TABOO GAME

FOR SPEAKING & LISTENING & VOCABULARY ACTIVITIES

20-30 Minutes

DIRECTIONS: This is a game. There are various cards in a bowl that students pick according to the
lesson subject and their English level. In each card, there is a word at the top that needs to be
described and there are some words that shouldn’t be said during this description. They are taboo
words. The students need to explain the words in 2 minutes or their time is done and they lose.

SAMPLE CARDS:

FOR DIFFERENT LEVELS AND SUBJECTS: There are different set of cards to print out according the
levels & topics (such as Christmas cards, verb cards, holiday cards, etc.) or even a teacher can just
prepare her own cards by making tables and write couple of words down. Just print them out, cut
them and put them in a bowl. You will have a fun, cheap, easy-to-use and very engaging game at
your hands!

WHAT’S THE POINT: The point is to lower the affective filter and make the students feel
comfortable enough to speak. I used this game in every kind of classroom and even my shiest
student was eager to play and after some point, they have so much fun, you can’t believe how
eager they will be to speak! In pumps their courage, help them learn new vocabulary and engage
in group activities.

TIPS: According to their level, sometimes I give them the words before the class so that they can
prepare. (This is a great way to study new vocabulary) or I give them all the cards they will talk
about before the game and give them 3 minutes t check out the vocabulary and use dictionary if
necessary. You can adjust the timing according to your students...

SAMPLE LINKS TO PRINT:

https://en.islcollective.com/resources/search_result?Tags=taboo
https://eslgames.com/esl+taboo/
https://www.eslprintables.com/games_worksheets/taboo/Taboo_cards1_261994/

TIPS BY SEDA SUREL