Alphabet Shout Out

Randomly choose an alphabet flashcard and award a point to the first student who shouts out a word
beginning with that letter.

Alphabet Writing Relay

Divide and line up the students into two teams. Divide the board into two halves and have one student
from each team run to the board, write 'A', then run to the back of the line. The next student writes 'B',
etc. The first team to finish wins.

Alphabet Erase relay

As 'Alphabet Writing Relay', but this time, write the alphabet on each half of the board and have each
team race to erase the letters in order.

Alphabet Sculptures
Divide the students into teams and call out a letter of the alphabet. Award a point to the first team that
can form the letter with their bodies.

Alphabet Soup
Give each student an alphabet flashcard and have them skip around the room to the 'ABC Song'. Stop
the tape at random and have the students rush to line up in order, e.g. A-K.

Alphabet Touch
Call out letters and have the students find and touch them in the classroom, on posters, etc.

Alphabet Wave
Give each student a few ordered alphabet flashcards and play the 'ABC Song'. Have the students hold up
the cards that correspond to the letters they hear in the song.

Animal Crackers
Take a big dice and assign an animal to each number. Have the students roll the dice and act like the
animal!

The Ball
Throw the ball to a student and ask that student a question. The student answers and throws the ball to
another student asking the same question. E.g. "Can you...?", "Yes, I can. / No, I can't." "Do you
like...?", "Yes, I do. / No, I don't." More simple: My favorite color is…

Balloon Toss
Have the students stand in a circle. Toss a balloon to one student and elicit vocabulary or a structure
from that student. They must be able to tap the balloon in the air without missing the vocabulary or
structure E.g. S1: "My name's Miki. What's your name?" (tap) "My name's Hiro. What's your name?"
(tap).

Basic Flashcard Fun

The teacher simply holds up a flash card and elicits the answer from the students. This can be done in
teams with points awarded for correct answers.

Beat The Clock

Time the students as they race to put alphabet, days of the week, or month flashcards in order. Have
them try again to see if they can beat their fastest time.

Bingo
Bingo can be used with any topic. Blank Bingo sheets can be used, and students can write of draw
randomly in the boxes. The winner is the first student to cross out all the numbers/letters etc. on the
sheet.
Blindfold Conversation
Arrange the class in a circle and choose one student to stand in the circle with a blindfold on. Spin the
student and tell him/her to point. Tell the student to guess the name of the student he/she is pointing at
by talking to him/her. E.g. "Hello. How are you? Do you like...?"

Bluff
The object of the game is to be the first student to get rid of all his/her cards. Divide the students into
small group and deal flashcards to each student. Player 1 chooses a card from his/her hand and throws it
face down on the table saying, for example, "I have (a cat)". Player 1 may be telling the truth or bluffing.
If player 2 has a 'cat' in his/her hand then there's a good chance player 1 is bluffing. Player 2 should say
"No, you don't". If player 1 was bluffing, player 2 gives player 1 a penalty card from his/her hand. If
player 1 was telling the truth then he/she gives player 2 a penalty card from his/her hand. Continue until
one student is out of cards.

The Bomb
Pass a ball, object or a flash card around a circle of students. When the timer rings, the student holding
the ball must answer a question, make a sentence or say a word.

Car Race
Arrange the flash cards in a long line with starting and finishing points. Give each student a counter. The
first student throws the dice and moves. The student must say the word on the flashcard he/she lands on.
If the student makes a mistake, he/she goes back to his/her original place. Add colored paper between
cards to represent 'Take Another Turn', and assign a crash number e.g. #4 on the dice which means the
student must return to the beginning.

Catch The Fruit

Toss a piece of plastic fruit to a student and ask, "What is it?" Elicit and prompt the correct vocabulary.
Gesture the student to throw it back to you and repeat with different fruit and students. For a variation
see 'The Ball'.

Charades
Divide and line up the class into two teams. The first student from each team comes to the front. The
teacher whispers a word or shows a flashcard to the two students and they act it out. The first team to
call out the correct word gets a point. E.g. sleeping, eating, playing soccer...

Chinese whisper
Show a flashcard to 1 student in the circle. He whispers to the next one and so one. The last one must
say is out loud.

Charts
I like/I don’t like, I can/I cant – students mark X or O on the pictures

Clap your hands!

Count how many times the teacher clap her hands. Let the students clap as well.

Clap your hands!

Say words related to a group (ex. Food, colors, animals, etc). When the teacher says a word that doesn’t
belong, students must clap their hands.

Clothes Hanging
For real and/or on a piece of paper, with string and pieces of clothes from magazines.

Clusters
Play any music and have the students walk, skip, jump, hop, etc around the room randomly. Stop the
music and call out a number between 1-8. The students must quickly get together in a group or groups of
that number, and the odd students must sit out until the next round.

Comics
Fill the spaces with the text

Commando
The teacher is the commando and gives commands to the class and/or individual students. This is a great
energy burner as well as review of actions colors, numbers or anything else you can throw in. E.g.
"Jump 10 times", "Touch your (body part)", "Touch (classroom object", "Turn around", "Stand up / Sit
down".

Concentration / Memory
Have the students sit in a circle. Spread out the flashcards (2 sets) face down. Students take turns
flipping over two cards and saying the vocabulary. If the flashcards are a match, the student keeps the
cards. If they are different, they remain face down. The student with the most pairs is the winner.

Conversation Relay
Line up the students in two teams and have the last student in each team tap the shoulder of the student
in front and have a conversation E.g. "What's you name?", "How are you?". The student answering then
starts the same conversation with the student in front, and so on. When the conversation reaches the
front, the student at the front must run to the back and continue the procedure. The first team to get all
the students back in their original positions wins.

Crazy Train
Students line up behind the teacher in a choo choo train line. Give commands such as "faster", "slower",
"turn left", and "stop".

Crazy Storytelling
Put flashcards and objects in a box and tell a story

Dance Of The Ostriches

Pair up students and attach a flashcard to their backs. The object of the game is to look at the other
student's flash card and yell out the word before they see yours.

Draw It Relay
Divide the students into two teams. Whisper a flashcard to the first member of both teams and have
them run to the board and draw the word as fast as possible. Award points to the fastest team.

Duck Duck Goose

Students sit in a circle and the teacher starts by walking round the outside of the circle tapping the
students on the head saying "duck". When the teacher says "goose" the student whose head was touched
must jump up and chase the teacher round the circle. The teacher must sit down in the student's spot
before being tagged. If tagged, the teacher must continue tapping heads. If not, the student walks around
the circle touching heads. It might be easier to use vocabulary like "cat, cat, dog" or similar, or even
"duck, duck, dog" to practice awareness of 'u' vs 'o' and 'g' vs 'ck' sounds.

Face Workshop
Give a face and parts of it so students can complete it.

Family Picture show and tell

Ask students to bring photos and show everybody.
Fashion Show
Have each student stand up one at a time and elicit from the class what he or she is wearing.

Favorite color cutting

Each student chooses his favorite color. Give magazines put and ask them to cut objevts with this color.

Find It
The teacher holds up a letter flashcard. The students must search around the room to find either a corresponding
object/picture that begins with that letter or find that same letter written somewhere in the room. The purpose of this game
is letter recognition. It can be played as a relay race with two teams racing to find the letters first.

First letter
Give the students various picture flashcards. Go through the ABC's and instruct students to hold up the flashcards that
begin with that letter.

Flash Card Act Out

Choose one or more students to come to the front. Show a flash card or whisper a word, and have the students act it out.
Reward the first student to guess the correct answer. This can be used with many subjects (e.g. sports, actions, verbs,
animals, etc.)

Flash Card Walk

Arrange the flashcards in a big circle. Play some music while the students walk around the circle. When the music stops, call
out a flashcard, and the student standing next to the flashcard wins.

Follow The Leader

Students line up behind the teacher and follow the teacher's actions. Use as a review for identifying and chorusing
classroom objects or acting out actions. Give the students a chance to lead.

Funny People
Create funny people with parts of the body from magazines, etc

Gestures
Use western gestures in your class.
Expressions Gestures

Hello wave

Goodbye wave

It's cold put arms around shoulders

It's hot fan your face with hands

No! shake your head "no"

Come here move your index finger

Me! Touch your chest

OK make the OK sign

I don't know pull shoulders and hands up

Shhhh index finger in front of mouth

Stop hand up, palm out

Stand up raise hand slightly, palm up

Sit down lower hand slightly, palm down

Go Fish
Have students choose two flashcards each. Have the students hold the flashcards face up but not to show anyone. Choose a
student and ask "Do you have a cat?" If the answer is yes, they have to give you the flash card. Have each student ask
other students questions. A student with no cards is out.

Grab
Use Lego. Spread out the Lego and call out "(Five!)". The students should take five blocks, join them together to make a
pattern and hold them up. Next say "two blue, one yellow" and other combinations to 5.
Grab It Relay / Race to Touch
Lay the flashcards on the floor at one end of the room, and have the students line up in teams at the other end of the room.
Call out a flashcard and have the first person in each team race to grab the card. Those students then go to the back and
the next students race to grab the next flashcard the teacher calls.

Hangman
Use review words from past lessons. The teacher chooses a word and writes the appropriate number of spaces on the
board. Students guess a letter one by one. If the student guesses correctly, write that letter in the space and give the
student another turn. If they guess wrongly, start drawing a hanging man and have the next student guess a letter. Let the
first student to guess the word take the teacher's place. You may prefer to draw a hanging spider (Spiderman?) instead.

Hello lines
2 lines, one facing the other. The first 2 students talk to each other: Hello/ Hello/How are you? Im fine/ and run to the end
of the line.

Hot Potato
Play like 'Pass It' using a time limit for added motivation. Set the timer for 10 seconds. When the timer goes off, the student
holding the flashcard must say the vocabulary / structure.

I Spy
The teacher says "I spy with my little eye something beginning with G". Students try to guess the object (E.g. garbage
can). Use classroom objects and with younger students use colors rather than letters e.g. "I spy with my little eye
something (red)."

In a dark wood
In a dark, dark wood.. (verificar pg 41)

I've Got It
Have students sit in a circle. Give each student a flashcard or item. Ask "What is it?" and elicit the vocabulary. Call out the
vocabulary and have the students stand up and say the flash card. Repeat until all the students are standing, then continue
until all the students are sitting. Go at a fast pace so the students are sitting and standing rapidly.

Jeopardy
Make a jeopardy grid on the white board as follows: Jeopardy
Fruit Sports Animals Body

10 _______ _______ _______ _______

20 _______ _______ _______ _______

30 _______ _______ _______ _______

40 _______ _______ _______ _______

50 _______ _______ _______ _______

In teams, or individually, let the students randomly pick a category and the points to be attempted. The teacher will then
ask a question and (a 40 point question should be more difficult than a 10 point question) if the students get the correct
answer their team name is written in that box. When all the boxes are filled the team with the most points wins.

Jumping The Line

Put a piece of tape across the middle of the floor or draw an imaginary line dividing the room. Designate ones side as 'true'
and the other side as 'false'. Line up the students on the line, hold up a flashcard and say a word. If the students think you
said the word that matches the flashcard, they should jump to the 'true' side, otherwise they should jump to the 'false' side.
Students who make a mistake should sit out until the next round.

Jump song
Fulano X2 Jump up and downX2 EverybodyX2 Up, up, up, up……. and down!!!!!!!

Lego
Spread Lego on the floor and call a color for the students to pick up. Continue until all the colors have been called. Allow the
students to play with the blocks for a few minutes before packing up. While the students are playing, talk to them about
what they're making and the colors they're using.

Letter To Word Match

Give each student an alphabet flashcard, and spread alphabet picture cards randomly around the room. Play and sing the
'ABC Song'. When finished, have the students match their alphabet card to an alphabet picture card and say the letter and
vocabulary. Change cards and repeat.

Listen and Order

Put the students into pairs and give them number cards (1-10). Call out numbers (out of order) and have the students put
their cards in that order. When finished, have the students chant the numbers in the order you gave them.

Magic Finger
Print a letter of the alphabet on the board. Instruct the students to stand and face the board. Raise your 'magic finger' and
trace the letter in the air. Be silly and use other parts of your body to trace the letter, e.g. elbow, foot, nose, tongue.

Make A Sentence
Put the students into teams and lay out a selection of flashcards or items. One student from each team chooses a
vocabulary item and uses it correctly in a sentence. Give each student ten seconds on the timer. Reduce the time in the
second and third round. As the item is named, the teacher puts it away and gives the team a point. Write the points on the
whiteboard.

Map Game
Use a world map and elicit "Where are you from?", "Where do you live?", "Where do people speak Spanish?", "Where's
China?", and any other questions you can think of. Also show and tell the students about where you are from.

Memory Buzz
Have the students sit in a circle and start building a sentence. Student 1 says "In the classroom, I see a clock", student 2
says "In the classroom, I see a clock and a map", student 3 says "In the classroom I see a clock, a map and a chair" etc.
For a variation, see 'Question Chain'.

Memory Master
Have the students sit in a circle. Designate one student to be the Memory Master. Arrange the flashcards face up in the
center. Each student chooses a flashcard and says the word. They cannot touch the flashcards. After everyone has chosen,
the Memory Master must hand the correct flash cards to each student.

Memory Tray
Bring in a tray of various review or new objects. Elicit the names of the objects and give the students a minute to memorize
what's on the tray. Take the tray away and see how many objects can be remembered. Older students should write a list of
objects. The student who remembers the most objects gets a point. Can be done with flashcards.

Musical Chairs
Line up the chairs and place a flashcard on each one. Play some music and have the students walk, skip, jump around the
chairs. When the music stops, the students should sit down on a chair and shout out their flash cards. For more excitement
remove a chair while the music is playing and make the chair-less student sit out until the next round.

Object Toss
Select three soft objects. Assign object#1 the question "Do you want some milk?", assign object#2 the response "Yes, I
do." And object#3, "No, I don't". Toss each object to a student and have them use the appropriate phrase. Then they toss
the objects to different students.

On My Back
Line up the students in two teams and have them face the front. Show an alphabet flashcard to the student at the back of
each line and have them use their finger to draw the letter on the back of the student in front. The next student draws on
the next student and so on. The student at the front of each line then writes the letter on the board.

Numbers race
Write numbers (or correspondent objects) in sheets. Spread all over the classroom/ court. When the teacher says 5, they all
have to race to the five sheet.

Number guessing game

Hide toothpick on your hand. As students: how many…?

Paper Airplane Contest

Give students a couple of minutes to make an airplane and one minute to test them. Divide the students into two teams and
have the teams stand at the back of the room. Ask a student a question and if the answer is correct that student gets a
throw. Assign points to different objects in the room (white board = 10pts., far wall = 15pts., etc.). Each student should be
asked a question and teammates can help if needed.

Pass It
Have the students sit in a circle. The teacher holds up a flashcard or object (e.g. ball, pen, eraser, etc.), says the word and
passes it to the next student. That student holds up the card/object and says the vocabulary and passes it on. After a
couple of rounds start the flash cards/objects going in the opposite direction. Also try a speed round.

Pass The Secret

Have the students sit in a circle. Show them that they have to whisper to the person next to them. Start the secret by
whispering it to the student next to you, e.g. "It's Windy." Have the students pass the secret around the circle. The last
student says the secret out loud. Compare how close it is to the original secret. If necessary, write the original secret on the
board.

Pictionary
Have a student come up to the front and show him/her a flashcard. That student should draw it on the board. The first
student to guess the picture gets a point. This can also be played in teams.

Picture dictation
Give a ready background and dictate what the students are supposed to draw. Ex. Give a farm landscape. Ask: draw a red
dog, a black horse, etc.

Professions and place

Combine the profession with place

Puppet show with questions

Use puppet to make questions to the students and the teacher herself. My name is Jack. Whats your name? I’m 2 years
old. How old are you?

Question Chain
Have the students sit in a circle. The teachers starts by asking the student on the right a question. That student must
answer the question and ask the next student the same question. Go round the class then change the question. For a
variation, see 'The Bomb'.

Quick Peek
Cover a flashcard and quickly show it so the students get just a quick peek. Reward the student who can guess it correctly.

Remember the picture?

Show a picture for 30 seconds and hide it. Ask students details about it.

Run And Get It

Divide the class into two teams and have them stand in two lines facing each other. Assign each team member a number
from one to four. Place a few flashcards in the middle of the two teams. Call a number and a flashcard, e.g. "Student three -
rabbit". The students assigned that number must run into the center and touch the flashcard and shout "rabbit". The
member who touched and called first can take the flashcard to their side.

Scrabble
Write a selection of letters on the board. Explain to the students that they have to make up as many words as possible from
the given letters. Model one or two examples on the board for them. Give them a time limit.

Ship In The Fog

Make an obstacle course, put a blindfold on a student and have the other students verbally help him or her through the
course. For example: Take 2 steps, turn left, one small step, etc.

Shiri Tori
This is a popular Japanese game. Have everyone sit in a circle. The teacher says a word and each student must add a word
that begins with the last letter of the word just spoken e.g. apple-egg-girl-lion-neck-etc.

Shoot The Basket

This can be done in teams or individually. Ask a student a question and if the student answers correctly then he/she gets a
shot at the basket. Variations include rolling a ball between 'posts', throwing a ball to knock a stuffed animal off a box,
bouncing a ball into a bucket, etc. Award points.

Shopping
Use plastic fruits, vegetables or corresponding flashcards. Gather the students around you and let them ask for what they
want using a dialog such as: "What do you you want?", "An apple, please.", "Here you are.", "Thank you.", "You're
welcome." Then the teacher calls back the objects from the students, "Apple, please". Then the students put the fruit back
into the basket.

Shopping2
Worksheet with objects (supermarket, clothes, food, toys). Mommy asks for…. And the students circle it.

Simon Says
Play Simon Says as a review using "touch" body parts, classroom objects, etc., or with actions. E.g. "Simon says touch your
toes" = Students touch their toes. "Touch your eyes" = Students don't move. When a student makes a mistake, he/she
must sit out until the next round. Use please and Thank you.

Slam
Have the students sit in a circle with their hands on their heads. Spread the flashcards face up in the middle. The teacher
calls out a flash card and the students race to touch it. The first student to touch it gets to keep the flashcard. In the case of
a tie, have the students 'Rock, Scissors, Paper'.

Slow Motion
Put a flashcard in a bag or behind something. Pull it out very slowly showing only the top part of the picture at a time.
Reward the first student who can guess it correctly.

Spelling Bee
This can be done with the whole class or in two teams. The first player on team one is given a word to spell orally. The
teacher writes the letters on the board as they are spelled out loud. If correct, the team gets a point. If you do a class
competition, line the students up and give them words one by one. When they make a mistake they must sit down. The last
student standing is the winner.

Spelling Game
Put a name or word on the board and have teams or individuals make as many words as possible from those letters, e.g.
Brad Pitt = bat, rat, bad, at, etc.

Spin The Bottle

Use the bottle to ask each student questions. The teacher spins the bottle and asks the student it points to a question. First
ask basic warm-up questions and then move on to target structures or review structures.

Ten
Students stand in a circle and chorus counting from 1-10. Instruct the students to each call out one, two or three of the
numbers in numerical order. The student who calls out 'ten' must sit down. Continue until only one student is standing. That
student wins the game. E.g. "one, two", "three, four, five", "six", "seven, eight, nine", "ten (sits down)", "one"..... Try
playing it backwards as an extra challenge.

Tongue Twisters
Use these tongue twisters with older students. They work well as an extension activity.
1) She sells seashells by the seashore.
2) Rubber baby buggy bumpers.
3) Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
4) How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?

Topic Tag
Give a topic, e.g. fruit. The students must run around the room trying to avoid the teacher's tag. If the student is tagged,
he/she has five seconds to name a fruit. If no fruit can be named or the fruit has already been said, that student should sit
out until the next round.

Touch
Order the students to touch various objects around the classroom e.g. "Touch your book", "Touch something red".

True or False
Show picture and describe it with real and false information. Ex. There are 2 boys. The baby is crying. It a sunny day…

Vocab with Rock, Scissors, Paper

Lay the flashcards in a straight line on the floor. Assign two teams and have them line up at each end of the flashcard line.
When you say 'Go' the first member from each team starts to walk from their end of the line, straddling the flashcards,
reading the vocabulary out loud as they walk. When the two students meet they have to Rock, Scissors, Paper, the losing
student goes to the back of his/her line and the winning student continues along the flashcard line. The second student from
the losing team starts walking and reading the vocabulary until the two students meet and Rock, Scissors, Paper, and so on.
Give points for reaching the opposite end of the line.

Wardrobe
Make one of paper and ask students to hang the clothes as you say.

What's Missing?
Scatter 8-10 flashcards face up on the table. Give the students a minute to look at them, then have them close their eyes
and take away one flashcard. Tell the students to open their eyes and ask, "What's missing?". Reward the student that
guesses correctly.

What is it?
Make a small whole on a sheet and put on the flashcard. Ask students to guess what is it.

What Time Is It, Mr. Wolf?

Have the students line up against the back wall. The teacher should stand with his/her back turned to the class. The
students must ask the teacher "What time is it, Mr. Wolf (or teacher's name if easier)?". The teacher answers with a random
time, e.g. "It's four o'clock" - the students take four steps toward the teacher. The students should move the corresponding
number of steps. If the teacher says "It's lunch time!", the students must run to safety at the back wall. The teacher chases
the students and if tagged, the student must sit out until the next round.

Where is…
Where’s Gabriela X2 Here I am!X2 How are you today? X I’m fine thanks!X2

Who's Got What?

Have the students sit in a circle and secretly pass a few objects or flashcards from hand to hand under the table or behind
their backs. Say, "Stop", and ask "Who has the (apple)?" The students should point to who they think has the (apple) and
say "He/She does." The first student to guess correctly should be rewarded.

Winner Says M
A variation on the activity 'Ten'. Write a big 'M' on the board and have the students take turns reciting the alphabet, saying
one or two letters each. The student who says "M" is the winner. E.g. "A", "BC", "DE", "F", "G", "HI", "J", "KL", "M" (winner)!
Variations: Numbers 1-21 (winner says 21), Days of the week (winner says Sunday), Months of the year (winner says
December).