Vocabulary teaching games for young learners

Here are a few reasons why using games to teach English is a good idea. Find out more about creating materials for the ESL classroom. Young children can be enthusiastic and active learners. Here are some ESL games for kids that are fun and engaging yet not too complex for young learners.

In this memory game, the teacher puts about target vocabulary words on the board. This can be done by taping flashcards to the board or simply by writing the words or drawing pictures. The students line up in front of the board and are given about a minute to try to memorize all the vocabulary words they see.

If you use flashcards, you can hand the student the card as an easy way to keep score. Try these last-minute ESL lesson plans that can be adapted for any class. This is another fun game for practicing vocabulary. Brainstorm with your students to come up with a list of categories maybe from new vocabulary you have recently taught , and write each category on a flashcard.

Examples could be colors, jobs, or verbs. Choose two students to stand up. The first student to come up with something from within that category that begins with the letter is the winner and remains standing. Chose another student to go against the winner, and repeat with a new category and letter.

For your call sheet, you can use the usual numbers and letters or get more creative with vocabulary you have recently taught. For very young students, use pictures instead of words. Cut out the call sheet and put the squares into a hat. Give each student a bingo card as well as something to mark their card with. The other students listen for what is called and mark the called word or image on their card. What is task-based learning? Find out about this popular teaching method!

To play this ESL game for children, divide your students into two groups. Have each group write the letters of the alphabet on pieces of paper you give them to make flashcards. Shuffle each group of flashcards and place them in two piles on one side of the room. Have each group line up on the opposite side of the room. That student is the winner, and can be the next student to come to the front and close their eyes. TIP: Many students moving around the class can be quite dangerous.

For safety, instruct students not to run and make sure there are no bags, coats, books, etc, on the floor that the student can trip on. Printable board games are easy to prepare and a great way to get kids talking using the vocabulary from that lesson. Download many printable board games and board game templates, and find detailed instructions on how to play them, here.

Then students must try to guess what the word is by guessing letters of the alphabet. In the traditional hangman game, if students guess wrong too many times, then the teacher would draw a man hanging from his neck on the board. Even though it is just a stick figure drawing, the idea seems quite gruesome and maybe not appropriate for children. Think of a word and draw lines on the board corresponding to the letters in that word. Then ask students to guess letters of the alphabet to try to guess what the word is.

If students guess wrong, play the video and the fuse will get closer to the rocket. Pause when you see the pause sign and ask students to guess again.

If students guess wrong too many times, then the rocket and the teacher will blast off into space. These PowerPoint games are easy to make and a great way to introduce or review vocabulary. Download ready made hidden picture games and an editable template here. Click on the color shapes to make them disappear. As the shapes disappear the picture beneath is slowly revealed.

When students are ready to guess what it is, they should raise their hand and guess while using the target language. Write many words from the lesson on the board at least Then divide the class into two teams and ask them to make two lines in front of the board.

Give the student at the front of each line a board eraser. Next, the teacher should whisper one of the words to the students at the back of the lines. Then those students should quickly whisper the word to the next student in line, and then that student should whisper to the next student, and so on down the line. Pro Tip: If you prefer, you can also give them a handout or an online worksheet with the outline of a body for them to fill in either on their own or with a partner.

For homework, have students write sentences describing what each body part is used for. ManyCam and other digital tools have virtual stickers and graphics that you can display on-screen. Click on the image that represents the vocabulary word you want to elicit from students so that they can see the image on the screen.

The first student to correctly call out the name of the object or action they see gets a point. The student with the most points at the end wins. Alternatively, you can have students take turns, and you can display an image for a split second, having it just flash on the screen. See if the student correctly guesses what the image was and, if so, they get a point.

If they do not answer correctly, ask a different student, who gets a chance to steal the point. Show the student s a collection of items on a tray. While the tray is out of view of the student, remove one object.

Show the tray to the student again and see if they can identify which object is missing. Post by Camille Turner Camille is a content marketing editor and writer, specializing in the language industry.

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