watch

How to Play the Interview Game:

1. Split everyone into pairs. Distribute the list of questions and
pens/pencils to one person in each pair.

2. The person with the paper will be given five minutes to ask as
many questions as they can about their partner based on the
questions on the list, without showing their partner the questions. The
questions may be asked in any order. After five minutes, have
everyone stop asking questions.

20
3. Announce how the points are distributed (in the Interview Game
Points download, the highlighted questions are worth three points,
while the unhighlighted questions are worth one point). Have each
person calculate the number of points they received. Whoever has
the most points wins the game.

21
Summary: Work as a team to display the numbers as quickly as
possible.

Goal: Fool other teams into choosing your team’s definition.

Preparation:
- Download the worksheet and print the list
- Print the set of numbers (one set of numbers per team)

How to Play The Number Game:

1. Arrange everyone into teams of 6. Hand each team a set of
numbers and ask everyone to take a number. Have the team elect
one person to be the leader of the team.

2. The goal of the game is to be the first team to rearrange

themselves to the number that you call. The leaders can help
rearrange them to their appropriate positions. Once the team
rearranges themselves, they have to raise their hands and stand in
place.

3. The first team to arrange themselves correctly receives one

point. The team that reaches 10 points wins the game.

Summary: Guess the secret word or phrase using only your

teammate's drawing.

Goal: To guess the secret word through your teammate’s drawing.

Preparation:
- Download and print the List
- White board and pen OR paper and pen *If you are using paper and
pen, you’ll need to distribute pieces of paper/pens to all the teams

How to Play Picture Guess:

1. Separate everyone into teams of 4. Have one volunteer from
each team come up to be the first round of drawers. The drawers are
not allowed to talk or motion during the game, or draw symbols,
numbers, or letters.

2. Show the volunteers only the first word. Have the volunteers
walk back to their teams. When you say “Go”, the volunteers can

22
start drawing the object on the whiteboard/piece of paper. The first
team that raises their hand and guesses the object correctly wins one
point for their team.

3. Ask for another volunteer from each team to come up to draw.

The volunteers will evenly rotate in the same order, until the words
are done. The first team to reach 10 points wins the game.

Summary: Use your design skills and create the best looking

pumpkin!

Goal: Carve and present the best looking and most creative

pumpkin.

Preparation:
- You’ll need to bake and bring 5 to 6 large pumpkins for the
challenge 
- Tables for people to carve pumpkins
- Carving utensils: Carving knives
- Design utensils: Pencils/pens, paper and pushpins 
- Cleaning utensils: Ladles or metal spoons, newspapers, bowls, and
trashbags
- Decide on a “secret theme”: Superheros, Ghosts, Sports, Villans,
Cartoons 
- Download and print the judges' scoresheet
- Volunteer judges 

How to Play the Pumpkin Carving Contest Game:

1. Separate everyone into teams of five. Explain the game: Each
team gets one pumpkin. They need to cut out a circle on top of the
pumpkin with the stem in the center, pull out the seeds and "goo",
and carve a pumpkin based on the secret theme. Whoever has the
best looking pumpkin and presentation wins the game. Reveal the
"secret theme". Teams cannot use premade designs, but can draw
on the provided paper and place the paper on the pumpkins using
the pushpins.

2. After cleaning and carving their pumpkins, everyone must briefly

present their pumpkin to the judges.

23
3. Judges base their score on creativity, how close the pumpkin is
related to the theme, teamwork, and presentation. The team with the
most points wins the game.

Optional: You can light candles and and place them in the center of
the pumpkins for a cool jack 'o lantern effect. Also, you can use the
teams' seeds and roast them in the oven with oil, salt and pepper.

*Size of group can vary, but five people in a team is optimal

Summary: Brainstorm, plan, and build a rocket with your team-

without instructions! Great educational / critical thinking /
brainstorming / teamwork game for high schoolers and adults.

Goal: Be the first team to launch a rocket from one side of the room
and back.

Preparation:
-Long balloon- A couple of balloons for each team
-String- At least 3x the length of the room for each team
-Clothespins- One for each team
-Straw- One for each team 
-Scissors- One for each team 
-Tape- One for each team

Split all materials evenly, to be distributed to each team.

How to Play the Rocket Experiment Game:

1. Arrange everyone into groups of about 4. Explain that you are
providing a set of items to each team. Their goal is to figure out how
to deliver a rocket from one side of the room and back. The teams
cannot drag the rocket with their hands- they must remain on one
side of the room when launching their rocket. Tell them that they
have 35 minutes until they have to build and launch their rocket. 

2. The correct way to build their rocket can be found

here:http://www.thinkingfountain.org/r/rocket/rocket.html . To deliver
the rocket back, the students must tape string to the balloon and drag
it back to their side. The first team to correctly figure out this method
wins the game.

Summary: Fun indoor icebreaker game for children to adults! Easy

to learn and play, with little preparation.

24
Goal: Collect as many pieces of paper as possible within 45
seconds!

Preparation:
- Chairs (one chair per person) arranged in a circle 
- Paper and pens
- Hat or bag to collect the pieces of paper
- Timer or watch

How to Play Salad Bowl:

1. Have everyone sit in a chair, arranged in a circle facing inwards.
Distribute the pieces of paper and pens, one per person. Ask each
person to write their names on a piece of paper and place each piece
of paper inside the hat or bag. Then, ask one volunteer to be in the
middle of the circle.

2. Explain the rules: The person in the middle takes a piece of

paper from the hat or bag. The volunteer describes the person listed
on the paper as quickly and thoroughly as possible, while the people
sitting in the chairs attempt to guess who is listed on the paper. The
volunteer cannot use letters, "sounds like", or hand gestures in the
game and must be polite.

3. Once someone correctly guesses the person listed, then the

person in the middle of the circle draws another piece of paper and
the process continues. The person in the middle has 45 seconds to
collect as many pieces of paper as possible.

4. When time runs out, the person sitting to the right of the
volunteer will be the next person to be in the middle of the circle. The
person that collects the most pieces of paper wins the game.

Summary: Fun game for groups of people, especially those who

know music well.

Goal: As a team, name as many song titles that which has the called
word.

Preparation:
- Pen and paper for each group
- Timer or watch
- Word list

25
How to Play the Song Title Game:
1. Arrange everyone into teams of 4 or 5. Have all the groups sit
together.

2. The goal is for each team to come up with the most song titles
that contain the word that you call. They have 2 minutes to write
down song titles. Share the first word with the teams.

3. After 2 minutes, have the teams stop writing songs down. Ask
each team to share their song list to the entire group. If an opposing
team has the same title in their list, both teams need to cross that
song out from their list. The remaining songs titles left on each teams’
list are worth one point each.

4. Repeat Steps 2 – 3 for the entire word list. The team with the
most points wins the game.

Word List
1. Love
2. You
3. Star
4. Time
5. Little
6. Friend
7. Baby

Summary: Use Scrabble tiles to create a crossword as quickly as

possible! Fun, fast word game for a small group of people.

Goal: Be the first one to finish and get rid of all your letter tiles!

Preparation:
- A full set of Scrabble tiles, with letters facing downwards on the
table

How to Play Speed Scrabble:

1. Each player grabs 7 letter tiles. When you say "go", everyone
flips over their tiles and make individual crossword puzzles. Each
letter must be connected with the other letters to form a word (using
Scrabble rules).

26
2. Once a person completes a personal crossword puzzle using all
their letters, the person says "go". Everyone else grabs an extra letter
and keeps going. They cannot exchange any letters.

3. This process continues until there are no more tiles. The first
person to finish completing their crossword puzzle, having no tiles left
to pick up, wins the game.

Summary: Funny icebreaker game, especially for larger groups.

Easy to learn and play, with little preparation.

Goal: To have the player at the end of the line do best imitation of
the original action.

Preparation:
- Print the list of actions below and plan what your actions will be
- You'll be the moderator and judge 

How to Play the Telephone Charades Game:

1. Split everyone into teams of five or more (can have teams of up
to 10 people each). Ask each team to stand in a line.

2. Explain the game: You (the moderator) will be showing an action

scene to the person at the front of the line, with no words or sounds.
Everyone else will have their backs turned to you, except for the
person at the front.

3. Once the person understands the action scene as best as he/she

can, he or she taps the shoulder of the next person in line. The next
person turns around, and the person imitates your action scene to
that person, with no words or sounds. Once he or she understands
and remembers the action scene, he or she taps the shoulder of the
next person, and so forth. An action scene can be continually
repeated until the person understands the action scene.

4. The last person in the line is eventually reached. You will judge
who has the most accurate action scene to what you did originally.
The team with the most accurate action scene will get one point. The
team with the most points wins the game.

27
List of Actions:
1. Go fishing in a boat, catch a fish, and fry it
2. Walk to the refrigerator, get bread, ham, and mayo, and make a
sandwich
3. Drive through a fast food restaurant, order a large burger, fries and
soda, get your food and drive away.
4. Turn on a television, watch a football game, eat popcorn, and
cheer for a team's touchdown 
5. Jump out of a ski lift, ski down a mountain, go into a lodge and
drink hot chocolate

Summary: Which sentence is a lie? A fun guessing game, great way

for people to get to know one another.

Goal: Correctly guess other people’s truths and fool other people into
guessing your lie.

Preparation:
- You will need to pass out a pen/pencil and paper to each person
participating.

How to Play the Two Truths and a Lie Game:

1. Have everyone write two true sentences and one false sentence
on their papers. The sentences can be in any order that they want.
Make sure that all the sentences are believable, and aren’t obvious.
(Example Statements: I have three cats at home; I am related to a
celebrity; I had lost two teeth in a biking accident).

2. Each person will need to read their sentences aloud to the group.
After reading each sentence, everyone will need to think about which
statements are truths are which sentence is a lie.

3. Take a vote on which statement is a lie (“Who thinks the first

sentence is a lie? Who thinks the second sentence is a lie?”).

4. The players who chose the lie correctly will win one point. The
person who wrote the sentences will win two points for every person
that they fool (for every person who voted the truth statement was a
lie).

28
5. Go around and follow steps 2-4 for the remaining players.
Whoever gets the most points wins the game.

ummary: Great icebreaker group game- find out what people have

never done before.

Goal: Avoid being the last person standing.

Preparation:
- One person needs to start the game by standing in the middle of the
circle
- You will need everyone to sit in chairs arranged in a circle.

How to Play Where the Wind Blows Game:

1. The person in the middle needs to say a sentence of something
they have never done before. For example, “I’ve never been in an
airplane”, “I never been to a buffet”, “I’ve never been the Hawaii”,
“I’ve never had a pet”.

2. If the person’s statement applies to someone sitting in the circle,

that person has to move from his or her seat and sit in a different
chair.

3. The person in the middle will need to try to sit down. One person
will remain standing. The standing person starts a new round by
saying a different statement.

Note: People cannot move to seats on their immediate left or right.

For example, they can sit two seats away, but they cannot move to
the left or right of their current chairs.

Summary: Guess what the item is, zoomed in - Great Powerpoint

game for medium and large groups!

Goal: Be the first team to guess the zoomed in object - The team
with the most points wins the game.

Preparation:
- Download Powerpoint Slide 
- Laptop
- Projector and Screen, cables
-Timer/Watch

29
- Paper and pen
- List of items
- Something to record teams’ points

How to Play The Zoom In Game:

1. Separate everyone into teams of 5. Give each team a piece of
paper and pen. The object of the game is to identify as many objects
from the Powerpoint as possible as a group.

2. The first “zoomed” slide is worth 5 points, the second “zoomed

out” slide is 4 points, the third “zoomed out” slide is 3 points, and the
fourth “zoomed out” slide is worth only 1 point. Each team tries to
identify the object as soon as possible, to get the maximum amount
of points.

3. As soon as the group thinks they know what the object is, they
have to raise their hand and write their answer down on the piece of
paper. *You’ll need to ask and take note on which slide they wrote
down their answers.

4. Go through each slide, giving each team 1 minute to look at,
discuss each slide, and an opportunity to write their answer down.
Once their answer has been written, they cannot change their
answer.

5. Once the object is revealed, the team that has the correct answer
will receive the amount of points for the slide that they stopped at.
For example, if a team correctly identifies the object by the second
"zoomed out" slide, the team is awarded 4 points. If the team
answers incorrectly, they do not gain any points for that round.

6. The team with the most points wins the game.

70 different games and activities for early language teaching to blind
and partially sighted children

Nina Čelešnik Kozamernik, M. A.

Institute for blind and partially sighted
Ljubljana, Slovenia

30
January 2011

An abstract
A teacher’s fear is the greatest enemy of all children with special needs –
even blind and partially sighted, because it hinders the teaching process and
often stems from a lack of knowledge. As we all have a right to knowledge, it
is crucial to educate teachers to reconcile themselves with the special needs
of the child and to show them the bright light at the end of the corridor,
moreover; to tell teachers that their child is unique and special, a winner who
could be independent and successful – also due to an appropriate approach
to early language teaching through 70 different games and activities.

To start with …
When one wants to be a good teacher, one should never forget what it is like
to be a student. If we are talking about a good teacher of blind and partially
sighted children the idea is even more important. As an experienced teacher
of blind and partially sighted, Roman Brvar, once said (Brvar, 2000: 11): “How
is it possible to find something interesting, that does not exist (for you),
something you could not imagine, something you have never dreamt of? This
is a challenge for a teacher of blind and partially sighted children – to make a
child interested in everything that is behind the wall of darkness. But when a
hole is made in that wall … then comes a time of endless whys – a joyfulness
for the child and satisfaction for the teacher.”
How to achieve this? To be innovative and able to adapt to one’s special
needs (Brvar, 2000: 69), moreover to have energy and positive attitude to
teaching, because being without sight means being without 20 different
abilities, which are not easy to compensate for.

Early language teaching with the correct attitude – a lot of games and funny
activities – can be fun, because a new language, new culture, variety … is
easily taught in that way. What does »correct attitude« mean? Firstly an
emphatic and well-educated teacher is needed. What about if there is a blind
or partially sighted child in our classroom? No games and fun approaches to
teaching anymore? As an itinerary teacher I am really sorry, but my answer is:
“Yes.” But why? It happens often that a teacher feels sorry for the blind or
partially sighted child and suddenly does not find his subject or/and goals in
the curriculum important any more. “Why should a blind child know colours?”
“Why should she or he understand a foreign language?” “Why should one
have to name all the buildings in the city in a foreign language since he/she
could never see them?”

Sad but true. With the above statements we underestimate blind and partially
sighted people.
As I always say: “Blind and partially sighted (children) are not stupid, they just
do not see (well) – they see things in their own way.” And it is our job to
help them see.

31
To understand better:
Possibility to visit Antarctica in one’s life is not very likely, but children are still
taught about different types of land in the first years of school. This is the
same story as when we talk about the blind and colours. We (teachers) are
obliged to teach all the things in the curriculum, despite the fact that we find
some things unnecessary; it is not a question, it is our duty to do so.

The beginning is always hard, even when teaching a blind or partially sighted
child. In Slovenia teachers who are expecting a blind or partially sighted child
to come in their class, are usually invited to the Institute for blind and partially
sighted, Ljubljana, to participate in a seminar about teaching blind and
partially sighted children. The itinerary teacher comes to their school to talk
about the blind or partially sighted child and his/her needs. There is a lecture
for all the school staff and parents … that is organized at the school, but
despite that, in the end teacher stands alone in front of the class. There are
some teachers who seek help and advice from the itinerary teacher, but those
are very few.

And this is the reason why I have prepared a short list of basic advice and
more than 70 different games, that can be played in the classroom in which
the blind or partially sighted child is enrolled. All the games are authorial and
have already been used in the classroom for different subjects: English,
mathematics, mother tongue, science, art, physical education … The games
are divided into different groups that occur when teaching a foreign language,
but despite that all the activities and games can be used with different
subjects and also in the classroom without a child with special needs or in the
classroom with a child with different special needs – with some reasonable
adaptations.

A SHORT LIST OF BASIC ADVICE TO WORK WITH THE BLIND OR

PARTIALLY SIGHTED CHILD

- All activities and games are a result of practical work and have already been
tested in practice. They have all had successful results. They can be played in
bigger or smaller groups of children.
- Blind or partially sighted child should sit closer to the teacher, so he/she will
be the first one to get a new object in his/her hands.
- Blind or partially sighted child should work with real and concrete material so
he/she gains a concrete experience. That kind of experience will make
lessons better for all the students.
- Blind or partially sighted child is allowed to do fewer examples than his/her
sighted peers, because he/she is often slower at his/her work.
- When talking to a blind child we can still use colours (often in combination
with other adjectives) and verbs to see, to look, to observe …
- All the written activities should be taken as an appendix to activities in
teachers’ manuals.
- There are several activities that can be used with different subjects in
different units.
- A blind child should always be helped with the orientation of the material,
picture. We should be systematic and always start from the same position.

32
- Do not get angry if the child is not looking in your eyes when talking to you,
but he/she is turning his/her ears to you. The reason why he/she is doing this
is to hear you better.
- Do not get angry if the child is reading »with his nose« – this is the only way
for him/her to see what is written.
- If you do not know how, if you do not have an idea, just do not say: “This is
not possible.” Rather find the help of an expert who is working with your child,
someone who knows how.

ACTIVITIES AND GAMES THAT CAN BE PLAYED IN THE CLASSROOM

DIVIDED INTO GROUPS

1 ME
(Presentation of yourself, your look, personality, interests, hobbies,
experiences and plans)

NAME – MY NAME IS...

Material: /
Comment: all the children should play. We finish with positive intonation.
Activity, game: children sit on the floor in the circle. In the first round
everybody says his/her name in the way somebody would call him/her when
he/she would be angry with him/her. In the second round in the way
somebody would call him/her when he/she would be satisfied with him/her.
We can play this game as long as children are interested and use as many
adjectives as we want.

NUMBERS – AN ECHO
Material: cards with numbers or concrete material.
Comment: teacher should ask all the children in the classroom.
Activity, game: children are given different numbers (written on the piece of
paper or concrete material – Lego, pebble …). Then the teacher asks: “How
old are you?” Child answers (according to the given number): “One.”
Teacher: “Sorry?” Class: “One.”

NUMBERS – HOW MANY FINGERS CAN YOU FEEL?

Material: /
Comment: pair-work.
Activity, game: One child turns his/her back to the other. The other child
touches his/her back with his/her fingers and he/she should guess the number
of fingers he/she has been touched with. They switch rolls.

COLOURS – WHAT IS A COLOUR?

Material: plasticine.
Comment: a discussion about colours, what colour is what. When we are
talking about, for example, red colour, we give children a piece of red
plasticine.
Activity, game: children are asked to make snakes of plasticine and paste
them one above the other in the form of an arc to make a rainbow.

COLOURS – WHAT COLOUR IS A BANANA?

33
Material: different objects, pictures of different colours (for example: red apple,
green grass, blue sea, brown chair, yellow sun, orange orange, black horse,
white cat, gold goldfish).
Comment: objects are introduced to the children (in touch and colour). Blind
child should keep the objects in the box in order not to lose them.
Activity, game: Every child is given different objects or pictures (everybody the
same).
Teacher or one child gives instruction on what to touch. If he/she says: “Touch
something blue.” children do not touch anything, but if he/she says: “Teacher
(Anna) says, touch something blue.” everybody touches an objects or a
picture of a blue colour.

ADJECTIVES – A MAGIC TOUCH

Material: /
Comment: children can stand around the classroom, in a circle or behind their
chairs as well.
Activity, game: Teacher and some children are walking around the classroom.
When they touch a child, they give him/her certain order, for example: “big”.
This child should turn into a “big one”, until somebody else touches him/her
with a different order, for example “small” (fast / slow; thin / fat; happy / sad;
old / young; tall / short).

CLOTHES – A FASHION SHOW

Material: a bag with clothes.
Comment: clothes are put on the clothes already dressed up.
Activity, game: child takes out of the bag one piece of clothing, dresses it up
and walks around the classroom, pretending to be a model in a fashion show.
All the others are saying what he/she is wearing (“She/ he is wearing a hat.”).

CLOTHES – A MAGIC SHEET

Material: a bag with clothes, sheet or a blanket.
Comment: clothes are put on the clothes already dressed up.
Activity, game: children sit in a form of a circle. Everybody closes their eyes or
turns around as we pick one child to dress up in new clothing. Then we cover
the child with a blanket to prevent other children seeing what he/she is
wearing. Other children open their eyes and start guessing what is a child
covered with a blanket wearing.

All the described activities and games are simple to play, children love them,
they forget about embarrassment when talking a foreign language (My name
is...), a lot of them involve movement (A fashion show, A magic touch), which
children often lack and laugh (An echo).
Children relax during competition (What colour is a banana?) and make
connections in the group. They usually like to guess and be surprised (How
many fingers can you feel). Through games they learn to be different and
equal (A magic sheet). All the described activities and games can be used in
all parts of the lessons, as motivation, introduction to a new theme,
vocabulary or at the very end of the lesson for revision, relaxation or just to
have fun.

34
2 MY HOME
(Family, relations, activities, my space)

ROOMS IN MY FLAT – DANCING

Material: objects that are typical for different rooms, pictures of different rooms
(written in Braille as well), names of the rooms in English (foreign language)
and mother tongue, everything should be written in Braille as well.
Comment: it is good to have some music or at least a musical instrument to
make some sound with, or a teacher should sing a song.
Activity, game: Every child gets an object/a picture/a word. They are dancing
and exchanging the objects/pictures/words. Teacher stops the music and
asks: »Where are you dancing, Tina?« Tina answers (according to the
object/picture/word held in her hands): »I’m dancing in the toilet.«

ROOMS IN MY FLAT – FIRE

Material: objects that are typical for different rooms, pictures of different rooms
(written in Braille as well), names of the rooms in English (foreign language)
and mother tongue, everything should be written in Braille as well.
Comment: chairs are set in the form of a circle.
Activity, game: Every child gets an object/a picture/a word. Everybody is
sitting. A teacher is standing in the middle of the circle and shouts: »Fire,
fire!« Children: »Where?« Teacher: »In the kitchen.« All the children with an
object or a word that represents kitchen should switch places. If the teacher
answers: »In my home.« all the children should switch places. Each time the
places are changing, the one who is standing in the middle of the circle,
should try to sit down. A child, who stays without a seat, tells where the fire is.

FAMILY – MY FAMILY
Material: /
Comment: organise a limited space for example with pillows on the floor.
Activity, game: Children run (crawl, roll, walk…) and when the teacher claps
hands, more of them hug - representing the family. Then »the family« tells
who is who? For example: Maya is a mother, Tim is a father and Lana is a
brother.

FAMILY – STATUES
Material: /
Comment: /
Activity, game: We tell one child to change into a family member. Others
guess: "Are you the mother?" If they guess correctly, the children cast a spell
on the child to make him/her free: "Abracadabra, abracadee, you are now
free!" If not, they keep guessing.
FAMILY – CALL ME
Material: models of family members (only one family).
Comment: models must always be the same, for instance: a girl with a braid is
always the sister.
Activity, game: Each child gets one model/puppet (mother, brother, sister,
father...) and they call each other: "Mother to father." "Father to brother."
"Brother to sister." When all the family members are called, the

35
models/puppets are handed over to other classmates. We always start with,
for example, the sister.

FAMILY – WHO IS WHO IN YOUR FAMILY?

Material: /
Comment: children work in pairs.
Activity, game: One child tells the other, 4 names of his/her family members
(names can be written down as well). The other child is guessing who is who.
For example: "Is Anna your sister?" "Yes, she is my sister." "Is Tina your
mother?" "No, she is not my mother."

SCHOOL, ACTIVITY – I AM THE BOSS

Material: scissors, papers, felt-tip pens, pictures.
Comment: different penalties and rewards can be invented. Firstly we play
this game with the whole class and then in small groups. It is important that
everything we do has a sound (cutting with scissors in the air).
Activity, game: Children prepare their school material on the desk in front of
them. The teacher (or a child) tells what to do: "Colour. Write. Cut. Sit down.
Stand up. Point to the picture." One speaks and others obey him. The one
who is last to complete the command is punished, for example, by being
made to stand up. If he/she is not the last one with the next command, he/she
can sit down again. First a teacher, and later students lead the game. At the
beginning we give commands slowly, then faster and faster.

REVISION AND PRACTICE – THROW THE DICE AND WIN

Material: objects (children know the names).
Comment: we determine a small group of players (up to 6 children). Every
lesson, these may be different children.
Activity, game: Students throw the dice and whoever throws the most (least)
dots on the dice, gets one of the items that he/she already knows the name
of.

The above described games and activities are simple to implement in the
classroom, children love to play them because they give them the opportunity
to move (Dancing, Fire), which is something children often miss, and laugh (I
am the boss), which keeps the brain active. The same game gives children a
sense of importance and has a positive impact on children's self-confidence
(also Call me). During the competition children relax, because they usually
like an element of guessing (Who is who in your family?) and surprises
(Throw the dice and win), moreover they revise their vocabulary. All these
games and activities can be used in all parts of the lesson – as the initial
motivation, for learning new topics, vocabulary, or at the end of the lesson as
a revision, or to increase a positive mood, or simply as a relaxation exercise.
3 MY SCHOOL
(School, learning, activities, professions, plans)

SCHOOL MATERIALS – WHAT HAVE YOU GOT IN YOUR SATCHEL?

Material: /
Comment: at the beginning child chooses only one item. Later we gradually
increase the number of items.

36
Activity, game: Each child chooses a few items others guess what the objects
are. Objects can be taken out of the bag, just written down or the child simply
makes them up. For example: »Have you got a pencil sharpener?« »Yes, I
have. /No, I haven`t.« or »Is it a pen?« »Yes, it is. /No, it is not.«

VERBS – A RUNNING DICTATION

Material: writing words on the blackboard. When a blind student is competing,
a record on the blackboard should be in Braille.
Comment: at the beginning a blind or visually impaired student is writing. Not
more than 5 pairs compete at the same time. When the blind or visually
impaired student is running, the length between the desk and the blackboard
should be adapted to that child’s abilities and the teacher should help with
orientation (ringing the bell). The number of words for the transcription is
gradually increased. Pair-work.
Activity, game: One child is running from the desk to the blackboard, reads a
word and runs back to tell and dictate this word to the other child, who is
sitting and writing words down. When the word is written, the first child can
run back to the blackboard, in order to read the next word. At the same time
more pairs are competing. The pair that is the first one to write all the words
down, is the winner.

PROFESSIONS – WHO IS A PLUMBER?

Material: /
Comment: a similar game can also be found in some teachers’ books.
Activity, game: One of the students makes up a word on an agreed topic (for
example: professions) and says: »I spy with my little eye something
beginning with "P".« Other children guess: »Is it a pilot?« »Is it a policeman?«
»Is it a plumber?« The child answers: »Yes, it is.« »No, it is not.« Whoever
guesses the correct profession makes up a new word.

TIME – WHAT’S THE TIME MR. WOLF?

Material: /
Comment: a blind or visually impaired student should have a trailing line (for
example: by the wall, at the edge of the pitch, on the marked line). The
difficulty of the game can be increased by adding »half past« (children take a
half step) and »quarter to« or »quarter past« (children take a quarter step). It
is essential that the rate of half and quarter is predetermined.
Activity, game: We choose the wolf (a child), who should come to the other
side the classroom. Other children make a line on the other side of the
classroom and ask: »What’s the time Mr. Wolf?« The Wolf answers: »It`s 3
o’clock." The children take the same number of steps as is indicated by the
time e.g. 3 o’clock = 3 steps. The one, who first comes to the wolf, is the
winner and becomes a wolf.

SHAPES – SHAPES
Material: models of the shapes.
Comment: some children may also have pictures instead of models. Models
can be brought to school as homework.

37
Activity, game: The teacher (or the student) says the name of the shape and
other children should find this shape and point to it/lift it up as soon as
possible.

SHAPES – LET`S BUILD!

Material: magnetic board and magnetic sticks or sticks that are heavier (for
example made of metal) for the blind or visually impaired child. Others can
use other kinds of sticks (for grill, straws, pens…).
Comment: if needed, the teacher should help the blind or visually impaired
child with orientation.
Activity, game: Children are making different shapes, as directed by the
teacher.

SHAPES – TRANSFORMERS
Material: /
Comment: this game can be played, when children have already mastered
different shapes. First, children should work alone, then in pairs, threes etc ...
At the end the whole class should work together.
Activity, game: Someone gives instructions to the group to follow. For
example: »You are a triangle.« The group must be changed into a triangle.
»You are a circle.« The group changes into a circle.

Children are often surprised when playing games (What have you got in your
satchel?) and proud, when their classmates are guessing their object
correctly. During the competition the children relax and link up with each other
(Transformers), and so they often play similar games in their free time
(What`s the time Mr. Wolf?). Children usually love guessing and surprises
(Shapes). All these games and activities can be used in all parts of the lesson
– we can repeat the same game over and over again and the children will
certainly not have anything against it.

4 MY WORLD
(Friends, idols, party, problems, relationship, modern technology)

POSSESSION – MAY`S BOOK

Material: /
Comment: the child who is playing should not be able to see (help yourself
with a scarf). Only one child at a time should look for an object or two children,
but at different sides of the classroom. The items children are looking for
should not be close to each other.
Activity, game: Children are divided into two lines (left and right). Someone (at
the beginning this should be the teacher) steps in the middle of the class and
gives instructions to the children. For example: "Bring me or Go and touch
Anna`s ball, Mark`s pencil case, Tadej`s glass..." When children bring wanted
things to us, we should have some space for putting things down. To take all
the things back to the owner, we can use instruction: "Take Anna`s ball and
give it to Anna."

FRIENDS – MY IDOL

38
Material: each student brings an object (it can also be an audio or video clip, a
photo alone is not enough), that reminds him/her of his/her idol and then gives
a speech about him/her.
Comment: children should prepare for the speech at home, so the task can be
set as project work. In each lesson only a few students present their idols (up
to 6).
Activity, game: Each child presents his/her hero, the others listen carefully,
view objects, listen to clips, watch a movie. At the end of all presentations (at
the end of the lesson) the teacher divides students into groups to ask each
other different questions, such as: »Whose hero is her father?« »Teja`s.«
»Who is good in swimming?« »Michael Phelps.« »Whose hero is Nelson
Mandela?« »Bor`s.«
The competition can take place whenever the children complete their
presentations and at the end we determine the two winning groups, which
then play »the hardest quiz«, where all the presentations are combined.
Questions should be prepared in advance by students.

COLLECTIONS – WHO HEARS THE OBJECT?

Material: objects that can be collected (coins, labels, spoons, pebbles…).
Comment: the game can be played even before children are familiar with
naming the objects in a foreign language. In this case, they respond in their
mother tongue.
Activity, game: Teacher makes a sound by tapping, scratching, blowing into
objects and students try to guess what the object is. When they guess
correctly, an object is given to them, so they can test it by themselves (first,
we give the object to the blind or visually impaired student). »Audio puzzles«
can be played several times, by adding new items, inviting various "players"...

PREPOSITIONS – SIT ON...

Material: chair, table.
Comment: it is important that children experience the significance of the
prepositions for themselves first, then in practice and later on in the text.
Activity, game: One (at the beginning this should be the teacher) speaks the
commands, the others follow. For example: »Step next to your chair.« »Sit on
the table.« »Lay down under your chair.« First we play without competing, just
obeying orders as quickly as possible. Later on we can add, that anyone who
makes a mistake is placed into a queue for lunch, gets penalty – standing on
one leg...

PREPOSITIONS – A DICE AND A CUP...

Material: a dice, a cup.
Comment: the game can be played with different material as well. It can be
played as pair-work or in a group.
Activity, game: Someone speaks the commands others obey him/her. For
example: »Put the dice in the cup.« »Put the dice on the cup.« »Put the dice
under the cup.« When a mistake is made, the roles are switched and the
number of correct actions is written down. The winner is the one with more
correct actions.

39
The described games and activities require from children quite a few foreign
language skills and confidence. At the same time, with similar activities,
children are encouraged to use previous knowledge, to talk about themselves
(My idol), to feel important (Who hears the object?), because it is their show,
they're the head of the activity, lesson (Sit on …, A dice and a cup). It is
important that the teacher with similar activities, does not hurry and
exaggerate, and gives every child the opportunity and time to decide when to
act or lead. It is true that some children do not want to be exposed, in this
case it is helpful to be called by the teacher, but only for a short period of time
and activity, where they can be successful.

5 STORY TIME

STORY TIME – FAIRY TALE BAG

Material: a bag with objects mentioned in a story (a dog, a broom, an orange,
a girl, a coin…).
Comment: children are allowed only to touch (not to see).
Activity, game: In the bag children should find those items that were
mentioned in the story we have read. Children are looking for houses, boys,
brooms, animals...

STORY TIME – CONSTRUCTION

Material: Lego or other material to create.
Comment: /
Activity, game: Discussion. What would your house be like (for example a
house from the fairy tale "Three Little Pigs")? Build yourself a house.
Upgrade: a description of their dream houses in their notebook.

STORY TIME – TELLING THE STORY

Material: an umbrella or a stick.
Comment: suitable for students with a well-developed vocabulary. The
umbrella should be closed for safety reasons.
Activity, game: Children are standing all around the classroom. Teacher is
holding an umbrella (or a stick) and walks around the classroom. He/she
starts to tell a story about the miraculous umbrella (stick), which he/she is
holding... When the teacher comes to a child he/she handles the umbrella (or
a stick). The teacher stops, and the child continues the story of the miraculous
journey till he gets to another classmate and handles him/her the umbrella
(stick).

Children love fairy tales and are strongly motivated to listen to them, but it is
true that fairy tales in a foreign language require a great deal of concentration
and reasoning. As teachers, we have to prepare for »fairy tale lessons« well,
in order to make a foreign language fairy tale as interesting (if not more so)
than one in the mother tongue.

6 MY COUNTRY

40
(Residents and languages, my neighbours, geographical, cultural,
historical and ethnographical characteristics)

RESIDENTS AND LANGUAGES – WHERE DO YOU COME FROM? WHAT

LANGUAGE DO YOU SPEAK?
Material: music.
Comment: the area available for movement should be determined. The game
can be upgraded by telling name of a classmate; in this case, each child
presents himself/herself first, for example: "I`m Nina. I come from Slovenia. "
Activity, game: When music is playing children move around the classroom.
When it stops, they quickly ask the nearest classmate, where he/she comes
from (what language does he/she speak) and remembers his/her answer.
After three interruptions (or more, up to 6) the teacher chooses a child and
asks him/her from where were the classmates (or what language did they
speak) he/she met. The child answers. "I come from Hungary. One (Robert)
comes from Austria, one (Brin) comes from USA and one (Jona) comes from
Belgium."

GEOGRAPHICAL, CULTURAL, HISTORICAL AND ETHNOGRAPHICAL

CHARACTERISTICS – I`M A MOUNTAIN. LIAR.
Material: papers with details of geographical characteristics (also in Braille).
Comment: children are familiar with written words. At the beginning children
take only one and later more and more words (so the possibility "to lie" is
smaller).
Activity, game: The child changes into »the thing« written on the paper –in
mind only. Other children ask: "Who are you?" The child answers: “A hill.” “A
river.” “A meadow.” If children believe him/her, the game continues, otherwise
they say: "Liar." A child, who has changed, tells others what he/she has
changed into. If he/she did not lie, the game continues, otherwise »the
detective« takes a paper to change into...

CULTURAL AND ETHNOGRAPHICAL CHARACTERISTICS – A

RESEARCHER
Material: various small items associated with different themes (for example:
vases, hay racks, tractors, cars, dolls, apples...) wrapped in plastic bags
(unless they can be washed immediately) suitable for a search in the internal
sandbox.
Comment: There should be a limited number of researchers (every lesson
one group). We can compete, so the time is limited – how many things in 20
seconds?
Activity, game: children look for various items in the sandbox/class and name
them.

Activities and games allow children to explore and discover the new, unknown
(probably something new in their mother tongue as well), which is necessary
to take into account when writing a lesson plan – more concrete material,
illustration, explanation, cross-curricular integration. In this way the child’s
concepts are formed. For each of us, it is important to have correct concepts
of the world around us (for example the size of Big Ben in London) for further

41
communication, as it allows us to imagine things in correct proportions.
However when we talk about the person who is blind or partially sighted this is
even more important since the creation of accurate concepts and then
correcting them is even more complex and difficult than the proper acquisition
of new ones. And this is something that »true teachers« should not allow and
that is why it is necessary for all the children to get a proper understanding of
new concepts, objects.

7 EVERYDAY LIFE
(Food, drink, work, free time, celebrations)

FOOD, DRINK, WORK, FREE TIME, CELEBRATIONS – WHAT IS THIS?

Material: plasticine.
Comment: suitable for an introductory hour. The creation of an object can be
upgraded with the creation, following directions where children end up
comparing their items, creations.
Activity, game: Children create an object (food, drink, sports equipment...) out
of plasticine and talk about it. At the end of the lesson an exhibition is made.

FOOD, DRINK, WORK, FREE TIME, CELEBRATIONS – WHERE IS MY

LUNCH?
Material: apple or some other object in connection to new theme.
Comment: also an exercise for practising prepositions.
Activity, game: Everybody closes their eyes. Somebody hides an apple
somewhere in the classroom. When the apple is hidden, students try to find
out where it is, by asking: "Is the apple under the table?" "No, the apple is not
under the table." "Is the apple in Lana`s bag?" "No, the apple is not in Lana`s
bag." The child who guesses correctly, hides the next item.

FOOD, DRINK, WORK, FREE TIME, CELEBRATIONS – WHAT IS A

WATERMELON?
Material: objects and pictures of new words. A box for a blind or visually
impaired child.
Comment: game is suitable for beginning – naming the new objects. We start
with a small number of items; the same items are put in a box for a blind or
visually impaired student – in order not to lose them.
Activity, game: First, children have some time to observe the objects and
recognise them (in their mother tongue). Then the teacher speaks the English
words (or words in a foreign language) for items that the children have in front
of them. Children must raise an item that they think is, for example: "A
watermelon."

NUMBERS – LET`S SING COUNTING TOGETHER

Material: /
Comment: /
Activity, game: counting out loud in parts (for example from 42 to 58),
counting together, two-voiced counting (two groups counting with a difference
of five numbers, for example one group starts with 6 and the other with 11),

42
three-voiced (three groups, each counts with a difference of five numbers, for
example the first group starts with 1, second with 5 and third with 10),
counting out loud, counting out quietly, counting in two groups at the same
time: one is counting forward (from 50 to 60), one backward (from 60 to 50).

NUMBERS – MULTIPLY AND DIVIDE

Material: blocks of different shapes and sizes – Lego.
Comment: a box for a blind or visually impaired student – in order not to lose
the blocks.
Activity, game: Building columns out of different blocks by following the
instructions and answering the questions such as: Build two columns of 2
blocks... How many blocks is this all together? Bring them to me. Get me 5-
times 2 blocks. How could you shorten your time taken to bring the blocks?
What would you do, if you could come to me only once? What would you do, if
you could come to me only once and if you could put your hand in the box
with blocks only once?

NUMBERS – RAP SONG OF MULTIPLICATION TABLE

Material: musical instruments – not necessary. Children can bring the
instruments from home or make them for their homework (rattles).
Comment: /
Activity, game: Children make up "rap" on certain multiplication tables, system
of counting. A class rap of multiplication tables is organised.

NUMBERS – 2, PASS ME THE BALL, 4, PASS ME THE BALL, 6…

Material: /
Comment: /
Activity, game: Repeating of multiplication tables by passing the ring ball – on
the floor – in the form of a circle.

NUMBERS – THE NUMBER MASSAGE

Material: /
Comment: pair-work. We can massage with small balls as well.
Activity, game: Repeating of multiplication tables and/or counting with a
massage. One lies on the floor or sits on a chair; the other is sitting/standing
behind him/her. First one sets a calculation (4-times 4 is?) while the other
says the answer (16) and illustrates it physically by »walking« with his/her
fingers over the child's back (16-times). Later on the child can massage an
answer only, and the first child can count and say a result.

NUMBERS UP TO 100 – 100 IS BINGO!

Material: bingo (everyone can make his/her own bingo square – everybody
chooses 15 numbers from 0 to 100 and writes them down).
Comment: we can switch bingos within the classmates.
Activity, game: Teacher (or a student) calls various numbers from 0 to 100 (it
is good to write the same numbers down in order to check the winner at the
end) and students cross out the numbers the teacher calls. The student who
is first to cover all the numbers says: »Bingo!«, and he/she is the winner.

NUMBERS UP TO 100 – NUMBERS AND GYM

43
Material: /
Comment: we can play this activity outside or at P.E. as well.
Activity, game: One leads (at the beginning this should be the teacher) and
performs various actions, like jumping, hopping, running, walking…while
counting. For example, from 0 to 10 we make a step on each number we say,
from 11 to 20 we hop on each number we say…

NUMBERS UP TO 100 – FIND NUMBER 15 AS FAST AS YOU CAN!

Material: small boards (10*10) with numbers from 0 to 100.
Comment: children can make these kinds of boards at home. We teach
children to be systematic and inventive.
Activity, game: Teacher says which number to find and children try to find it as
fast as they can and point to it.

NUMBERS UP TO 100 – WHAT IS THE RESULT?

Material: a dice, symbols + (plus), – (minus).
Comment: it is good to play this game in a group of 5 players or at least a
pair.
Activity, game: One student throws the dice and counts the dots on it, another
picks up a symbol + or – (with his/her eyes closed), the third throws the dice
and counts the dots on it, the fourth repeats everything written and the fifth
calculates it. Difficulty may be increased, by throwing two numbers to get two-
digit number. Rules can be changed, for example: a –/+ b = ? or ab –/+ c = ?
or ab –/+ cd = ? or a –/+ b –/+ c = ?

NUMBERS UP TO 100 – HIDE AND SEEK WITH NUMBERS

Material: small boards (10*10) with numbers from 0 to 100 – for orientation.
Comment: pair-work.
Activity, game: One student makes up a number, while the other one tries to
find this number by setting questions, for example: “Is it higher / lower than
50?” “Can it be divided by 2?”

NUMBERS UP TO 100 – WHO HAS MORE DOTS?

Material: dominoes with dots or numbers.
Comment: Can be played as individual activity as well; students write the
calculations down.
Activity, game: Children should close their eyes and take one domino
(dominoes), count the dots on it (them) and add up the dots. The one who
gets more dots is a winner.

NUMBERS UP TO 100 – MULTIPLES BOOM!

Material: /
Comment: /
Activity, game: Determine the number of multiples, which will be changed into
"boom" (for example multiples of number 2). Everybody is standing in a circle
and counting out loud (for example: 1, boom, 3, boom, 5, boom, 7...). Anyone
who makes a mistake gets a prize: saying all the multiples of the determined
number (for example 2) individually (2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20).

NUMBERS UP TO 100 – BROKEN BUS

44
Material: a cap for the driver.
Comment: We »drive« slowly. It is good to have more space.
Activity, game: Teacher is a driver, children are the passengers and follow the
teacher – in the form of a snake. Teacher is driving and counting out loud –
moving forward. Suddenly there is a loud noise that pulls the bus some places
back, for example: 2 stations. The driver asks: "Where are we now?" and
children should answer. (For example: 46, 47, 48...iiii! Phew! Where are we
now?! Two stations back!? What station is this? Passengers, please help!
Children: "46!")

The activities and games described are very familiar to the children, since
they meet with similar situations every day. It is true, there is more cross-
curricular integration (mathematics), because the activities require lots of
reasoning (Hide and seek with numbers), calculating (What is the result?),
logical eliminations (What is a Watermelon?). The teacher may be surprised
by some students who are not brilliant in mathematics, but who are very good
in games with English numbers. Why? The answer could be in the different
(appropriate) approach of the teacher and pupils to the problem. It is also
interesting, if you ask children why they have decided as they did (What is
this?) – you will probably learn a lot about the child and his/her way of
thinking; not necessarily always positive and enjoyable, but certainly
something that will encourage you to do concrete work.

8 SOCIAL, CULTURAL, NATURAL ENVIRONMENTS

(School, city life, life on the countryside, geographical characteristics,
environment protection, festivals, globalization)

TIME, DAYS, MONTHS – HIT ME, IF YOU CAN!

Material: /
Comment: we always hit on an agreed day/month. It could be
Sunday/December or Tuesday/June. It is important to set the day/month in
advance.
Activity, game: All students stand/sit in a circle, palms facing upward, right
hand is placed on the left hand of a classmate who is on the right side, and
left hand is holding right hand of the classmate who is on the left side.
Everybody is saying the days/months (January, February, March…December,
January…/Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday…) and every time the name is
pronounced, the hand of a classmate is hit. The classmate on the right hits
his/her classmate on the left. When all the names of the days (from Monday to
Sunday)/months (from January to December) are said and the last one hits
(on Sunday or December), the classmate on his/her left should take his/her
hand away before he/she hits him/her. If he/she did not take his/her hand
away fast enough and a classmate hit him/her, he/she is out or gets any other
punishment (for example: jumping, whistling...).

TIME – MY WEEK
Material: plasticine, papers, felt-tip-pens, clips.

45
Comment: it is important the products are placed at a height children can
reach, in order to read, touch them… At least some written articles should be
written in Braille as well. Alternatively, there could be some products written
only in Braille, for which the blind child is responsible, as only he can help
their classmates with reading.
Activity, game: Students write names of the days of the week on a piece of
paper and next to each day they draw something or form it out of plasticine,
typical for that day (for them). Weekly calendar is hung in the classroom at a
height children can reach and every day someone is responsible for changing
the day. For example: on Tuesday, the clip is attached, where it says
Tuesday.

TIME – MONTHLY CALENDAR

Material: posters in a form of a circle, felt-tip-pens, plasticine, clips.
Comment: calendars can be made individually, in pairs or in a group.
Activity, game: Students glue names of the months at the edge of the circle in
the correct order (from January to December) and draw or make an illustration
under the name of the month. The clip is used for marking the month. Monthly
calendar is hung in the classroom at a height children can reach and every
month someone is responsible for changing the month, placing the clip on the
right month.

Children usually like rhythm, rhymes, what makes new words easier to
remember. Allow children to make up their own melodies and rhymes
sometimes. Creative activities (Monthly calendar, My week) are often a bit
longer, but they may nevertheless be very informative and positive, because
in addition to curricular integration, they also strengthen cooperation and
compromise within a group, develop fine motor skills and build up correct
concepts.

9 SOCIAL AGREEMENTS
(Greetings, appropriate behaviour, customs)
A lot of songs and rhymes should be used, for vocabulary see previous
chapters as well.

CUSTOMS – CHRISTMAS IS HERE!

Material: Lego and similar material.
Comment: if possible, use many different materials.
Activity, game: Each child makes his/ her own Christmas tree. At the end we
make an exhibition of Christmas trees.

GREETINGS, APPROPRIATE BEHAVIOUR – BINGO

Material: /
Comment: teachers should write down his/her commands in order to check
the winner.
Activity, game: Children write down 5 different ways of saying hello and
goodbye (good evening, good morning, see you…). It is also possible to write

46
one greeting more than once. Teacher is saying a variety of greetings and
when the children hear the greeting they wrote, they cross out the greeting or
mark it with plasticine, write a number next to it, or mark it with a label – the
indications are arranged in advance. For each greeting heard, the children
cross out only one recorded greeting. The winner is the child, who is the first
one to cross out (or mark) all written greetings. He/she shouts "Bingo!"

Bingo game can be played very often, to learn different words, within the most
diverse, even in higher grades and children will not get bored. It makes sense
to change the rules, to build upon them, to invite children to create. It is
important that rules are clear before the game is played, because this is the
only way to allow equal participation of all the players.

10 SOCIAL VALUES
(International relationship, family, cultural heritage)

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONSHIP – WHAT IS THE POSITION OF...?

Material: network model, magnets – obligatory only for blind children.
Comment: pair-work. Children can draw a network model on a sheet of paper
or we can copy it for them. Instead of magnets, different small things can be
used (erasers, boxes, glues…).
Activity, game: one child places the magnet on the network and the other
should guess its position: »Is it A3?« »No, it is not.« »Is it B4?« »Yes, it is.«
Time for guessing can be limited.

CULTURAL HERITAGE – CAN YOU REMEMBER A WORD BEGINING

WITH A?
Material: /
Comment: the activity is suitable for the reinforcement of knowledge, revision.
We can play this game in pairs, in groups or individually.
Activity, game: In a group children try to find as many words beginning with a
letter, for example a (an accordion, an apple, an aeroplane, an actor...). We
compete: Who (which pair, individual, group) makes up more words beginning
with a specific letter (or voice)? Who makes up a word beginning with a
specific letter (or voice) quicker?

FAMILY – CAN YOU TELL US SOMETHING STUPID?

Material: /
Comment: this game can be played in pairs, groups or individually.
Activity, game: Every couple (group, individual) needs to come up with one of
the most absurd sentences with the use of certain words, for example.
"Mother, daughter" "Daughter is younger than mother."

Do not forget every fun activity or game is didactic and not only a relaxing
activity, because it always requires a certain amount of mental work, in
addition to all this, every child wants to win or at least to get good results. That
is the reason why every game should be adjusted to the children’s mood, to
set different rules, or number of players: we can play one game in groups, if

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we think individual participation could be too stressful for some children, or we
can simply use a certain game because we know children love to play it and
are laughing when playing it – even if we did not plan it in our lesson plan.

11 MY ENVIRONMENT
(Street, village, town, city, citizens, activity, service, animals, plants, nature)

VILLAGE, TOWN – I CAN NAME IT

Material: objects we learn to name (home, school, road, church, tree...)
Comment: there should be different objects in the box. The blind or visually
impaired child should know the objects in advance. It must be clearly
explained, which object represents which institution or building. Once you
determine what is what (school is the one with a flat roof) do not change that
anymore.
Activity, game: Teacher calls a child to pick up one object from the box and
name it (without looking). Then he/she gives it to his/her right, where his blind
or visually impaired classmate is sitting. The blind or visually impaired child
lifts the object (and feels it), so the other classmates can see it. If the answer
was correct, he/she gets applause, if not everybody jumps.
In the case where a blind or visually impaired child is picking up an object
from the box, the object is also given to the right, where another classmate
lifts it up for the others to see.
When the blind or visually impaired child is neither picking up from the box,
nor lifting the object, a teacher should help by saying the correct answer (Yes.
No.), so the child can respond appropriately and correctly (gives applause or
jump).

ACTIVITY, SERVICE, ANIMALS, PLANTS, NATURE, CITIZENS – OUR

CRAZY TEACHER SAYS
Material: /
Comment: the role of a "Crazy teacher" may later be taken by one of the
students. Statements can be based on various themes (animals, activities,
school...)
Activity, game: The "Crazy teacher" is saying various statements, such as:
chairs are bigger than the table; in the bakery you can buy flowers; you can
buy cars at the butchers; the giraffe can climb trees; we write with books; an
earthquake happens because of bad weather... Pupils listen carefully and if
the statement is correct, they jump and put hands on their heads, if not, they
laugh out loud.

ANIMALS – IN THE ZOO

Material: animals we are going to name.
Comment: all the children are taken to the "zoo". We learn to name animals
gradually (not more than six at a time). It is recommended that we present the
animals to the blind or partially sighted student in advance (in order to get
opportunity to feel them); in the afternoon, when having individual lessons…
Activity, game: We organise an exhibition of animals in the classroom – we
make a »mini zoo«. We take a group of students to the "mini zoo", where we
are showing them different animals: "We are in the mini zoo. Look! It’s a cat

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(miaow). It’s a snake (hisssss). It’s a dog (woof-woof). It’s a donkey (ia-ia). It’s
a pig (oink-oink). It’s a cock (cock-a-doodle-doo). It’s a cow (muuu-muuu)."
Other students watch and can later help with sound imitations.

ANIMALS – AN ANIMAL CHAIN

Material: /
Comment: the game can be played in smaller groups (when there are only a
few animals) or upgraded so that children made up a name for their animal
("I’ve got a cat Snowy.")
Activity, game: Children sit in a circle and each tells which animal he/she has
got, and repeats all the animals before him/her. For example: "I’ve got a dog."/
"I’ve got a dog Terry." "I’ve got a dog and a cat."/ "I’ve got a dog Terry and a
cat Snowy." "I’ve got a dog, a cat and a hamster."/"I’ve got a dog Terry, a cat
Snowy and a hamster Little."

ANIMALS, PLANTS, ACTIVITY, SERVICE, CITIZENS – MY FRIENDS

ANIMAL CHAIN
Material: /
Comment: the game can be played in smaller groups (when there are only a
few animals, plants, buildings) or upgrade it so that we introduce ourselves at
the beginning (for example, if my name is Nina, I say: "I’m Nina. I’ve got a cat
(tree, bank).") Or make it even more difficult by saying for our classmates as
well (for example: if my classmate on my right is Elvis, he should say: "I’m
Elvis. I’ve got a dog (rose, police station). Nina has got a cat (tree, bank).«)
We report systematically for each classmate to the left of us (at the beginning
only for one and later we make it more difficult and report for 3, 4 classmates
or everyone in the classroom).
Activity, game: Children sit in a circle and each tells which animal/
plant/building has he/she got, and repeats all the animals/plants/buildings
before him/her. For example: "I’ve got a dog."/ "I’m Nina. I’ve got a dog (tree,
bank)." "I’ve got a cat. She has got a dog."/"I’m Elvis. I’ve got a cat (rose,
police station). Nina has got a cat (tree, bank).«

ANIMALS, PLANTS, ACTIVITY, SERVICE, CITIZENS – WHAT IS YOUR

ANIMAL?
Material: bag of animals (plants, buildings...).
Comment: a child chooses one animal/plant/building only by touching.
Activity, game: Someone chooses one animal and keeps both hands in the
bag. The others guess what he/she has chosen (for example "Is it a snake?").
The game can be upgraded with more detailed questions such as: Is it fast?
Has it got a long tail? Possible answers are only: "Yes (it is/it has)." and "No (it
is not/it has not got one)."

ANIMALS – WHAT ANIMAL SAYS...

Material: /
Comment: /

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Activity, game: One child is chosen to imitate animals, using their voice and
body. For example: "Wow-wow!" "Miaow!" "I-aa!" "Cock-a-doodle-doo!" Others
guess which animal it is. The one who guesses is the next imitator.

ANIMALS, PLANTS, ACTIVITY, SERVICE, CITIZENS, NATURE – GUESS,

WHAT IS ANIMAL...
Material: /
Comment: children can make up riddles themselves or riddles can be
prepared by the teacher so children only read them aloud. We can guess
animals, plants, services, people...
Activity, game: We determine the child who will invent a puzzle, for example.
"It is big and grey (an elephant)." "It is small and gold (a goldfish)." "You can
buy flowers there (florist)." "They speak Slovene there (Slovenia)." Whoever
guesses correctly, invents the next riddle.

ANIMALS – WHAT ANIMAL IS THIS?

Materials: bag of animals or any other objects we learn to name.
Comment: this game is suitable for starting to learn the names of animals. It is
also possible to learn any other new words, like vegetables, fruits, plants,
buildings, flags…
Activity, game: Each child takes one animal out of the bag and says: "This is
my cat." Other classmates repeat: "This is your cat." Then he/she puts the
animal back in the bag.

ANIMALS, PLANTS, ACTIVITY, SERVICE, CITIZENS – DESCRIBE YOUR

ANIMAL (PLANT, SHOP)
Materials: bag of animals (plants, fruits…).
Comment: children know the animals, they have already seen them and are
familiar with terms to describe them.
Activity, game: The teacher offers the child a bag, from which he/she picks up
one animal and describes it. For example: "This is my dog. It is brown. It has
got small ears and a long tail." Other children repeat: "This is your dog."

ANIMALS, PLANTS, ACTIVITY, SERVICE, CITIZENS – I (DON`T) LIKE P...

Material: /
Comment: the game can be upgraded by adding new words from various
themes, units. For example, we start with animals then we add plants, then
activities…
Activity, game: One begins: "I (don’t) like P..." Others guess: "Pigs? Parrots?
Post office? Portuguese? Paddling?" Whoever guesses is the next one to say:
"I (don’t), like..."

ANIMALS, PLANTS, ACTIVITY, SERVICE, CITIZENS – I (DON`T) LIKE P...

Material: box and small papers with different themes on them (animals, plants,
shops, people, activity...). Everything should be written in Braille as well.
Comment: /
Activity, game: One takes out a paper and reads the topic (which others do
not see). For example: animal. He/She chooses one animal and says: "I
(don’t) like d..." The other guess: "Dancing?" "Diving?" "Disco?" "Dogs?"
Whoever guesses is the next one to take a paper out of the box.

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ANIMALS, PLANTS, ACTIVITY, SERVICE, CITIZENS – WHAT DO YOU
SEE?
Material: /
Comment: you can answer with plants, buildings…as well.
Activity, game: Everybody is sitting in a circle and follows the rhythm and,
clockwise, asks the question: "Brown bear, brown bear, what do you see?"
The neighbour on the teacher’s right says: "I see a red bird looking at me."
Everybody asks again: "Red bird, red bird, what do you see?" The neighbour
on the right side of the one answering says: "I see a blue whale looking at
me." Everybody asks again: "Blue whale, blue whale what do you see?"
Everybody should answer at least once.

When playing different games with children, do not forget to listen to them,
because sometimes they will give you a great idea, better than ours, better
than those written in the article. It is important that we hear the children’s
ideas and consider them important, to make them feel anyone can come up
with a good idea about how (in a fun way) to practice, train, learn and teach
something. We should listen to them even when they do not understand
instructions, maybe the instructions were not said clearly or it may also be that
the activity we have chosen is too difficult, too demanding for our children at
this time. We must implement the described activities and games as fun and
relaxing activities, not a burden. We should not forget that what we, as
teachers think or feel often projects onto our children through our working
practice, behaviour, speech, teaching approach. So if our children are not
enthusiastic over a certain activity... What do we think about this activity?

CONCLUSION
The goal of writing this article was to show that teaching blind and partially
sighted children can be fun as well, without putting much effort into
preparation. Although we as teachers and responsible citizens should never
forget the words said by a blind woman at the conference Blind woman
(Kermauner, 2009: 91): “Do not treat me as a blind (partially sighted)
person, but never forget I am blind (partially sighted).” Those who
understand her words will always know how to communicate with blind and
partially sighted people and help them understand what they cannot see –
without demanding any special prize or praise – because that is our work –
we are teachers, teachers with hearts.

LITERATURE
- Brvar, R. (2000). Geografija nekoliko drugače: didaktika in metode pouka
geografije za slepe in slabovidne učence. Ljubljana, Zavod Republike
Slovenije za šolstvo.
- Kermauner, A. (2009). Na drugi strani vek: opis prvoosebne
fenomenološke raziskave - kako je biti slep. Ljubljana, Študentska
založba.
- Predlog posodobljenega učnega načrta za angleščino (A proposal of new
curriculum for English) (2008). Ljubljana, Zavod Republike Slovenije za
šolstvo.
- Učni načrt za angleščino (Curriculum for English) (2004). Ljubljana, Zavod

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Republike Slovenije za šolstvo.

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