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Mark's games

These games are primarily closure and practice games and are essentially a list of my favourites. They have no relevance to any Units and should be tweaked to incorporate your lesson’s contents if possible. A lot of the games are complicated – I like to challenge my SS. For these games I rarely explain anything, instead I grab a smart kid and have them demo it with me.

 

For a list of games more specific to closure games, practice activities or age levels see the other lists in the games section of the website.

 

S = Student, SS = Students, T = Teacher, SB = Sticky Ball, WBs = Whiteboards,

PSS = Paper, Scissors, Stone.

 

   Die Games

 

 

  • Three Segment Die Roll: (Stolen from Mandy): Place two hoops in the centre of the room, one overlapping the other to create three segments with the middle segment being smaller than the others. Allocate points to the segments. Draw a ‘throw’ line away from the hoops and have SS roll the die into the segments. To make things harder have the SS turn around and throw the die either between their legs or over their head.

  • Score multiplier: Place the WBs on the floor at one side of the room. Behind the boards place the two hoops on the floor one in front of the other. In the hoop closest to the board write x2 and then x3 in the other hoop. Give each team a small amount of points on the WBs. Have SS stand on the other side of the WBs and perform a quick writing race (usually with vocab words). Award the winner a small amount of points. When SS are done writing have them turn around and toss the die over their heads to the hoops. If they land the die in either hoop multiply their teams score on the WBs by either 2 or 3.

  • Die Ninja: (Stolen from James): Place a hoop on the floor and draw a ‘throw’ line a little further away from it – distance depends on age of SS. Have SS throw the die at the T. Allocate different points for parts of your body. T needs to dodge the die without moving from the hoop. Should the T step out of the hoop, award the S even more points. I often tell the SS that they will be docked points should they hit the Co-Teacher with the die.

  • Dodge Ball: Draw two large boxes on the floor big enough for one team to stand in each box. Choose two teams and have them stand in the boxes facing each other. Lay out the rules and be very strict with them or the game will go on too long. Rules: If a SS throws over arm it is classed as a foul and they are eliminated; If SS stand outside of their box they are to PSS with you and are eliminated if they lose; If the die hits the floor before anything else, nothing happens and nobody is eliminated; If the die hits a S before the floor and is not caught, the hit S is eliminated; If the die is caught the thrower is eliminated. If the games go quickly I usually play teams A vs B, C vs D and the then pit the two winners against each other.

  • Die Clap: This is a twist on the usual ‘throw the die up and see how many times you can clap while the die is in the air’ game. Have a team stand in the 4 corners of the room. S1 throws the die to S2 and S2 has to clap while the die is in the air. Continue with S2 to S3 and S3 to S4, etc… I usually continue this for eight throws per team if there are 4 SS per team or ten throws per team if there are 5 SS per team.

  • Die Defender: Draw a large box on the floor (should take up about half of the room from where the WB is). Separate the box with several horizontal lines and allocate points for each section (getting higher the further away from the SS). Make sure there is a gap between the box and the wall where the WB is so that if the die lands past the box, no score is awarded. On the S side of the box place two hoops in front of the box and draw another ‘throw’ line in front of the hoops. Bring up number 1’s and after reciting the lesson content have the first two SS stand in the hoops facing the other two. The latter two must take turns to throw the die over or around the SS in the hoops and land the die in the box. The further away it lands the more points are awarded but if it goes too far past the box they get nothing. It is the former SS’s job to block the die from landing in the box without moving from the hoops. Once the first two SS have thrown, have the throwers and defenders swap so everyone gets a throw. To make it harder, you can ban the use of the wall/WB to rebound the die off. Although this seems like a complicated game to set up, once it is ready and the kids understand it (demo it) they really enjoy it.

  • Penalty Shoot-Out: If you have two spare chairs, place them at the front of the room (one chair has its desk facing the WB, the other has the desk facing the SS). Place a hoop off the ground between the chairs (you can usually wedge it between seat and desk and the fact that the seats are facing different directions should hold it in place). There should be just enough room for the die to pass under the hoop if it kicked across the floor. Draw a ‘kick’ line further back on the floor – I usually draw a penalty spot too – and have the SS shoot the die throw the hoop. This is fairly difficult but can be funny. To make it easier bring the ‘kick’ line forward.

  • Head in the Hoop: For a bit of fun, play the same game as above but instead of propping up the hoop with chairs hang the hoop around your neck and bend over giving the SS a goal to shoot through with the potential added bonus of kicking the die in your face!

  • Cooperation Throw: Have two/three SS from a team stand at one side of the room and the rest of the team at the other. Give one group a hoop and have them hold it up together. Give the die to other SS and have them take turns to turn around and throw the die over their heads towards the group with the hoop. The SS with the hoop must work together to lift the hoop so that the die passes through it. Give every SS in the team a turn to throw the die.

  • Piggy in the Middle: Here you are the piggy. Draw a rectangle area in the middle of the class from one side to the other. You stand in the middle and cannot leave this area. A team stands up and splits themselves into the two halves of the room on either side of you. The team has twenty seconds to pass the dice from one side of the room to the other, every time the dice crosses your area they receive a point. If the dice hits the floor the point is not awarded. If you catch the dice, the time stops. This is quick and fun. You may find it difficult to count the points and the time down at the same time so have a trustworthy S help you.​

 

S = Student, SS = Students, T = Teacher, SB = Sticky Ball, WBs = Whiteboards,

PSS = Paper, Scissors, Stone.

 

   SB Games

 

 

  • WB Ladder: Place the WBs in a line along the room with smallish gaps in between each WB (a bit like a ladder towards the main board). At one end draw a ‘throw’ line. Allocate points to each WB – making the points higher the further from the SS they are. However, in between each WB allocate minus/penalty points (again getting higher as they get further away). If the SB lands on the WBs, the SS are awarded points but if it lands between the WBs, they lose points. For younger SS make the gaps between the WBs smaller. For very young SS avoid this game as often younger SS get upset if they lose points for their team.

  • Golf: I only play this with older classes. Set up a ‘golf course’ on the floor – this usually consists of a few small islands and chairs as obstacles. On the last part of the course I draw a circle for the ‘hole’ and make sure that a chair or something is in the way so that a ‘hole-in-one’ is almost impossible. The SS have to take it in turns to get the SB to the hole with as few throws as possible. If they land the ball on an island, they can move to the island and throw from there next time. If the throw lands outside an island (in the water) they have to go back to where they threw from and throw again (a throw is added to their tally). I tally up the total scores for each team and award the team with the lowest throws the most points, second lowest throws the second most points, etc…

  • Basketball: Place the Co-Teacher’s basket under the WB. Draw semi-circular ‘throw’ lines away from the basket all the way to the other side of the room. Allocate each ‘throw’ line a set amount of points and have SS choose which ‘throw’ line they wish to throw from and then throw the SB into the basket. No points are awarded if they miss.

  • Hoop Roll – (Stolen from Michael): Have number 1’s from four teams stand up and have two SS stand in one corner farthest from the WB and the other two in the other corner. Draw a target on the WB (can be anything). Give the first two SS a hoop and have them both place their hands on it. They must roll the hoop together towards the WB. Wherever the hoop stops the first two must go to and throw the SB at the target. Repeat with the other two SS in the other corner. Make sure the SS are rolling the hoop together as this makes it much more difficult to coordinate the roll between them and often the hoop rolls to random places (which adds amusement). Also ensure that you are watching the hoop at all times while it’s rolling and be ready to stop it from rolling into the Co-Teacher or other SS.

  • Basket Approach: This is another one for the older kids. On the floor close to the WB place the Co-Teacher’s basket. Place a ‘throw’ line at the other side of the classroom. Draw many smaller lines between the basket and the ‘throw’ line. Now place a hoop on either side of the basket. Tell the SS that they have 30 seconds to throw the ball into the basket as many times as possible (you keep a tally). Tell them they must work as a team. Also inform them that if they successfully throw the ball into a hoop instead of the basket, they can move the basket forward to the next line and that this can be done as many times as possible. Give them clues about how to perform the task as a team: have one or two throwers on the throw line; have a pitcher stand by the hoops or basket to throw the ball back to the throwers or move the basket forward. As the T, you will need to count down, keep a tally of how many successful baskets and make sure they are not moving the basket forward until they have landed the ball in a hoop.

  • Killer Pizza – (a take on the normal pizza game): This can take a few minutes to set up. Place four WBs on the floor close to the main board. Place a hoop between the WBs and main board. Separate each WB and the hoop into pizza segments as you usually would with pizza. Draw a ‘throw’ line further away from the WBs (but not too far away). Each WB represents a team. Should a S choose to throw the SB onto another team’s WB, that team will lose the respective amount of points. If the S chooses to through the ball to the pizza hoop instead, their team gain the respective amount of points that the ball lands on. This can get loud as often teams shout at the thrower to eliminate other team’s points and the SS can sometimes gang up on a certain team. I would therefore only play this with a well behaved class.

  • Shrinking Targets: Either on the floor or the WB, draw a set of targets getting smaller as the get further away. Allocate points – higher points for the smaller targets – and have SS throw the SB at the targets.

  • Skittles: Draw a ‘throw’ line at one side of the room and in the centre of the room set up a triangle of bowling pins – I often stand up markers. Have SS throw something at the markers: a SB can be very difficult as it doesn’t roll, bounce or slide; markers are fun but make sure the SS don’t launch the markers across the room; I like to use random items in the Co-Teachers baskets. Recently in the Christmas Unit in book 4 I used a Christmas tree, a Christmas card, a present, a toy reindeer, a Santa toy, etc… as bowling pins which was fun. You can allocate points for each pin in a certain line or just give a set amount of points for each pin. Have a SS help you put back the knocked down pins.

  • Ball to Die – (stolen from Sam M): Place a hoop in the centre of the room and inside draw a target circle with the circles getting smaller towards the centre and allocate points. Draw two ‘throw’ lines a little further away from the hoop on opposite sides. Have one S throw the SB from one line to the other S. The second S needs to hold the die and deflect the SB into the hoop for points.

  • Pizza Elimination – two teams stand on opposite sides of a pizza hoop in the middle of the room (the teams are a little further back and are standing at a throw line). Segment the pizza and number the segments by how many members are in each team. For example: if you are using teams of four, you now have eight SS standing up in two separate teams facing the pizza hoop – you segment the hoop in eight segments and write ‘1’ in 2 segments, ‘2’ in 2 segments, ‘3’ in 2 segments, ‘4’ in 2 segments. Have the teams say something like one team asks a grammar question and the other team answers. Now ask a question to all the players (how do you spell…?). The first player to answer can throw the SB into the pizza hoop and whatever number the SB lands on, the opposite team player with the corresponding number is eliminated. The team with players still standing are the winners and awarded points. If you have four teams, play the game twice. If you have three teams, have the teams standing in a circle around the hoop. When a player hits a number, the two players with the corresponding number from the other two teams are eliminated.

 

S = Student, SS = Students, T = Teacher, SB = Sticky Ball, WBs = Whiteboards,

PSS = Paper, Scissors, Stone.

 

   Hoop Games

 

 

  • Foot in Hoop: Place a hoop in the centre of the room and have number 1’s stand around the hoop. When (and only when) you say a particular word the SS must race to place a foot in the hoop. The slowest loses and is eliminated. Reel off a lot of random words before you say the trigger word. Should a S put his foot in the hoop prematurely, they are also eliminated. The winner is the last one standing. For practice show the non-participating SS flash cards and have them call out the words occasionally. This kind of game can be incorporated into many other games like ‘Dual’ below where the SS have to respond to hearing a certain word.

  • Foot Count: (Stolen from Barbie Q): Place a hoop in the centre of the room and have a particular team stand around the hoop. When you call a number, between them, the team must place that amount of feet inside the hoop and keep them there. For example, if you call the number 1, only one S should place one of their feet into the hoop (not one foot from each student). Keep calling numbers until the teams slips up and keep a tally of how many times they are successful. I usually give the SS a bit of lee-way to begin with to get them into the swing of things

 

S = Student, SS = Students, T = Teacher, SB = Sticky Ball, WBs = Whiteboards,

PSS = Paper, Scissors, Stone.

 

   Other Games

 

 

  • Marker Roll: Draw a ‘throw’ line. Draw random boxes on the floor and allocate points – higher for the smaller boxes or further away. Have the SS roll a marker into the boxes. This is much harder than it sounds as the markers often roll off in random directions. For an extra bit of fun, place random object on the floor for the SS to hit or avoid.

  • Mini-Golf: Make a mini-golf course using WBs and objects (like long magnets, SB, chairs) as buffers. Instead of a hole, I usually draw targets or section off parts of the course and allocate points. Draw a small ‘tee’ circle in front of the throw line and place a small round magnet upside down in the circle. SS must stand on the ‘throw’ line and use a hammer to hit the magnet across the course. I usually only give the SS one attempt unless they completely miss the magnet (which can be very funny when a S misses continuously).

  • Magnet Slide: This is essentially the same as above and is often used in K-classes but with having the SS slide the magnet across whatever course you have assembled instead of using the hammer.

  • Dual – (Stolen from Michael): Place flash cards or write words in a line across the floor. Have one team stand on one side of the words/cards and another team on the other side. Reel off a lot of random words but when you say one of the words on the floor the two SS standing either side of that word must ‘pew’ each other and the loser is eliminated. Continue until all SS from one team are eliminated. You may need to reshuffle the words or SS so that every SS has an opponent.

  • Spelling Circle: Bring in some blocks or other objects that can be balanced on top of each other. Move around the room randomly selecting SS. Tell them a word and have them tell you the first letter of the word. Select another S and have them tell you the second letter. Continue until the word is spelt and then change the word. If a S makes a mistake have them come up and place two blocks on the floor, one on top of the other. Continue this until the tower falls over, in which case give the other three teams points. I am usually very strict on cheating during this game so it goes faster. If any S cheats by feeding the selected S the correct letter, I immediately have the cheating S come up and build the tower.

  • What’s Missing? – Having elicited/taught the vocabulary and written them all in a nice list on the board, have SS stand on a line. Using a WB to cover your actions, simply erase a letter with your fingers from one of the words. The SS need to work out which letter is missing and say the word.

  • Points Gamble: At any point during the class have each team choose an amount of points from their current total and roll a die. If they get a 1,2 or 3 they are deducted that amount of points. If they roll a 4,5 or 6 they gain that amount of points. Quick and easy.

  • Number Guess – (stolen from Joe M): Great for practising numbers. Write a number on your hand and draw a question mark in the centre of the board. Write an upper limit number at the top of the board and the lower limit at the bottom of the board. SS have to guess what the question mark (the number on your hand) is. If they guess wrong, write the chosen number on the board above or below the question mark depending on whether it is higher or lower than the question mark number.

  • Walk the Line: a twist on the card-on-the-head game for slightly older SS. Draw a large U shape on the floor. SS need to take it turns to balance a card on their head while walking around the U shape. You count as they walk. If the card drops, they are eliminated. Keep an eye on their feet – if at any time a foot in not touching the line, they are also eliminated. The fastest SS to complete the U shape with the card still on their head is the winner. I usually do this in heats of four and the fastest SS from each heat is the winner. If you have time, you could make a semi-final and final depending on how many SS you have.

 

S = Student, SS = Students, T = Teacher, SB = Sticky Ball, WBs = Whiteboards,

PSS = Paper, Scissors, Stone.

 

   Quick and Easy

 

 

  • Flash Card Challenge – (Stolen from Kevin): Hold up the flash cards. Hide one hand behind the cards and then reveal a certain amount of fingers. If you show one finger, SS must saw the vocab word once, two fingers SS must say the word twice, etc… If you drop your palm under the Flash card this is an indication that the SS must spell the vocab word. However, if I reveal a fist, the SS must race to stand up, turn around and then sit down. The fastest S is award points.

  • Key Word: The above game can be done at any point using a key word. My key word in all of my classes is Monkey. So, if at any point during the class, my SS know that if I say the word Monkey they have to race to stand up, turn around and sit down. This keeps them on their toes.

  • Zombie – (stolen from Tim/Michael): Give a die to the SS closes to the door. Have the SS pass the die around the room while saying a particular word. The T starts off by the door and walks around the SS acting like a zombie. At the other end of the SS I usually draw some brains on the floor. The SS must race the zombie T by getting the die around the room and the last S standing up and shouting the particular vocab word – in doing so defeating the Zombie.

  • Say/Show/Write: This takes a few minutes to set up at the start of the class. Like in most of my classes, I usually elicit and write up the vocabulary words on the left hand side of the board and keep them there throughout the class. With this game, if I know I don't need to use the board much during the class, I write: Say x5 - Show - Write, in boxes at the top of the board. I make boxes at the bottom of the board for each team to write in and put markers on the floor in circles. I place a red marker in my pocket and explain that the SS need to keep an eye out for this. Show them that at any point during the next hour you will draw a red star next to a vocabulary word or grammar point. Then at another point in the class you will write a number next to the 'Saw/Show/Write' at the top of the board. The number corresponds to the team member and the action you write the number next to is what they have to do with regards to the word that the red star is next to. For example, you have the word monkey on the left-hand side in the vocabular section; you put a red star next to the word monkey and then continue the class; 5 minutes later you sneakily write the number '1' next to 'Show'. The first S (that is number 1) to do a monkey impression is the winner. With the 'Say x5' i have the SS jump up and down and say the word 5 times. With 'Write' they have to go to the board write the word down, place the marker back in the circle and sit down. This all may seem a little complicated, but once it is set up, it is quick and easy to perform, keeps the SS on their toes, helps SS learn complicated vocabulary in Hour 1 and can be continuously used throughtout the class. I would advise against using this if at any point you need to do elaborate things on the board.

 

S = Student, SS = Students, T = Teacher, SB = Sticky Ball, WBs = Whiteboards,

PSS = Paper, Scissors, Stone.

 

Dialouges 

 

 

  • Read and Eliminate: After reading a dialogue/reader once or twice have all the SS stand up next to their desk. Choose a S at random and have them read the first line then roll the die. If they roll a 1, they can eliminate one S from another team and that S has to sit down. If they roll a 2, they can eliminate two SS. If they roll a 3, they can bring a S from their team back into the game. If they roll a 4, 5 or 6 the die is passed around the room the corresponding amount of times and then that S reads and rolls. Continue until only 1 SS is left standing.

  • Whispers: Tales of Joy. Place the dialogue strips on the board in order. Have a team stand in the middle of the room in a jagged line. Whisper one of the lines to the first S and have him whisper the same line to the next S. The last S will run to the board and hit the correct line that was originally whispered. Then have all the team say the line out loud.

  • Timed Reassemble: In turn, give each team all of the dialogue strips. When you say ‘go’, time the team to see how fast they can place the strips on the board in the correct order. Award the teams points depending on which teams are faster. Variations of this can be done when you have particular characters in dialogues and you can have the teams place the strips next to the picture magnet of the characters rather than in the correct order (for example put up four dwarves and have the teams place the correct strips under them: ‘This is my bag. It’s red.’ under Happy).

  • Upside-Down Strips: Tales of Joy. After drilling the dialogue several times, place the strips upside down on the floor. Mix them up so they are no longer in order. T selects a S randomly. The S must say what the first line of the dialogue is and then chose which of the strips they think the line is from the upside down strips. If correct they receive points. Sometimes the strips can be relatively see-through. If this is the case, taking a couple of books and covering the middle sections of the upside down strips should help.

  • Find My Word: Many students play this with readers, where they say a word and have SS find the word in the text and read the sentence. My variation is instead of telling the SS the word you want them to find, write it as an anagram on the board or play hangman with the word until a S can find it and read the sentence.

 

S = Student, SS = Students, T = Teacher, SB = Sticky Ball, WBs = Whiteboards,

PSS = Paper, Scissors, Stone.

 

Circle Games 

 

 

These games are very often used badly by teachers and therefore criticized for having little education value. More than often the SS that are eliminated are usually left to sit at the back of the class uninvolved. I have come up with a very simple solution to this: once you have eliminated several SS from the game, have the SS repeat grammar points, vocab spellings, dialogue strips, etc… The eliminated SS that are behaving well and saying the things you want from them can come back into the game. In the past year, I have not seen SS try as hard to impress me with their English ability than during these few seconds. I also give the winner, runner up and third place SS points for their teams. The games you can use are:

 

  • Pew Pew: Often hated by many teachers, but loved by SS, I embrace it. If the kids want to play the game and want to impress you to get back into the game then you can pretty much get them to do or say anything. Normal rules: All SS stand in a circle, you say a Ss name, they crouch down and the two SS either side of them have to shoot each other with finger guns. The loser is eliminated. Continue until all but two are eliminated and then have them stand back-to-back in a dual scenario. When you say a specific word they have to turn and shoot. I use this dual finale for all of my circle games.

  • 13’s: All SS stand in a circle. Choose a S at random and have them say one, two or three numbers, for example: 1, 1-2 or 1-2-3. The next S continues with one, two or three numbers. This continues around the circle until a S has to say ‘13’. This S is eliminated.

  • Die Pass: All SS stand in a circle. Give one S a die and have them pass the die around the circle. Count down from 10 and whoever has the die on 10 is eliminated.

  • Gua Gua: Choose a S to start with and say ‘1’. That S has to crouch down and say ‘Gua’ – I think they think this is the sound a frog makes. Next say any number. The number corresponds to the amount of SS on the right of the first S. They have to crouch now. Let’s say you said 1 to begin with and the first kid crouched, then you said 2, and the two SS to the right of the first S now crouched, now you say 4, and the four SS to the right of the first three SS have to crouch (if you’re following me seven SS should have crouched once so far going anticlockwise in a circle). Continue calling numbers until a S crouches when he shouldn’t have or doesn’t crouch when he should have. This game is much easier than I’ve described it to be here!

  • All 4: For classes that know all the games, simply call the name of the game you are playing first and begin the game. Then randomly change the game by calling out the game number and a random SS to start it. Continue changing the game throughout until all but three SS remain. Then play dice pass to eliminate the third from last S, and then dual for the winner.

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