Activities and Games

bored students. Avoid this by mixing it up with these fun, interesting games and activities to do with your teens.

Guess the Question

Students are particularly keen on learning whole phrases as this has a practical meaning for them. Write a gapped sentence with the first letter of each word on the board e.g. W_____ I__ Y__ N_____. (What is your name?) The class is divided into two groups. Team A guesses the first word, if they are right, they can go on, of wrong, B takes over and so forth. The team which guessed the last word gets a point. Use this game to revise and drill difficult grammar (e.g. third conditional). You can give students the preparation of the sentences to guess for homework. This game is a favourite among students, as preparation for the oral part of the final leaving exam.

Time Bomb

A fun game to revise any kind of grammar is Time Bomb. You need either a wind-up toy, a stop-watch, an old toy with a music box could serve, but preferably something that ticks. Ask a student a question which he has to answer immediately. If he hesitates and the bomb stops ticking the student loses a life. This game can be adapted to different language levels. For beginners simply ask: Do you like bananas? Yes, I do. No, I don´t. For more advanced students you can use questions in the past present continuous and so on.

Alibi

This ESL classic is often given as a suggested activity for practising the past continuous tense. However, students often revert to the past simple in the heat of the moment. Nevertheless, it’s still an often hilarious game which encourages inventive thinking while posing and answering questions: https://eslgames.com/esl-alibi/

Adverb mime

Prepare cards with different adverbs on each (be sure to grade them for your class’s level).

Think:

Quickly, happily, silently, carefully, loudly

Suddenly, gently, politely, rudely, beautifully

Deliciously, seriously, impatiently, greedily

Playing as a whole class with competing small groups, or within small groups themselves, students take turns to choose a card and mime an action according to the adverb they select. Set a time limit and award points for guessing correctly.

Tip: If you wish, you can create verb cards as well. The resulting combinations can be hilarious! (Think “climb a mountain rudely,” or “play the piano deliciously…”)

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