“Who am I?

” is a game that is sure to get your ESL students speaking and having
fun. This simple activity is easily prepared and is always enjoyed by teen students.
This activity is a great addition to units talking about popular culture or a great way to
get students interested in speaking. 

Activity Time: 10 mins +

Materials required: A copy of the printable. One card per student. Download

Skills practiced: speaking, question forming.
Level: Lower intermediate + adults and teens

Method 

1. There are two ways this activity can be played.

Version 1
Each student gets a card with a name of a famous person. They must not tell anyone
who is on their card. Tell the students that they are at a party and they must go
around the room asking each other questions to find out their identity. When they
discover someone’s identity, they keep that person’s card. The person with the most
cards is the winner.

Version 2
In this version, a student picks a random card. They sit or stand in front of the class
and the other students ask questions to find out who they are. Put students into
teams to make the game more competitive and fun. The team who guesses the most
names, wins.

Note: Choose cards that you think your students will have an interest in. The cards I
have created include the most popular and well known international celebrities. Add
local celebrities to make the game more personal.

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“Just Say No”

is a great game for practicing speaking in the ESL classroom with young learners,
teens and up. Great for practicing questions formation or just having fun. Especially
great for Trinity exam practice etc
Activity Time: 10 mins +
Materials required: A chair
Skills practiced: Speaking, question formation
Level: Young learners, teens and adults.

Method

1. One student sits in a chair facing the class.

2. The other students ask the student in the chair questions. The student in the
chair must not say “no”.
3. Get the students to ask “Do you like….” and “Have you ever…” questions.

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 4. If the student says “No” then another student takes their place.

If your students find the game easy, make it more interesting by not letting them say
“yes” or “no”.

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Quick fire vocabulary Method
1. Give the students small pieces of paper. Tell the students to write down
vocabulary that you want them to revise or you can get them to write down nouns etc
 
2. Students write down the words and put them in a container. Put the class into
teams. 
 
3. Set a timer for 2 or 3 minutes or however long you wish. The teams take turns.
Students take words from the container and explain them to their team. When the
team says the correct word, the next student takes their turn and moves onto the
next word. The objective of the game is to explain as many words as possible in the
time allowed. Whichever team guesses the most correct words is the winner.

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ESL Word Squares

Activity Time: 10 mins +
Materials required: whiteboard.
Skills practiced: Vocabulary and spelling. 
Level: Young learners, teens and adults. 
Method
1. Draw square on the board with nine boxes. In each box put a letter in each box.

2. Students have to make as many words as they can using the letters in the boxes.
They can’t repeat letters.

3. The student with the most words is the winner.

Try in teams or pair, especially with weaker groups.

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Speaking activity

This week’s post focuses on a great way to practice speaking with higher level teens
and adults. It is especially good for practicing part 4 of the FCE speaking exam, but
can also be used for any speaking practice with higher level students.

Activity Time: 5 mins +

Materials required: A copy of the printable. One card per student.

Skills practiced: speaking, fluency 

Level: Lower intermediate + adults and teens

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Method 

1. Print a copy of the following printable opinion cards. Cut them up.

2. Put students into pairs or groups of three.

3. Tell the students that they are going to each receive an opinion card. Tell them
that you are going to show them a statement and that you want them to talk about
the statement and agree or disagree according to their card. Explain that they must
talk in their groups for at least two minutes etc (this can be changed according to
time and needs) and give an reason for their opinion.

4. For every statement, students change into new pairs and take a new opinion card.

Conversation Statements

1. People are never satisfied with what they have.

2. People should read only those books that are about real life.
3. It is more important for students to study history.
4. All students should be required to study art and music in secondary
school.
5. There is nothing that young people can teach older people.
6. Sports are not important.
7. Children should be required to help with household tasks as soon as
they are able to do so. 
8. Schools should allow students to study the subjects that students want
to study.
9. Personality is more important than beauty.
10. Violence is necessary sometimes.
11. Money is more important than love.
12. Possession of drugs should require jail time.
13. Actors are paid too much.
14. Face-to-face communication is better than other types of
communication.
15. The best way to travel is in a group led by a tour guide.

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ESL countdown

Materials required: whiteboard and optionally a projector to use the digital version
below.
Skills practiced: Writing, brainstorming, vocabulary and fluency.
Level: All levels Young learners – adults
Note: The clock is set for 30 seconds. Allow extra time for younger or lower level
students.

 Method
1. Ask students to take out a pen and notebook. Put students into pairs or on their
own depending on age and level.

2. Explain to the students that they must pick vowels or consonants and then they

have 30 seconds to write any words they can make with the letters on the board. The
team who creates the longest correct words gets one point for each correct word.

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Stop the bus

Stop The Bus is a simple and fun vocabulary game for any level or age group. This
game will quickly become one of those regularly requested games in class.

Activity Time:  5 – 10 mins +

Materials required: A piece of paper for each team to write on. 
Skills practiced: Vocabulary revision, brainstorming and quick thinking. 
Level: All levels (Young learners, teens and adults)

Method

1. Put the class into pairs. 

2. Get each group to choose a category. Some examples that could be used are: 

fruit, animals, cities, countries, famous people, brands, clothing, phrasal verbs,
verbs,  etc.

I always suggest a topic that practices some target vocabulary. If it’s a difficult topic,
you could award points to any team who gets a word etc. 

3. Write each category on the board. After you have done this, you choose a letter
from the alphabet. For example, B.

The teams must then write, as quickly as possible, a word from the category that
starts with the letter B on their piece of paper.

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For example, imagine the letter is C. The students have chosen the following
categories:

 Fruit 
 Phrasal Verb
 Countries 

They would write on their piece of paper; 

Coconut
Come over
Canada. 

When they have written a word for each section, they must shout out “Stop the
bus!”

4. The teacher can then check their answers and in the case of the phrasal verb,
check their meaning of the word. Award points to the team and then choose another
letter and repeat. 

This game is always a success in class and is always enjoyed. It’s a great way to
practice vocabulary and quick thinking. 

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Grass skirts

is a great activity to get the class up and out of their seats while still learning and
revising their vocabulary. This activity is easy to set up and a great way to make
revision fun. 

This game can be used with all levels. I have used this  game with FCE exam
classes to revise phrasal verbs and young learners to practice vocabulary. 

Activity Time:  5 – 10 mins +

Materials required: One sheet with definitions of revision words printed on sheet. 
Skills practiced:Vocabulary revision
Level: All levels (Young learners, teens and adults)

 
Method
1. Select a number of words you wish to revise. Get definitions for the words or
write sentences with the target word missing and paste them into a word document. 

2. Print out one sheet per two students. Cut the definitions into strips but don’t cut all
the way. See picture 2)

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3. Put the students into pairs/groups. 

4. Explain to the students that only one student from each team can run up and take
a definition. 

5. They then have to run back to their group and read the definition and figure out
what the word is. When they think they know, they write it on the back of the
definition and then show it to the teacher. If it is correct, they can go and get the next
definition. If it is incorrect, they have to try again. (For weaker classes, write a word
bank of possible answers.)

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The first team to finish all the definitions are the winners. 

If you have any ideas or variations, please post a comment and share your thoughts.

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1. Pictionary 

Activity Time:  5 minutes +

Materials required: Whiteboard and marker, a timer
Number of students: 2 +
Skills practiced: Speaking and Vocabulary.
Level: All levels

Method:
1. Put the class into teams. 

2. Teacher shows a word to the first student from one of the teams.

3. Students have to draw on the board in order to make their team guess the word
they are trying to draw.

4. If the team guesses correctly, they get a point. You can give a certain amount of
time for the team to guess and make the game a bit more interesting. After the time
is up, the other team try. 

Some ideas for picking words are; vocabulary seen in previous lessons, actions,
films, famous people, subjects and just about anything you can think of. 

This game can also be used with “Bomb” scoring system.

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2. Slow Pictionary 

Following the same directions as pictionary above but with a twist. In slow pictionary,
students draw their pictures line by line making it a bit more difficult. You can award
points by the number of lines used etc.

1.Start by drawing a single line.

2.Draw more details. The students say what it could be.

3.Add each detail one at a time.

4.Keep drawing until someone guesses correctly.

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3. Describe and Draw

Activity Time:  10 minutes +

Materials required: Paper and pencils for each group
Number of students: 2 +
Skills practiced: Speaking and Vocabulary.
Level: All levels

3. Describe and Draw

Activity Time:  10 minutes +

Materials required: Paper and pencils for each group
Number of students: 2 +
Skills practiced: Speaking and Vocabulary.
Level: All levels

This is a simple activity with very

little preparation required. One student has a picture and describes the picture while
the other student draws what the other student describes. This activity can be a
great way to practice speaking and listening and is always enjoyed by the students.
The end results can be hung around the class room.  
 
I have written a dedicated post to this activity which can be found here.

3. Drawing Race

Activity Time:  10 – 15 mins +

Materials required: Paper and piece of paper for each student. 
Number of students: 2 +
Skills practiced: Speaking, listening, prepositions and Vocabulary
Level: All levels

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Method:
1. Each student must have a piece of paper and a pencil. 

2. Teacher of a student describes a scene e.g a classroom “There is a desk in the

middle of the room.”

“Next to the desk there is a teacher”

3. Keep giving details until you have practiced all the vocabulary.  The first student to
complete the picture with all the correct details is the winner. 

4. Picture Running Dictation 

Activity Time:  5 +

Materials required: Paper and piece of paper for each student. 
Number of students: 2 +
Skills practiced: Speaking, listening, prepositions and Vocabulary
Level: All levels

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Method:
1. Choose some pictures related to a topic area that you are studying.

2. Place the pictures at the front of the classroom. (Make sure to move any obstacles
to prevent accidents!)

3. In pairs, one student runs to the picture and then describes the picture they see to
their partner who draws the picture. 

4. When they are finished, the students can vote the best or most accurate picture to
be the winner. 

5. Draw The Sentence

Activity Time:  10 +

Materials required: White board and marker.
Number of students: 2 +
Skills practiced: Speaking, listening and Vocabulary
Level: All levels

Method:
1. Make cards with target sentences. e.g “The man is running”. You could use
sentences from the book or sentences that other students have written.

2. Students have to draw the sentence they read. 

3. The other students must say or write down what the sentence is.

This activity is a simple way to practice vocabulary and speaking in the ESL
classroom. It’s a very easy and quick game that doesn’t require much preparation
before class. This game can be adapted to most levels and age groups. 
 

Activity Time:  10 – 15 mins +

Materials required: A bag/box, blank pieces of paper. 
Level: All levels 

 
 
Method:
 
1. Give the students small pieces of paper. Tell the students to write down
vocabulary that you want them to revise or you can get them to write down nouns
etc  
 

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2. Students write down the words and put them in a container. Put the class into
teams. 

3. Set a timer for 2 or 3 minutes or however long you wish. The teams take turns.
Students take words from the container and explain them to their team. When the
team says the correct word, the next student takes their turn and moves onto the
next word. The objective of the game is to explain as many words as possible in the
time allowed. Whichever team guesses the most correct words is the winner. 
 

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Brain breaks.
Brain breaks are a great way to re-energize tired students. They are very easy and
simple, and there are hundreds of variations to be found on the web for free. They
are great for breaking up class stages and keeping the class interested and
focused.They are particularly popular with young learners and a great opportunity to
practice Total Physical Response.

Here are a few that I use in class.

Figure of 8

Tell your students to do the following actions:

 Draw a figure eight in the air with your writing hand. Repeat this five times.
 Now do the same with the opposite hand.
 Now try with both hands at the same time.

Elbow 8′s

 As above try the same with your elbows.

Alphabet brain work out

  

  Have the alphabet written around the room with letters L, R or T under each
letter.

  This can be done on cards or on an electronic whiteboard.

  You then say a word to do with your subject and read it a letter at a time.

  Students then have to look at the chart and move their arms or / and legs
according to the letter next to the alphabet letter.

1. Read through A to Z and then Z to A getting students to move arms and legs as
directed on the grid.

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2. When starting with keywords read out keywords with few letters increasing to
longer words and get
them to move arms and legs as directed on the grid. For example – car, science etc

You can vary the grid above with different actions to make the activity more physical
and active. Another example of how you can modify the task is shown below which
involves clapping, jumping and hopping.

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Magazine personalities

This  activity is a great way to get to know your class in your first lesson and also to
get them speaking about themselves and their interests. I use this activity with my
teen and adult classes and have found that it’s a great way to get them talking. It
also gives you a great insight into your students’ hobbies and interests which can be
invaluable when writing lesson plans that engage your students and their interests. 
Activity Time:  10 mins +
Materials required:  Interactive White board, smart notebook software and
the download 
Level: All levels of adults and teens. 

Method

1. Open the download. There are a total of three slides. On Slide 1, you will see the
first prompt. You can tell the class that they “have been been delayed in the airport
for five hours”. Here you can ask has anyone ever been delayed in the airport or
missed their flight etc if you wish. Ask them to describe how they felt and how did
they pass the time etc. 

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 On slide one you must click the picture of the face for it to appear.

2. In Slide 2, you inform the students that the airline has given them enough money
to purchase any two magazines from the newsagent. 

As in Slide 1, you must click on the picture for it to appear.

3. In Slide 3, I have put a selection of typical magazines that can be found in English.
You can click on each picture to make it appear and then ask the class to discuss
the magazine. What type of magazine is it? What would they expect to find in it? etc. 

4. After you have discussed all the magazines, the students then pick two that they
would buy. Ask each student to explain why etc. 

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 You can add or change any of the magazines I have added.

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The first day of term is probably the most difficult day for any teacher but especially
so for new teachers. Having been there myself, I decided I would put together a post
of some easy first class Ice breakers and activities. This post is for kids and young
learners  but also includes activities for teens and adults.

1. Question Me

Activity Time:  10 minutes +

Materials required: White board and marker.
Skills practiced: Listening, Speaking, question forming and Vocabulary.
Level: Young Learners, Teens

This first activity is simple to set up and take very little preparation time. Its a great
way for the students to get to know you. 

Method
1. On the board, draw a stick man/woman to represent yourself (Those more
artistically gifted can of course make a more interesting creation!)

2. Draw lines coming from your figure. At the ends of these lines, you write numbers,
nouns etc that have significance to you.

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 A rough example of what you should have.

3. The students now take turns in asking questions that these words and numbers
may be the answer to. i.e Student: “Have you two brothers or sisters?
Teacher: “Yes, very good. I have two brothers.”

4. Next student asks a question. Only answer if they have guessed the correct
question.*

5. Follow up by students doing the same exercise in pairs etc.

*If the question is formed incorrectly, ask the other students to help form it correctly.

2. Class survey. 

This can be a great mixer activity and can be used in conjunction with the activity
above.

Activity Time:  10 minutes +

Activity type: Group work

Materials required: White board and marker, paper and pencils for each student .
Skills practiced: Listening, Speaking, question forming and Vocabulary.
Level: Young Learners, Teens
 
Method
1. On the board draw up the following grid with information you would like the class
to find out about each other.

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  You can add as many questions as you like. Review last years topics
etc.
2. The class copy the grid into their notebooks and begin by filling in the information
about themselves. 
3. They then go around the class and ask each other the questions and find who in
the class has the same information as they do. To extend this activity further, you
can get the class to tell you who shares the same information. 
 
This is a great way for the class to get to know each other and for you to get to know
the students as well.

3. This summer I ……

Activity Time:  10 minutes +

Materials required: White board and marker, pictures(optional)
Skills practiced: Listening, Speaking, Vocabulary.
Level: Young Learners, Very Young Learners.
 
This is a great activity for young learners and very young learners on the first day of
term. It gives you a great way to practice, refresh the past tense and the students’
vocabulary. It’s particularly good for young learners because it allows the use of
pictures as their vocabulary may be lacking. 
 
Method
1. On the board, either draw six to eight pictures or print pictures that represent your
summer. Look at the picture below.
 

 
2. Illicit the vocabulary from the class. In this example, it would be pizza, beach etc. 

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3. Then write a model for the young learners. i.e “This summer I went to the beach.“
 
4. Go though each of your own examples with the class and then have the students
create their own summer chart with sentences to go with them. 
 
 
4. Hot seat 
 
Activity Time:  10 minutes +
Activity type: Group work
Materials required: A seat facing the class.
Skills practiced: Listening, Speaking, question forming and Vocabulary.
Level: Teen, Adults
 

 
 
Method
1. Each member of the class gets one minute in the hot seat. 
 
2. The other students ask the person any questions they want for one minute. 
 
*This activity depends on the country that you’re teaching in and the type of class
you have. Don’t force anyone to do it if they don’t want to and avoid this activity with
very low levels. Otherwise, it can be a fun way to get to know each other. I would
also suggest that you, as the teacher, go first. Be careful with teens – they often ask
awkward questions! 
 
5. 5 Questions

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Activity Time:  10 minutes +
Activity type: Group work
Skills practiced: Listening, Speaking, question forming and Vocabulary.
Level: Teen, Adults
 
Method 
1. Ask the class to collectively write five questions that they would like to ask you as
the teacher. 

2. When the students have decided on and written five questions, select one student
who is going to pretend that they are you. 

3. A student volunteers to take a turn of going to the board and writing a question. As
a class, the students decide if the question is correctly formed using the correct
verbs, spelling etc.

4. The students then ask the student playing the role of the teacher the question.

5. If the student answers correctly then the teacher writes the answer beside the

question. 

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This activity is always a great way to give ESL students a break from the book and
liven them up if they are falling asleep or even bored!  There are many different five
minute games you can use with a ball. Here I’ll be talking about one in particular that
is a great activity for practicing lexical sets of vocabulary.

Activity Time:  2-5 minutes a round

Materials required: A soft ball
Number of students: More than two
Skills practiced: Listening, speaking and Vocabulary.
Level: All levels

Method

A simple game I play is “Bomb”. When introducing this game for the first time I
usually show the class the ball and ask them “what is it?” they of course respond that
it is a ball and then I tell them “No it is a bomb!” I divide the class into two groups or
more depending on the class size. I put 2 minutes or more on a timer. Then I give
them a category such as animals for young learners and when they get the ball they
have to say an animal and pass the ball to the other team. No words can be
repeated. So they have to keep the ball until they answer. They have to keep the ball
away from their team because when the timer runs out, whatever team is holding the
bomb loses the point.

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Category suggestions:  

Young learners:
Animals
Colours
Items in the classroom
Buildings (i.e Bank, Cinema etc)
Jobs (Teacher, policeman etc)
Fruit Etc

Teens
Countries
Jobs
Capitals
Things small enough to fit in a matchbox
Things you would find in a car
Things you would find in the newspaper
Adjectives, verbs and nouns asked randomly by the teacher.
Things you would find in a sports centre etc

With this game you can cover any area of the ESL course book or any random
things to make them think. This game is always enjoyed by all ages and a great way
to develop quick thinking in English.

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