Family games and activities

Not only do they keep students engaged, games and activities provide opportunities for young learners to practice new language and structures. Here are some fun and easy games that can be played in the classroom or at home and will help children learn new words.

The Memory Game

1. Find a selection of small and interesting objects from around the house or in the classroom. Put these on a tray and cover with a cloth.
2. Uncover the objects and give the children a certain amount of time to memorize the objects they see. Make sure the children know the correct labels for each of the items.
3. Cover the items and ask the children to list the objects they can remember. They can do this out loud as a speaking activity or could use a pen and paper and make a list for a writing activity. If you are doing this in a group or class, the winner would be the person who remembers the most objects.
4. After a little while, take the tray away and remove a few items. Give the tray back to the children and ask them to see if they can remember which objects have been removed. This fun little activity can be used to help children learn new words.

I Went to the Shop Game

1. This game would work in class or at home and can we played in small or large groups. Start by saying "I went to the shop and I bought..." and name an item beginning with the letter A, e.g. "I went to the shop and I bought an apple".
2. Each child would then have to say the same sentence, "I went to the shop and bought an apple", followed by another object starting with the next letter in the alphabet, e.g. the next letter would be B so the second child would say "I went to the shop and bought an apple and a banana".
3. The game continues through the alphabet until someone forgets the items previously bought before them or can't think of the next letter in the alphabet.
4. If this is too difficult, you can play the same game without going through the alphabet. Children can think of items they would buy at the shop and try and remember everyone else's list.

Giant's House Game

1. This game is best played in small groups so would work well when played at home with siblings or in class. Once the children have got into these groups, everyone sings: "come inside the giant's house, giants house, giants house, come inside the giants house, and see what you can see”.
2. You should then shout the sentence, "I can see a giant's ...", followed by the name of an object that the children would know, e.g. "I can see a giant's clock".
3. The children then have to create the shape of the object using only themselves, e.g. for a clock the children could lie down and make a circle with their bodies and one person could pretend to be the hands of the clock in the middle.
4. If you are playing in class and there are lots of groups, the best creation would win. This fun little game gets children to recognise words and associate them with their meanings.