Blockbusters Merged

ESL TV GAME SHOWS
WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S Who wants to be a millionaire?
Activity Type Introduction

Speaking Game: Here is a fun ESL adaptation of the famous TV game show 'Who
answering questions wants to be a millionaire?'
(group work)
Procedure
Focus Divide the class into two teams. Put two chairs at the front of the
class. Write the following on the board for each team:
Revision questions
15. $1 MILLION
14. $500,000
Aim 13. $250,000
To answer revision or 12. $125,000 Lifelines
general knowledge 11. $64,000
questions. 10. $32,000 50/50
9. $16,000 Ask a friend
8. $8,000 Ask the team
Preparation 7. $4,000
6. $2,000
Prepare 30 multiple- 5. $1,000
choice questions with 4. $500
four possible answers 3. $300
each (A, B, C, and 2. $200
D). The questions 1. $100
should start off quite
easy and increase in A player from each team then comes and sits in a chair at the
difficulty. These could front of the class.
be revision questions or
general knowledge quiz Ask one player a question for $100. Give the player time to
questions. think about their answer and encourage them to talk about their
thought process aloud. Then, ask the player for their final answer.
The player's teammates are not allowed to call out any answers
Level
or help in any way. If the player gets the answer right, put a tick
Any next to $100. Then, repeat the process with the other player.
When both players have answered correctly, two new players

Time come up and answer a question for $200 and so on.
20 minutes Each team also gets three lifelines to use when a player is unsure
of the answer.
Fifty-Fifty: This is where two of the four answers are eliminated,

so only two possible answers remain.
Ask a friend: The player chooses someone in the class to help

them answer the question.
Ask the team: The player asks their team which answer they
think is correct. This can be done as a vote.
When one player answers a question incorrectly, their team loses

the game. The winning team then continues to play to see if they
can become a millionaire.
Teach-This.com © 2021 Permission granted to reproduce for classroom use.

ESL TV GAME SHOWS
WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S The Weakest Link

Speaking Game: This ESL TV game show is great for asking revision questions.
answering questions (pair
work) Procedure
Divide the students into teams of two.
Focus
Try to put a strong student with a weaker one.
Revision questions
Give each team a number.
Aim
Explain that the aim of the game is for the teams to collectively
To answer revision or make as many points as possible.
general knowledge
questions. Ask the first team a question.
The two students discuss the question and then give their answer.
Preparation
If the team answers correctly, add 10 points to a group pot.
A list of questions
Then, move on to the next team.
Level
If they answer correctly, add 20 points to the pot.
Any
The next team plays for 30 points and so on.
Time However, if a team answers incorrectly, all the points scored by

20 minutes the teams are removed from the pot.
Before a team has their turn, they can choose to bank the points
on the board.
If they bank the points, they can only answer for 10 points.
After each team has answered two questions, teams vote off the
weakest link (team). That team is out of the game.
The game then continues as before and after each round the
weakest link is voted off.
The last two teams left in the game win.

ESL TV GAME SHOWS
WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S The Price is Right

Speaking Game: This ESL shopping game has been adapted from a famous TV
estimating (group work) game show. The game can be used when teaching shopping,
prices or numbers.
Focus Procedure
Shopping
Divide the students into teams of four.
Prices
Give each team some pieces of paper.
Numbers
Have each team think of a team name and draw a scoreboard on
the board.
Aim
Show the teams a picture of a product.
To accurately guess the
price of products. The aim of the game is for the teams to estimate the price of the
product. Estimates must be the actual cost or lower to win.
Preparation Each team then estimates how much the product costs and writes
down their answer.
Prepare pictures of
different products and
Each team then gives their price.
their prices.
Vary the products from Write each team's price on the board.
basic everyday items to
luxury goods. When all the teams have guessed the price of the product, reveal
how much it costs.
Level Teams who over-estimated the actual price are out of the round.
Any The team that guessed closest to the actual price wins the round
and scores ten points.
Time Repeat the game with a different product and so on.
20 minutes
The team with the most points at the end of the game is the
winner.

ESL TV GAME SHOWS
WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S Strike it Lucky

Speaking Game: This ESL TV game show is ideal for asking revision questions.
answering questions,
guessing (group work) Procedure
Divide the class into four teams. Copy the following grid onto the
Focus board:
Revision questions
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Top
Aim
Middle
To answer revision
Bottom
questions.
Hidden throughout the 30 squares are ten arrows, ten 'Hot Spots'
Preparation and ten questions. The aim of the game is for each team to get
from one side of the board to the other without hitting three
A list of revision
'Hot Spots'. If you want to make the game easier or harder, just
questions and a teacher's
decrease or increase the number of 'Hot Spots'.
game grid for each game
you wish to play.
The first team to play chooses the top, middle or bottom square
in column 1. The teacher checks their game grid to see what goes
Level in that square.
Any If it's an arrow, the team gets a free move. The team then moves
forward to column 2 and chooses another top, middle or bottom
square.
Time
If it's a question, the team selects one team member to answer.
25 minutes
A different student must answer each time. The teacher asks the
student a revision question or question based on a flashcard. If
the student answers correctly, the team moves forward. If the
student gets it wrong, the square changes to a 'Hot Spot'. This is
counted as one of the three 'Hot Spots'.
If a team picks a square that's a 'Hot Spot', the team moves

forward, but if the team gets three 'Hot Spots', they lose and are
out of the game. If a team gets to the other side of the board
without hitting more than three 'Hot Spots', they move on to
the next round. The game continues until there is one ultimate
champion.
Example Teacher's grid:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Top  Q Q  HS HS  Q HS HS
Middle Q HS HS HS  Q Q HS  Q
Bottom HS   Q Q  HS  Q 
Note: This resource can be edited using a PDF editor.

ESL TV GAME SHOWS
WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S Mastermind

Vocabulary and Spelling This ESL word game is based on the TV game show 'Mastermind'.
Game: guessing (group
work) Procedure
Begin the game by choosing a secret word you want the students
Focus to revise, e.g. hospital.
Vocabulary revision
The length of the word depends on the level of your students.
With higher-level students you can use long words.

Aim
To guess a word through Four or five letter words are suitable for elementary students.
logical deduction.
Draw one line on the board for each letter in the word, e.g. eight
lines.
Preparation
Divide the students into two teams.
None
One team goes first and tries to guess the word by choosing a
Level word that has the same amount of letters, e.g. elephant.
Any If a letter from their word is in the secret word, but in the wrong
place, put a cross under the letter.
Time If a letter from their word is in the secret word and in the right
20 minutes place, put a tick under the letter.
The other team then uses the information to make another guess.
The first team to guess the secret word scores a point.
Repeat the process with a new secret word and so on.
The team with the most points at the end of the game wins.

ESL TV GAME SHOWS
WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S Family Fortunes

Vocabulary Game: This fun ESL TV quiz game is adapted from a famous television
guessing (group work) game show with the same name.
Procedure
Focus
Copy the 'Family Fortunes' game board onto the board:
Vocabulary
(Family name) FAMILY FORTUNES (Family name)

Aim (score) Top Five Answers (score)
To guess the top five 1.
answers in a survey.
2.
Preparation 3.
A copy of the survey 4.

results
5.
Level Divide the students into two teams. Each team chooses a family
Pre-intermediate (A2-B1) name. Write the family names on the board.
Explain that the aim of the game is for a team to guess the top
Time five answers to a survey. If they do this, they win the round and
score 100 points.
25 minutes
Each round begins with one member from each team coming to
the front of the class and trying to guess a top five answer to a
survey question.
The first student to give a top five answer can choose for their
team to play or pass, depending on the difficulty of the category.
Students in the playing team then take it in turns to guess the

other top five answers. If an answer is in the top five, it's written
next to the corresponding number.
The playing team gets three lifelines per round. If an answer is

not in the top five, the team loses a life. When this happens, draw
a big X in one of the three boxes and say the phrase 'Uh-uhhh.'
If a team loses all three lives, the other team has one chance to
name one of the other top five answers. If they manage to do
this, they steal the round and win all the points. If not, the team
that gave the three incorrect answers scores 20 points for each
answer they got right.
The game is then repeated with a new survey question. The family
with the most points at the end of the game wins.

ESL TV GAME SHOWS
WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S Family Fortunes
We asked 100 English teachers to name...
a former president of the USA a European capital city an African country
1. Obama 1. Paris 1. Kenya

2. Trump 2. Rome 2. Zimbabwe
3. Bush 3. London 3. Nigeria
4. Nixon 4. Madrid 4. Uganda
5. Clinton 5. Warsaw 5. Senegal
an ice cream flavour a hot country an item of jewellery
1. vanilla 1. Thailand 1. ring

2. chocolate 2. Spain 2. necklace
3. green tea 3. Singapore 3. watch
4. strawberry 4. India 4. earrings
5. mint 5. Australia 5. bracelet
a water sport a car brand a country starting with C
1. water skiing 1. BMW 1. Canada

2. water polo 2. Mercedes Benz 2. China
3. windsurfing 3. Ford 3. Cameroon
4. swimming 4. Honda 4. Columbia
5. diving 5. Toyota 5. Cyprus
a fruit a type of music a famous person who is dead
1. mango 1. pop 1. Michael Jackson

2. apple 2. rock 2. David Bowie
3. banana 3. hip hop 3. Princess Diana
4. pineapple 4. reggae 4. Prince
5. orange 5. classical 5. Carrie Fisher
an English football team a dangerous animal a job
1. Manchester United 1. tiger 1. teacher

2. Liverpool 2. snake 2. policeman
3. Tottenham 3. shark 3. doctor
4. Chelsea 4. lion 4. dentist
5. Manchester City 5. crocodile 5. brain surgeon

ESL TV GAME SHOWS
WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S Countdown

Vocabulary Game: This engaging ESL word game has been adapted from a famous
forming words from TV game show.
letters (group work)
Procedure
Focus Divide the class into four teams.
Vocabulary
Assign each team with a number.
The first team chooses nine letters by saying either 'vowel' or

Aim
'consonant'.
To come up with the
longest word possible Each time the team says vowel or consonant, write a corresponding
using nine letters. random letter on the board. Alternatively, you could have a set of
letter cards that you stick on the board.
Preparation Next, set a time limit of one or two minutes (depending on the
students' level) for the teams to come up with the longest word
Countdown music that
possible using the nine letters.
lasts one or two minutes
Each letter can only be used once.
Level
While the teams are writing, play some music that lasts as long
Any as the time limit.
There is a countdown TV theme song that you can find online.

Time You can also combine the theme song and Public Enemies - Final
25 minutes Countdown of the Collision.
When the time limit has been reached, ask each team how many
letters are in their word.
The team with the longest word gives their answer.
If the word has the correct letters and spelling, that team scores
the same amount of points as there are letters in the word, e.g.
a six-letter word scores six points.
If the team has made a mistake, go to the next team with the
most letters in their word.
The second team then chooses vowels and consonants and so on,
until every team has had a chance to choose letters.
After each round, you can also show the students an anagram.
The first team to correctly guess the word scores extra points.
The anagrams can be from vocabulary students have studied in
previous lessons.

ESL TV GAME SHOWS
WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S Blockbusters

Vocabulary Game: This ESL vocabulary game comes from an English TV game show.
guessing vocabulary from The game can be used as a general knowledge quiz or to revise
clues (group work) vocabulary.
Procedure
Focus
Draw a five-by-five hexagon on the board.
Vocabulary revision
Write a different letter of the alphabet in each hexagon.
Aim
Divide the class into two teams.
To guess words from
clues given by the Allocate each team with a colour, e.g. red and blue.
teacher.
The two teams then decide which direction they want to play - top
to bottom or left to right.
Preparation
The aim of the game is to connect the hexagons from one side of
A copy of the clues
the grid to the other.
Level Tell the students that this is a fairly strategic game, and they
need to choose their moves carefully in order to win the game,
Intermediate (B1-B2) blocking the other team when necessary.
Start with the center hexagon.

Time
25 minutes Give a clue for the letter in the hexagon, e.g. if the letter was B,
the clue might be: A person who bakes bread.
The two teams then race to answer, e.g. baker.
The first team to answer correctly wins the hexagon, and it is

coloured accordingly.
The winning team then chooses the next hexagon.
Give a clue for the letter in that hexagon, and both teams race to
answer as before.
The first team to connect their hexagons from top to bottom or

left to right wins the game.

ESL TV GAME SHOWS
D
O
Y
W
S
H
J
I
K
B
C
V
M
U
R
P
A
Z

ESL TV GAME SHOWS
Absent: Not present

Always: This A will last forever
Axe: This A is used for cutting wood
Air: This A is a mixture of oxygen, nitrogen and other gases
Act: This A is what you might do in a Shakespeare play or in a movie
Atlas: A book that contains pictures of maps of the world
Auction: A place where secondhand goods are sold to buyers who offer the highest prices
Accelerate: This happens to you when you press your foot on the gas pedal
Active: This A is always lively, never passive
Adjust: This A means to change the position of something
Advance: This A means to move forward or attack
Before: Not after

Baker: A person who bakes bread
Bee: This small insect likes to make honey and can sting you
Border: The line between two countries
Blame: To accuse somebody of causing a problem
Buck: One dollar or a male deer
Buddha: He who found enlightenment
Bent: Not straight
Beaver: An animal that likes to construct dams
Bond: Either a guarantee or something to glue things together
Bankrupt: When a firm runs out of money it can sometimes go this!
Close: Not so far away

Capital: Lima, Washington, Paris, Bangkok...
Company: An enterprise
Clarify: To make something more visible
Circle: A shape whose area is 3.1415 times its radius squared
Century: One hundred years
Caffeine: The stuff in coffee that keeps you awake
Caesarian: When a woman gives birth via operation
Camp: To sleep outside in a tent
Climate: This C determines how much sun, wind and rain your country will get
Creative: A person who has a lot of new ideas might be described like this
Decade: Ten years

Develop: This D usually appears with research
Dyke: A mound made of earth designed to prevent flooding
Duck: A bird that floats on water
Duplicate: To copy
Dozen: 12 or incase of a baker, 13
Dough: Soft material used to make bread
Disadvantage: Opposite of benefit
Dear: A word that often appears first in a letter
Drip: This small drop of water might appear if you don't shut the tap off fully
Dungeon: An underground room used to keep prisoners in the old days

ESL TV GAME SHOWS
Eager: A word that means very keen or enthusiastic

Eagle: A bird of prey
Entire: Encompassing the whole range
Enlarge: To make bigger
Engaged: Two people can be this
Enormous: Very large
Eskimo: A person who lives in an igloo
Escape: This E is when a person or several people break out of prison
Error: This is a mistake
Expert: A person who knows more than most about a subject
Empty: Vacant
Factory: A place where goods are manufactured

Fiancé: The person who you intend to marry
Fertile: Land is said to be this if it yields abundant crops
Fluoride: Stuff they put in toothpaste to protect your teeth
Fountain: A place where water shoots out of the ground into the air
Frequent: Often
Freeze: This happens to water when it drops below zero degrees Celsius
Furious: A person who is very angry could be said to be this
Fuse: You might have to change this when the lights go out
Future: Comes after the present
Florist: A person who stocks and sells flowers
Grin: A smile
Germ: A small living organism that causes disease
Grease: A lubricant that may appear in your hair or be put in an engine
Germany: This G fought and lost two world wars
Grandfather: Your father's father
Gypsy: A person who travels around the country in a caravan
Gym: An indoor place where exercise is done
Guest: A person who comes to your home at your invitation
Genocide: Mass killing of human beings
Genuine: The real thing, not imitation
Guess: To make an assumption about something without any evidence
Hard: Not soft

Help: Aid
Highlight: The most exciting parts of a sports match
Hammock: A bed made of string that is hung between two trees
Holiday: Christmas, Easter, New Year.... we all like these
Hijack: When terrorists storm a building or aircraft and take people hostage
Hinge: A small metal piece that allows a door to be swung open or closed
History: Details of what happened in the past
Heroin: A very addictive drug
Hungry: State of being after not eating for several hours
Hour: Three thousand six hundred seconds

ESL TV GAME SHOWS
Improve: To get better

Inaudible: Something that cannot be heard
Idol: Somebody who people worship
Identity: ID
Illiterate: A person who is unable to read or write
Individual: Just one person
Innocent: A verdict handed down by a jury when they think the suspect is not guilty
Intentional: On purpose
Itch: A ticklish sensation on the skin that makes you want to scratch
Iron: Fe
Inaccurate: Not quite correct
Joke: A story or tale designed to make someone laugh

Jigsaw: A game made of pieces that fit together to form a picture
Javelin: A long, thin spear thrown as far as possible during an Olympic event
Juvenile: This J is a young teenager who is not quite an adult
Jupiter: The largest planet in our solar system
Jail: A place to hold criminals
Jungle: Tarzan's home
Join: To connect two pieces together
Jewel: A precious stone that could be found in a crown or a ring
Junior: Not senior
Jet: A very fast airplane used in modern warfare
Knock: To hit your hand on the door before you enter a room
Kiss: This K happens when two people touch lips
Kerosene: A flammable liquid used in heaters and burners
Knit: To make an item of clothing from wool
Kangaroo: An animal that jumps quite high and is usually seen in Australia
Kingfisher: A small brightly coloured bird that feeds on fish in rivers and lakes
Kilometre: Metric distance used to measure distances between cities
Kinetics: The science that studies movement
Kilowatt: A unit of energy
Kilt: A traditional item of clothing worn by Scotsmen
Koran: The holy book for Muslims
Love: This L could appear at first sight

Lock: A metal piece used to secure a door
Luxury: Great comfort which is provided by wealth
Lunch: A meal that you eat in the middle of the day
Luck: A fortunate happening
Lyrics: The words of a song
Loyalty: A bond between two or more people that prevents them from betraying each other
Lottery: A game of chance that depends on you having the correct number
Lecture: A formal speech presented to an audience at a university
Legitimate: Legal or correct
Leap: To jump through the air over a great distance

ESL TV GAME SHOWS
Market: A place where goods are bought and sold

Manual: A book that describes how to operate something
Mistake: An act that was not intended
Mismanage: To control or lead a business or group badly
Multiple: Not just one but many
Myth: A tale that has no truth to it
Mystery: Something that defies all explanation
Mortgage: A special loan taken out in order to buy a house
Modern: Up to date and trendy
Moment: A small amount of time
Mist: A thin fog that usually appears around a mountain top
Nervous: A person might feel this before an interview or exam

Novelty: Something that is new and has never been seen before
Nicotine: This N is the addictive substance that is found in cigarettes
Nightmare: A frightening dream
Newspaper: This N is black and white, and read all over
Navigate: To choose the best route so that a vehicle will arrive at the correct destination
Nurse: A person who looks after you when you are in hospital
Niece: Your sister's daughter
Nightclub: A place for drinking and dancing after dark
Neither: Not both
Narrate: To tell a story
Orange: A fruit and a colour

Object: A thing that can be seen or touched but is not alive
Occasionally: This O happens from time to time
Once: One time and no more
Onion: A vegetable that can make you cry
Orchestra: A group of musicians who play classical music
Oven: A place where food is put in order to be cooked
Overcrowded: When there are too many people in one place
OPEC: An organization that regulates oil prices and production
Ozone: A protective layer high above the earth that is slowly disappearing
Owl: A bird that flies at night and hunts small animals
Paint: This P is spread on surfaces to change their colour

Palm: The inside of your hand
Package: An item that is wrapped in paper and sent through the post
Page: One of many thin sheets in a book
Panic: What passengers might do when told the plane is going to crash
Paradox: A mystery
Parallel: Two lines are said to be this when the distance between them stays constant
Pound: Could be a measure of weight or a currency
Praise: Words that you say to a person when they do a good job
Pregnant: A woman's state when she has a child inside her
Punishment: Something that is given to a person who has been convicted of a crime

ESL TV GAME SHOWS
Quack: The sound a duck makes

Quarrel: An argument between two people
Quest: A search for something
Quarry: A big hole in the ground where rocks and minerals are dugout
Quick: Not slow
Question: This is one
Quintet: A group of five
Quote: A direct repetition of what somebody said
Query: A question especially to a database
Quake: Is measured by the Richter scale
Quagmire: A large area of soft, wet ground
Recycle: To reuse something by sending it back to the manufacturing line

Red: One colour of the Japanese flag
Rectangle: A four-sided shape that is not quite a square
Region: An area of a country
Remain: To stay behind while others leave
Remember: To keep in your memory people or happenings from the past
Resignation: An official statement that a person is going to quit their job
Rib: One of 12 pairs in your body
Rice: Small white grains that are the staple diet of many families in Asia
Rifle: A gun that can shoot over long distances due to its length
Roam: To wander about with no clear purpose
Silver: A metal commonly found in rings

Sin: This S is a crime
Silence: This S is golden
Simple: Not complicated
Skeleton: This is the frame that holds your body up
Slam: To shut loudly with great force
Spanner: An instrument used to undo bolts
Spinster: An old unmarried woman
Spokesman: A person who makes announcements for a group or organization
Stars: These Ss look very small but are actually very large
Safe: A place where money can be stored to prevent it from being stolen
Tactic: A special strategy used by a team to win a game

Tarmac: A black substance that is laid down as the final surface of a road
Terminal: The final stop for trains, coaches and airplanes
Theatre: A place where entertainment such as plays and movies are shown
Tide: This T comes in and goes out due to the influence of the moon
Torpedo: A missile that is fired from a submarine
Twin: One of two babies born on the same day to the same mother
Typical: Usual
Turkey: A large bird usually eaten at Christmas time
Treble: This knob is usually found next to the bass knob on your stereo
Telephone: A machine for speaking to somebody who is a long way away

ESL TV GAME SHOWS
Useful: Something that is not redundant

Uranium: A radioactive element used in nuclear weapons
Urgent: This U is very important and must be carried out at once
Unique: There is only one of these
Uncle: Your father's brother
Udder: The place where milk is taken from a cow
UFO: An object that flies and has not been identified
Ultimate: The last or the best
Union Jack: The national flag of Britain
Undeveloped: Without industry or modern farming
Underground: This is usually where the subway can be found
Vacation: A time when you stop working and travel

Vein: A tube that carries red liquid around your body
Vehicle: A machine that will take you to work in the morning
Vendor: Somebody who sells things
Velocity: Distance travel divided by time
Vendetta: An act that gets revenge for a previous act
Vinegar: A brown liquid that turns to acid after prolonged exposure to air
Visa: Something that you need if you want to travel to another country
Vineyard: A place where grapes are grown
Vat: A large barrel or container for holding liquids
Valley: The land lying between two hills or mountains
Wall: There are usually four of them which support the ceiling
War: When two countries fight each other
Warm: The state that water passes through on its way to becoming hot
Wedding: A special occasion to celebrate the joining together of a man and a woman
Wheel: Your car has four of these
Whale: A mammal that lives underwater
Window: An area that allows you to see the outside world
Widow: A woman whose husband has died
Witness: A person who gives evidence at a trial
Wrist: This connects your hand to your arm
Wrong: Not right
X-ray: This X is used to determine if you have broken any bones

Xmas: This X celebrates the birth of Jesus
Xerox: This X is the name of a company and also the name of a process meaning to copy
Xenophobia: Unreasonable fear and dislike of foreigners or strangers
Xanadu: A place of great beauty, luxury and contentment
Xavier: Spanish Jesuit missionary
X-axis: The line that usually runs along the bottom of a graph
Xenon: Heavy, colourless, inert gas
X-rated: A movie that has sexually explicit scenes

ESL TV GAME SHOWS
Yacht: A boat powered by wind

Yard: Three feet
Yawn: When you open your mouth to relieve your tiredness
Yield: To allow someone to pull in front of you when driving
Yoghurt: A dairy product that comes in many flavours
Yolk: The yellow part of an egg
Year: Normally eight thousand seven hundred and sixty hours
Yeast: A form of very small plant life that is used to make beer
Yen: Japanese currency
Yuletide: The Christmas holiday
Yuppie: A young person in a professional job with a high income
Zoo: A place where animals are kept

Zaire: Country in Africa
Zebra: A horse with black and white stripes
Zippo: A well-known make of lighter
Zealot: A person who shows excessive enthusiasm for something
Zero: Nothing, naught
Zeus: The God of the heavens and supreme deity of the ancient Greeks
Zap: To attack, destroy and defeat something with sudden force and speed
ZIP code: A system used in the US to facilitate delivery of mail
Zodiac: There are twelve signs in this
Zombie: The body of a dead person brought back to life

ESL TV GAME SHOWS
WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S Blankety Blank

Grammar and Vocabulary In this fun ESL TV game show, students try to complete sentences
Game: gap-fill, sentence in the same way as another student.
completion, guessing
(group work) Procedure
Divide the students into two equal teams. Give each student
Focus several small pieces of paper. One student from each team comes
and sits at the front of the class.
Vocabulary
Read a sentence to the class using the word 'blank' for the missing
Sentence structure
part of the sentence, e.g. 'It was so hot yesterday my 'blank'
melted'.
Aim The aim of the game is for the team members to complete the
To complete sentences in sentence in the same way as their teammate at the front of the
the same way as another class.
student.
Everyone secretly writes down their missing word or phrase,
without talking. When everyone has written an answer, the team
Preparation members take it in turns to say or show their word or phrase.
A list of blankety blank The student at the front then reveals their answer. For every
sentences matching answer, teams score a point. Two new students then
come up to the front and so on. The team with the most points at
the end of the game wins.
Level
Example sentences:
Pre-intermediate (A2-B1)
1. It was so hot yesterday my .......... melted.
Time 2. My brother never .......... with me.
3. I haven't .......... for a long time.
25 minutes 4. I always go .......... after class.
5. I'm so hungry, I could eat a ..........
6. I like .......... before I go to school.
7. I saw a .......... man on the bus.
8. Last night, I ..........
9. The smallest thing I can see is ..........
10. He was so drunk, he ..........
11. My teacher is ..........
12. My dog likes to eat ..........
13. Look! I've never seen such a big ..........
14. I couldn't .......... until I was 15.
15. I am going to .......... next week.
16. Last week, in class, I ..........
17. I am going to .......... tomorrow.
18. I am always ..........
19. If I found 1000 dollars, I would ........
20. I have never ..........
Note: This resource can be edited using a PDF editor.

ESL SPELLING GAME
WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S World Cup Spelling

Vocabulary and Spelling Here is a fast-paced spelling game based on the game football.
Game: revision (group
work) Procedure
Create a space in the classroom to play the game.
Focus
Divide the class into two teams.
Vocabulary
Play rock-paper-scissors to see which team will kick-off.
Aim
Give a ball to a player in the starting team.
To spell words by adding
letters. The player starts the game by saying a letter, e.g. s.
The player then throws the ball to a teammate.

Preparation
That player has three seconds to add another letter to try to form
A soft ball
a word, e.g. e.
Level The ball is then thrown to another teammate who adds another
letter, e.g. n.
Any
This continues until a word is formed.
Time If the team manages to make a word, e.g. the next player says
15 minutes 'd' to form the word 'send', the team scores a goal.
Award one point for each letter in the word, e.g. send = 4 points.
Play then passes to the other team.
If a player drops the ball or says a letter that cannot go on to

form a word, the team loses its turn, and the other team takes
possession of the ball.
The other team then has a chance to score a goal from the letters
already formed, or they can start a new word.
The team with the highest score at the end of the game wins.

ESL SPELLING GAMES
WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S Word Chain

Vocabulary and Spelling This is a quick ESL spelling game that is very simple to set up and
Game: saying words from play.
prompts (group work)
Procedure
Focus All the students stand up.
Vocabulary revision
One student begins by saying a word in English.
The next student must then say a word that begins with the last
Aim
letter of the previous word.
To think of a word that
begins with the last letter Repeat the process from student to student.
of the previous word.
If a student answers incorrectly, repeats a word or can't think of
a word, they are out and have to sit down.
Preparation
The game then restarts with a new word.
None
The last student left standing is the winner.
Level
Young learners
Time
10 minutes

ESL SPELLING GAMES
WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S Up the Ladder

Vocabulary and Spelling This entertaining game is ideal for revising spelling and categories
Game: writing words of words.
from prompts (group
work) Procedure
Divide the students into four teams.
Focus
Draw four ladders on the board. Each ladder should have six
Category words
rungs.
Teams line up in front of their ladder.

Aim
To spell category words Choose a category, e.g. jobs.
beginning with certain
letters. Ask each team to give you the name of a job. This will be the team's
starting word. Each team's starting word should be different.
Preparation When you say 'go', the student at the front of each team runs
to the board and writes their starting word on the bottom of the
None
ladder.
Level The student then races back and gives the chalk or marker to
the next student, who uses the last letter of the word as the
Pre-intermediate (A2-B1) beginning letter of the next word.
If a student misspells a word, the next student can correct it but

Time cannot write a new word.
15 minutes
The first team to get to the top of the ladder with all the words
spelt correctly wins the round and scores a point.
Play several rounds, choosing a different category each time.
Example layout and answers:
Team A Team B Team C Team D
nurse
technician
travel agent
receptionist
teacher
accountant

ESL SPELLING GAMES
WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S The Spelling Game

Vocabulary and Spelling Here is a highly-amusing game for revising spelling.
work) Procedure
Divide the students into equal teams.
Focus
Teams sit in rows facing the board.
Vocabulary revision
Assign each team with a number.
Aim
Give the teams a word to spell.
To practice spelling.
Teams then take it in turns to attempt to spell the word.
Preparation The student at the front of each team always starts with the first
letter of the word.
None
The next student in the team says the second letter and so on,
down the line until the word is complete.
Level
Any If it is a long word and the spelling has reached the last student,
the spelling goes back to the player at the front.
Time Students are not allowed to help each other or write anything
down.
20 minutes
Each student must be focused on the spelling of the word and
their position in the team for the team to spell the word correctly.
If a team member is too slow to respond, is not paying attention

or says the wrong letter, immediately go to the next team.
When a team spells the word correctly, they score a point.
Play several rounds.
The team with the most points at the end of the game is the
winner.
The game may sound easy, but even the most basic word may
take a few attempts before it is spelt correctly.

ESL SPELLING GAMES
WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S Spelling Race

Vocabulary and Spelling Here is an energetic spelling game to play with large classes.
Game: writing words
Focus
Have each team stand in a line in front of the board.
Vocabulary revision
Hold up a flashcard or picture of the word you want the teams to
spell.
Aim
To identify and spell The first student in each team runs to the board and writes the
words from pictures. first letter of the word.
The student then runs back to their team and tags the next person
Preparation who runs to the board and writes the next letter and so on.
Prepare flashcards or
If a student makes a mistake, the next student can correct it but
pictures of vocabulary
cannot write the next letter.
you want the students to
revise.
The first team to spell the word correctly scores a point.
Level Play several rounds.
Any The team with the most points at the end of the game wins.
Time
15 minutes

ESL SPELLING GAMES
WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S Spelling Knockout

Vocabulary and Spelling Here is an elimination-style spelling game for students of all ages.
Game: revision
Procedure
Focus Draw an elimination chart on the board for the number of students
in the class.
Vocabulary revision
Example:
Aim
To practice spelling.
Preparation
None
Level
Any
Give each student a slip of paper.

Time
Ask the students to write their name on the paper and then hand
20 minutes
it back.
Mix up the names. Then, draw the names out one by one and
write them in the chart.
Each student competes against the classmate they are paired up

with in the chart.
The competing pairs take it in turns to come to the front of the

class.
Call out a word for the two students to spell on the board
The first student to spell the word correctly moves on to the next
round.
Continue until there is one ultimate champion.
That student is named the class spelling champion until the next
time you decide to play.

ESL SPELLING GAMES
WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S Spelling Grid

Vocabulary and Spelling Here is a Tic-Tac-Toe style spelling game to help students revise
Game: revision (group vocabulary.
work)
Procedure
Focus Draw a three-by-three grid on the board.
Vocabulary revision
Write a different letter in each square.
Have the two teams play rock-paper-scissors to see who will go

Aim
first.
To spell words.
The winning team chooses a letter from the grid.
Preparation Give the team a word to spell that begins with the chosen letter.
None
The team then has 20 seconds to spell the word.
If the team spells the word correctly, they win the square and
Level
mark it with an O or X.
Any
It's then the other team's turn to choose a letter and so on.
Time When a team gets three squares in a row either horizontally,

vertically or diagonally, they win the round and score a point.
20 minutes
If there is a tie, the team with the most squares wins.
Play several rounds, changing the letters in the grid each time.
The team with the most points at the end wins the game.

ESL SPELLING GAMES
WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S Spell or Draw

Vocabulary and Spelling This ESL spelling game can be used to review vocabulary.
Game: writing words,
drawing (group work) Procedure
Focus
Assign each team member with a number.
Vocabulary revision
Call out a student number.
Aim
The two students with that number come to the board.
To spell or draw words.
Ask the two students if they want to spell or draw.
Preparation Once the students have chosen what they want to do, give them
a word you want them to review.
None
The first student to successfully spell or draw the word scores a
point for their team.
Level
Any Then, call out another student number and so on.
The team with the highest number of points at the end of the
Time game wins.
15 minutes

ESL SPELLING GAMES
WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S Remix

Vocabulary and Spelling This is an engaging ESL spelling game for students of all ages.
Game: unscrambling
Arrange the students into two teams.
Focus
A player from each team comes to the board.
Vocabulary revision
Give each player a marker or chalk.
Aim
Spell a jumbled word to the two players.
To put letters in the
correct order to spell a The players write the jumbled word on the board and race to put
word. the letters in the right order.
The first player to put the letters into the correct order scores a
Preparation point for their team.
Prepare a list of words
Then, two new players come to the board and so on.
you wish to revise and
mix up the letters in each
word.
Level
Any
Time
15 minutes

ESL SPELLING GAMES
WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S Flower Power

Vocabulary and Spelling Here is an enjoyable spelling game to play in class with elementary
Game: writing words students.
from prompts (group
work) Procedure
Draw three flowers on the board.
Focus
The flowers should have six petals each.
Vocabulary revision
Write a letter in the centre of each flower and write one letter on
each petal of the flower.
Aim
To write words beginning The three flowers should contain different letters.
with and containing
certain letters. Divide the students into three teams.
Give each team a marker or chalk.

Preparation
Each team then stands in a line facing their flower.
None
The first player from each team runs to the board and writes a
Level word beginning with the centre letter and containing a letter from
one of the petals.
Elementary (A1-A2)
The player then runs back to their team, and the next student
goes to the board and writes another word, beginning with the
Time centre letter and containing a letter from one of the other petals.
20 minutes
The game continues until one team has written a word for all six
petals.
Each team scores one point for every letter in a correctly spelt
word.
Play several rounds using different letters each time.
The team with the most points wins the game.

ESL SPELLING GAMES
WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S Chopsticks

Vocabulary and Spelling Here is a fun game to help students revise spelling.
work) Procedure
Position two desks at the front of the class and place a pair of
Focus chopsticks on each desk.
Vocabulary revision
Spread out a set of letter cards on the floor near each desk.

Aim
To revise spelling. Allocate a desk and set of cards to each team.
Call out a word for the two teams to spell.

Preparation
One player from each team stands up and runs to their assigned
Prepare two pairs of
desk, picks up the pair of chopsticks, and tries to pick up the first
chopsticks and two sets
letter of the word with the pair of chopsticks.
of letter cards.
When a player has managed to pick up the letter card, they place
the card face-up on the desk using the chopsticks and run back
Level
to their seat.
Any
As soon as a player has sat down, another member of the team
stands up and repeats the process with the second letter of the
Time word.
15 minutes
The first team to place all the letters of the word on the desk in
order wins the round and scores one point.
A new word is then called out for the teams to spell and so on.

ESL SPELLING GAMES
WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S Blind Speed Spell

Vocabulary and Spelling Here is an amusing team game for practicing spelling.
Game: writing words or
sentences (group work) Procedure
Focus
Invite one player from each team to come to the front of the
Vocabulary revision
class.
Give each player a marker or chalk

Aim
To spell revision words. Each player then puts on a blindfold.
Next, their teammates stand the players a meter or two from the
Preparation board.
Prepare four blindfolds.
Say a word you want the players to spell.
The players then find their way to the board and race to spell the
Level
word as quickly as they can.
Any
You can also have the players spin around a few times beforehand
and their teammates direct them to the board.
Time
The first player to spell the word correctly in a readable format
20 minutes
scores three points for their team, the second player scores two
points, and the third player scores one point.
A new player from each team then comes to the front, and the
game continues with a new word.
Continue the game until everyone has had a chance to play.
For higher-level students, you can give the players sentences to

write.

ESL SPELLING GAMES
WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S Backdraw

Vocabulary and Spelling This entertaining ESL spelling game is useful for practicing the
Game: writing letters spelling of recently studied vocabulary.
(group work)
Procedure
Focus Arrange the class into teams of equal size.
Vocabulary revision
Teams sit down in rows facing the board.
There are two actions that the students need to know before
Aim
playing the game.
To spell words.
'Tapping the shoulder' means repeat the spelling.
Preparation 'Nodding the head' means okay continue.

None
Show a different word with the same amount of letters to the
student at the back of each row.
Level
That student draws the word, letter by letter onto the back of the
Any person in front of them.
For example, if the word was 'taxi', the student would draw the
Time 'T'.
20 minutes
If the student in front of them knows the letter, they nod their
head.
If they are unsure, they tap their shoulder, so the student can
rewrite the letter on their back.
This continues until the word is complete.
The next student then draws the word onto the back of the person
in front of them.
When the word reaches the person at the front of the line, the
student stands up and writes it on the board.
The first team to spell their word correctly scores a point.
The student at the front then moves to the back, and everyone
moves up one space.
The game then continues with a new word and so on.
For higher-level students, you can have them write complete

sentences.

ESL SENTENCE RACE GAMES
WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S Words to Sentences

Grammar and Vocabulary This engaging sentence race game can be used with large classes.
Game: writing sentences The game is useful for practicing or revising vocabulary, parts of
from prompts (group speech and sentence structure.
work)
Procedure
Focus Divide the students into two teams.
Vocabulary
Assign each team member a number.
Parts of speech
Call out a number and a word from your word list.
Sentence structure.
The two students with that number run to the board and try to
write a sentence using the word.
Aim
The first student to write a grammatically correct sentence
To write sentences
containing the word scores a point for their team.
containing a certain
word.
Repeat the game until all the words have been used.
Preparation
Prepare a word list you
want the students to
practice.
Level
Time
20 minutes

WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S Translation Race

Speaking Game: This popular ESL sentence race game can be used to help students
translating, forming practice any language point.
sentences from prompts
Focus
One player from each team comes to the front of the class and
Grammar
sits with their back to the board.
Vocabulary
Write a sentence on the board behind the two players.
Sentence structure
When you say 'go', the two teams use their native language to tell
their player the sentence on the board.
Aim
The two players then race to translate the sentence into English.
To translate sentences
from the students' native Teams can translate word by word or by saying the whole sentence.
language into English.
The only rule is that they must use their native language.
Preparation When a player thinks they can say the complete sentence in
English unaided, they put up their hand and say the sentence.
None
The first player to translate the sentence correctly scores a point
Level for their team.
Any When a sentence has been correctly translated, select two new
players to sit in the chairs and write a new sentence on the board.
Time The first team to ten points wins the game.

20 minutes

WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S Splat

Grammar, Vocabulary and This sentence race game can be used to help students practice
Speaking Game: forming vocabulary, grammar and sentence structure.
Procedure
Focus Give each student a different word card containing the target
vocabulary and have them stick the card on their chest.
Vocabulary revision
Have the students stand in a circle.
Grammar
Stand in the centre of the circle with a ball.
Sentence structure
Throw the ball to a student.
Aim
The students on either side of the student who catches the ball
To use certain words in race to look at the word on the student and use the word in a
sentences. sentence.
The first student to make an appropriate sentence stays in the

Preparation game.
A soft ball, word cards
The other student is out.
and sellotape
Repeat the game until there are two students left standing.
Level
Those two students win the game.
Any
Time
15 minutes

WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S Sentence Race

Grammar and Vocabulary This useful sentence race game can be used to practice time
Game: writing sentences expressions used with different tenses.
from prompts (group
work) Procedure
Focus
Give an identical set of time expression cards to each team.
Time expressions
Ask the teams to shuffle the cards and spread them out face-
Tenses
down on the table.
Sentence structure
Assign the students in each team with a number.
Call out a student number and time expression, e.g. Student 3,

Aim
last year.
To write sentences in
a certain tense using a The two students with that number race to turn over and turn
specific time expression. back the time expression cards until they find the correct time
expression.
Preparation When the students find the right time expression card, they run
to the board and write a sentence using the time expression in
Prepare two sets of
the related tense, e.g. 'Last year, I went to Italy'.
identical time expression
cards.
The first student to write a grammatically correct sentence in the
The time expressions appropriate tense scores a point for their team.
should review a variety
of tenses, e.g. next year, Each sentence written by a team must use a different verb and
a few days ago, at the subject pronoun.
moment, etc.
Repeat the game until all the time expressions have been used.
Level The team with the most points at the end of the game wins.
Time
20 minutes

WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S Balloon Buster

Grammar Game: This entertaining sentence race game is ideal for practicing
ordering, forming sentence word order.
sentences (group work)
Procedure
Focus Divide the students into teams of three or four.
Word order
Give each team balloon number one.
Sentence structure
Inside each balloon should be folded word slips that make up a
sentence.
Aim
When you say 'go', teams try to pop their balloons using only
To form sentences from their elbows and then race to form a sentence from the word slips
word cards. inside the balloon.
The first team to form the sentence and read it aloud scores a
Preparation point.
Write target sentences on
slips of paper, cut each Play several rounds.
sentence into word slips,
fold the slips and place The team with the most points at the end of the game wins.
them inside a balloon.
Blow up the balloons and You could also play this game to practice spelling and vocabulary
number them. Do this for by putting letter cards inside each balloon that form a word.
each team.
All teams should have the

same sentences inside
numbered balloons.
Level
Any
Time
15 minutes

WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S Alphabet Madness

Grammar and Writing This fun sentence race game helps students to practice parts of
Game: writing sentences speech and sentence structure.
(group work)
Procedure
Focus Divide the students into teams of four or five.
Parts of speech
Give each team a piece of paper for writing.
Sentence structure
Explain that the teams are going to race to make sentences using
only words that begin with a certain letter.
Aim
The first team to make a grammatically correct sentence scores
To make sentences using one point for each word.
words that begin with a
certain letter. Write the letter 'M' on the board.
Give the students the following example:

Preparation
My mother makes my morning meal. (6 points)
None
Then, write a random letter on the board and begin the game.
Level
In their teams, students work together to come up with a sentence.
The first team to raise their hand can answer.
Time If the sentence is correct, award that team points accordingly.

20 minutes
Then, move on to another letter.
If the sentence is grammatically incorrect, that team is out of the

round and no points are awarded.
Another team can then try to answer.
Play several rounds using a different letter each time.

ESL QUIZ GAMES
WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S What's the Question?

Grammar and Speaking This engaging ESL quiz game is ideal for practicing Wh questions.
Game: forming questions In the game, students form questions from sentences.
from prompts (group
work) Procedure
Divide the class into four teams.
Focus
Each team then chooses a team name.
Question words
Draw a seven-by-seven table on the board.
Wh questions
In the first column, put points 100 to 1000 (see next page).
Aim
Put question words in the other column headings.
To form Wh questions
from sentences. Tell the students that the question words represent the types of
questions and the points represent the difficulty.
Preparation Explain that you are going to read a sentence and that the students
must try to guess what the question is.
A copy of the game sheet
Choose a question word and point value, and start the quiz off
Level with that sentence, e.g. Where? 300.
Pre-intermediate (A2-B1) Read the corresponding sentence from the game sheet twice at a
natural speed.
Time The first student to put up their hand and form the correct
25 minutes question wins the square for their team and the points assigned
to that square.
Students only get one try and may not write the sentence or get
any help from their teammates.
If a student makes a mistake, a student from another team can

put up their hand and try to form the question.
Write the winning team's name in the square.
The winning team gets to choose the next question word and
point value for all the teams to try to answer.
If the teams get stuck, repeat the sentence again.
If no one asks the correct question, move on to another square

and try to come back to it later in the game.
The game continues until all the squares have been used.
The team with the most points wins the quiz.

ESL QUIZ GAMES
WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S What's the Question?
Game sheet
Points What? Where? When? Why? How? Who?
They wake
He came to
I'm The school up early They're
the United He called his
100 reading the is down the because twelve
States in mother.
newspaper. street. they have to inches long.
2015.
go to work.
She's going
She had a I put the I was late The movie I was with
to be there
200 sandwich for chicken in because of was very my friends
in a few
lunch. the freezer. traffic. good. last night.
hours.
He's
He doesn't laughing I'm living
She's going Sophia is Tom is
know what because with a
300 to go to the coming over feeling a
he's going he heard couple of
store. right now. little tired.
to do. something friends.
funny.
He's going
Joshua is
to be late
We'll be I was living She'll I'm going to going to
because
400 having fish in London graduate in take the bus go out with
his car has
for dinner. last year. the spring. to work. his friends
broken
tonight.
down.
The teacher
They're was getting
I wasn't
Kim has I've been going to angry The kids
feeling
500 been helping working at a finish the because the were making
very well
her mother. mall. project by students the noise.
yesterday.
next week. were
talking.
You were He's been The car

I'll be
talking He'll be going to wasn't I've been
leaving
1000 about the working at a a doctor running very talking to
in a few
movie you restaurant. because he well this my brother.
minutes.
saw. is sick. morning.

ESL QUIZ GAMES
WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S Join the Dots

Speaking Game: Here is a strategic ESL quiz game for students of all ages.
answering quiz questions
Divide the students into three teams.
Focus
Assign each team with a number 1 to 3.
General knowledge quiz
questions
Draw a five-by-five dotted grid on the board.
Give a different coloured marker or chalk to each team.

Aim
To answer quiz questions. Take it in turns to ask each team a quiz question.
If a team answers correctly, they connect two of the dots with a

Preparation line either horizontally or vertically.
A list of questions
The aim of the game is to join the dots together to make squares.
When a team forms a square as a result of drawing a fourth line,

Level
they write their team's number in the square and have another
Any turn.
The game is over when all 16 squares have been completed.

Time
The team with the most squares wins the game.
25 minutes
You can increase or decrease the size of the grid to make the game
quicker or slower, but the bigger the grid, the more questions you
need to prepare.
Example:
. . . . .
. . . . .
. . . . .
. . . . .
. . . . .

ESL QUIZ GAMES
WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S Guns, Bombs and Angels

Speaking Game: This entertaining ESL quiz game can be played as a general
answering quiz questions knowledge quiz, or you can use it to review question and answer
(group work) forms the students have been learning in class.
Procedure
Focus
Divide the students into four teams. Assign each team with a
Answering quiz questions
number 1 to 4.
On the board, draw an empty grid with numbers at the top and
Aim
letters down the side. Also, draw a scoreboard for the four teams.
To answer general Draw five stickmen next to each team's number. Each stickman
knowledge questions or represents a life.
to review question and
answer forms. On the board, draw a big gun, a small gun, a bomb and an angel
and explain what each one represents.
Preparation = Take two lives = Lose a life

A list of questions.
On a piece of paper, draw = Take one life = Win a life

a grid with numbers at
the top and letters down Explain that behind each square on the grid is a big gun, a small
the side. In each square, gun, a bomb or an angel.
draw a big gun, a small
gun, a bomb or an angel. Take it in turns to ask each team a question. If a team answers
correctly, they choose a square from the grid.
Level When they have chosen a square, look at your prepared grid and
draw a big gun, small gun, bomb or angel accordingly.
Any
The team can then take a life or two from another team or lose/
win a life (a stickman).
Time
20 minutes If a team answers incorrectly, move on to the next team.
The last team left standing wins the game.
Example:
Teacher: What's the capital city of Thailand?

Team 1: The capital city of Thailand is Bangkok.
Teacher: Well done. Choose a square.
Team 1: B5.
Teacher: ( Looks at their grid, sees a big gun, and draws it in
the B5 square) It's a big gun. Now, take two lives from
another team.
Team 1: We choose Team 3.
Teacher: ( Deletes two stickmen from Team 3) Ok, Team 2. It's
your turn. What is a baby cow called?

ESL QUIZ GAMES
WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S ESL Quiz Game

Grammar and Speaking Here is a fun ESL quiz game that you can use with large classes.
Game: answering quiz
questions, forming Procedure
sentences (group work)
Focus Each team then chooses a name.

Answering quiz questions
Draw a six-by-six table on the board.
In the first column, write categories, e.g. sports, verbs, movies,

Aim
etc. Put points in the other column headings, going from low to
To answer quiz questions high.
based on a categories.
Tell the students that the categories represent the types of
questions and the points represent the difficulty.
Preparation
Choose a category and point value, and start the quiz off with
Six categories with five
that question.
questions per category,
varying in difficulty.
The first student to put up their hand and make a sentence,
answering the question correctly wins the square for their team
Level and the points assigned to that square.
Any Write the winning team's name in the square.
The winning team gets to choose the next category and point
Time value for all the teams to try to answer.
25 minutes
The game continues until all the squares have been taken.
The team with the most points wins the quiz.
Example:
Categories 100 200 300 400 500 1000
Sports
Verbs
Movies
Grammar
Places
Adjectives

ESL QUESTION AND ANSWER GAMES
WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S Verbal Football

Speaking Game: Here is an imaginative ESL question and answer game to play in
answering questions class.
(group work)
Procedure
Focus Draw a football pitch and players on the board (see example
below). Have some kind of football sticker that you can move
Question and answer
around the pitch.
structures
Divide the students into two teams. Ask the students to give their
football team a name.
Aim
To answer target Set a time limit of five minutes for each half of the game.
questions set by the
teacher. The game starts in the centre of the football pitch.
To score, teams pass the ball forwards through the players before
Preparation beating the goalkeeper. To do this, the teams race each other to
correctly answer questions set by the teacher.
A list of questions
When a team is the first to answer a question correctly, the ball
Level moves from one player to the next in the direction that the team
is playing. If a team answers incorrectly and the other team
Any answers correctly, the ball goes in the other direction.
When the time limit has been reached, play the second half of the
Time game.
15 minutes
The team that scores the most goals wins.
The number of players you draw on the pitch is up to you, the

more players the harder it is to score a goal.
Example:

WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S True or False?

Speaking Game: forming, This insightful question and answer game works well with older
asking and answering students.
questions, true or false,
guessing Procedure
Ask one student to leave the classroom.
Focus
While the student is out of the room, the class thinks of three
Question and answer
questions to ask the student.
structures
However, the three questions need to be questions that no one
knows the answers to.
Aim
To ask and answer When the class has three questions, the student comes back in.
questions.
The student has to answer two questions truthfully and lie about
one answer.
Preparation
After the three questions have been asked, everyone in the class
None
says which answer they think was a lie.
Level The student then reveals the answer.
Pre-intermediate (A2-B1) Each student who guessed correctly scores a point.
Repeat the game with another student and so on.

Time
20 minutes The student with the most points at the end of the game wins.
This game can be sped up by having the students come up with

a list of 20 questions first.

WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S Three-Step Tag

Speaking Game: asking Here is a lively question and answer game to play with your
and answering questions students.
Procedure
Focus
Choose two students to be the 'Catchers' and blindfold them.
Question and answer
structures
The other students find a spot in the classroom and stand still.
The catchers' task is to find the other students.

Aim
To ask and answer target The other students remain completely silent to avoid being caught.
questions set by the
teacher. To avoid being caught, students are also allowed to move three
steps in the whole game.
Preparation When a catcher finds a student, they ask the student a target
question set by the teacher.
Two blindfolds
The student then answers the question and leaves the game.
Level
The last student left standing wins.
Any
Time
15 minutes

WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S The Waiting Game

Speaking Game: asking Here is a useful question and answer game to play while you are
and answering questions waiting for some students to turn up at the start of class.
Procedure
Focus
Write two column headings labelled 'You' and 'Me' on the board.
Question and answer
structures
Go around the class and play rock, paper, scissors with each
student.
Aim
If a student wins, they ask you a question.
To ask and answer
questions. If the student forms the question correctly, they score a point.
You then answer the question and write the score under the 'You'
Preparation column.
None
If you win, you ask the student a question and score a point.
Level The student then answers the question and you write the score
under the 'Me' column.
Any
After everyone has played, add up the scores to find out who won.
Time
10 minutes

WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S Pac-Man

Speaking Game: This entertaining Pac-Man style game motivates students to
answering questions answer questions.
Procedure
Focus
Create a space in the classroom to play the game.
Question and answer
structures
When you say 'go', students move around the space.
When you say 'stop', the students stop exactly where they are.
Aim
To answer questions. You then ask the class a question.
The first student to put up their hand and answer the question
Preparation correctly is allowed to take one pivoted step to try to touch other
students.
A list of questions
Each student they are able to touch is out of the game.
Level
The game is then repeated and so on.
Elementary (A1-A2)
The last student left standing wins the game.
Time
15 minutes

WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S Killer

Grammar and Speaking This ESL game is useful for practicing a wide range of question
Game: writing, asking and answer structures.
and answering questions
Procedure
Focus First, each student writes a question using the target language on
a piece of paper.
Question and answer
structures
All the students then put their heads down and close their eyes.
Walk around the class and touch one student on the shoulder.
Aim
That student is the 'Killer'.
To ask and answer
questions using different Next, students stand up and start asking their questions to each
grammatical structures. other, marking down every time they ask their question on the
back of the paper.
Preparation Give the students a few minutes to ask their questions to as many
people as they can.
None
During the game, the killer tries to kill as many students as
Level possible by winking at them.
Any If a student is killed, they go back to their seat and sit down.
When the time limit has been reached, students raise their hand
Time according to how many times they asked their question.
20 minutes
The student who asked their question the most wins the round.
Play several rounds using a different question structure each time.

WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S Flinch

Speaking Game: This is a fun answering questions game to help students practice
answering questions or revise question and answer structures.
Procedure
Focus
Students stand in a circle with their arms folded.
Question and answer
structures
You stand in the middle of the circle with a soft ball.
Throw or pretend to throw the ball to a student.

Aim
To answer questions If you throw the ball, the student catches it and throws it back.
correctly.
If the student fails to catch the ball, or you fake a throw and the
student flinches, they must answer a question correctly to stay
Preparation in the game.
A ball
If a student doesn't flinch, the game continues.
Level The last student left in the game is the winner.
Elementary (A1-A2)
Time
10 minutes

WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S Fanning the Kipper

Speaking Game: Here is an amusing question and answer relay race to play with
answering questions your students.
Procedure
Focus
Tell the students that they are going to take part in a relay race
Question and answer
using cut out fish.
structures
Each student then cuts out the shape of a fish from a piece of
paper.
Aim
To answer questions. Next, mark a start and finish line on the floor.
All the students line up at the start with their kippers (the cut-out
Preparation fish).
Paper and scissors
Ask a question to each student in turn.
If a student answers correctly, they fan their kipper once using a

Level
book so that it moves closer to the finish line.
Elementary (A1-A2)
Students continue answering questions and fanning their kippers
until a student gets their kipper across the finish line and wins
Time the game.
20 minutes
Alternatively, you can have teams of two with one player at the
start line and the other at the finish.
Ask a question to the players at the start.
The first player to answer correctly can start fanning their kipper
in a relay race.
Keep asking questions to the players until all the players have
started the race.
When a player's kipper crosses the opposing line, the other player
fans it back to the start.
The first team to get their kipper back across the start line wins
the game.

WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S Duel

Speaking Game: Here is an engaging question and answer game to play with your
answering questions students.
Procedure
Focus
Have the students stand in a circle.
Question and answer
structures
Tell the students to form guns by clasping both their hands
together.
Aim
Call out a student's name.
To answer questions.
The two students on either side of that student then race to shoot
the named student.
Preparation
Ask the slower of the two a question.
A list of questions
If the student answers correctly, they stay in the game.
Level
If not, they are out.
Elementary (A1-A2)
The game continues until there are two students left.
Time The two students then have a duel to find the ultimate champion.
15 minutes

WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S Dartboard Game

Speaking Game: Here is a fun question and answer game for students of all ages
answering questions and levels.
(group work)
Procedure
Focus On the board, draw a dartboard with points going around it.
Question and answer
For darts, you can use an eraser, a small soft ball, or a paper
structures
airplane.

Aim
To answer questions. Ask a question to the class.
The first student to answer correctly throws a dart at the board.

Preparation
Wherever the dart hits, correlates with the number of points
An eraser, a small soft
scored for that student's team.
ball or paper airplane.
Alternatively, a student from each team comes up and throws a
dart.
Level
Any The student with the highest score gets to answer a question.
If they answer correctly, they keep the points they scored.

Time
20 minutes

WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S Button Up

Grammar and Speaking This fun Q and A game can be used to practice a variety of
Game: answering question and answer structures. You can also use the game in any
questions (group work) situation where you want to elicit answers from students such as
with flashcards.
Focus Procedure
Question and answer
structures
One player from each team comes to the front of the class.
Aim
Give a man's shirt to each player.
To practice a variety of
question and answer Ask a question to the two players.
structures.
The two players then race to put on their shirt and button it up
to the top.
Preparation
The first player to button up their shirt gets to answer the question.
Two men's shirts. Make
sure each shirt has the
If the player answers the question correctly, they score a point
same amount of buttons
for their team.
down the front.
If the answer is incorrect, the other player buttons up their shirt
Level and gets a chance to answer.
Any Then, two new players come to the front and so on.
Time
15 minutes

WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S Balloon Stamp

Speaking Game: asking Here is an entertaining game that helps students practice asking
and answering questions and answering questions.
Procedure
Focus
Give each student a balloon with a question inside.
Question and answer
structures
Students then attach their balloon to their ankle with a rubber
band.
Aim
Next, students go around trying to stamp on another student's
To ask and answer balloon.
questions.
When a balloon is popped, everyone stops moving.
Preparation The student who popped the balloon then asks the question to
the student who had their balloon popped.
Prepare a balloon, rubber
band and question for
If the student answers the question correctly, they continue trying
each student.
to pop other balloons.
Place the question inside
the balloon and blow it If not, the student is out of the game.
up.
The game continues until everyone has had their balloon popped.
Level The remaining students left in the game are the winners.
Any
Time
15 minutes

ESL MUSIC GAMES
WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S Word Snake

Vocabulary and Spelling This is a simple ESL music game to help students practice or
Game: providing review categories of words.
vocabulary
Procedure
Focus Have the students stand in a circle.
Vocabulary revision
Give the students a category, e.g. animals.
Play some music and the students pass the ball to each other.
Aim
To review and practice When the music stops, whoever is holding the ball has to write a
vocabulary belonging to word on the board from the category, e.g. elephant.
particular categories.
Then, start the music again.
Preparation The next student holding the ball when the music stops has to
use the last letter of the word on the board to make another word
Music and a ball
belonging to that category, e.g. tiger.
Level If a student is unable to make a word, they are out of the game.
Elementary (A1-A2) The last student left in the game wins.
Play several rounds, changing the category each time.

Time
15 minutes

ESL MUSIC GAMES
WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S Word Grab

Vocabulary and Listening Here is a lively ESL music game to play with your students.
Game: matching,
identifying (group work) Procedure
Prepare a popular song that your students would like.
Focus
Choose 10 to 18 words from the song that you want to practice.
Vocabulary
Write the words down on pieces of paper and stick them to the
board in a random order.
Aim
To listen for detail and You can also make the game more difficult by putting decoy words
review practice previously that sound similar on the board.
taught vocabulary.
Next, divide the class into two teams.
Preparation Each team stands in a line in front of the board.

A popular song and 10 to
Play the song.
18 words from the song
written down on pieces of
When a word comes up in the song, stop the music straight after.
paper.
The two students at the front of each line then race to grab the
Level word from the board. Each student gets one chance.
Any The first student to grab the correct word wins and keeps the
word.
Time The students at the front then go to the back of the line.
20 minutes
It's then the next two students turn to play.
Repeat the song as necessary until all the words have been
grabbed.
The team with the most words at the end of the game wins.

ESL MUSIC GAMES
WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S Musical Madness

Vocabulary Game: Here is an amusing ESL game that combines music with learning
identifying, following parts of the body.
instructions (pair work)
Procedure
Focus Divide the students into pairs (Student A and B).
Parts of the body
Ask the A students to stand close together in a circle and hold
hands.
Aim
Ask the B students to make another circle surrounding the first
To practice or review circle and to also hold hands.
parts of the body
Tell the students in the inner circle to move around clockwise
when they hear music and the outer circle to move around anti-
Preparation clockwise.
Music
Explain that when the music stops, you are going to call out two
parts of the body.
Level
The students' task is to then find their partner as quickly as
Pre-intermediate (A2) possible and touch each other using the two parts of the body
called out.
Time Let the music play for a while, then stop the music and call out
15 minutes two parts of the body, e.g. elbow to hand.
Students then race to find their partner and put one elbow to
their partner's hand.
The last pair of students to get into position is out of the game.
Students then get back into the two circles and the music starts
again.
The last pair of students left win the game.

ESL MUSIC GAMES
WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S Musical Flashcards

Vocabulary Game: This ESL music game is similar to 'Musical Chairs'. It's ideal for
identifying vocabulary practicing or reviewing vocabulary with young learners.
Procedure
Focus
When playing this game, make sure none of the students are
Vocabulary revision
wearing shoes and that your flashcards are suitably protected.
Spread out a set of flashcards in a circle on the floor.

Aim
To review and practice You should have one flashcard less than the number of students
previously taught in the class.
vocabulary.
Play some music.
Preparation Students then walk around the flashcards in a circle.

Prepare set of flashcards
When you stop the music, students race to stand on a flashcard
and some music.
and shout out the word related to the picture on the card.
Level If a student says the wrong word, the person without a flashcard
has a chance to steal the card from the student by giving the
Young learners correct answer.
The student without a flashcard is out of the game.

Time
15 minutes Take away another flashcard and play again.
The last student left in the game is the winner.

ESL MUSIC GAMES
WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S Let's Dance

Listening, Grammar and Here is a fun dance routine activity to help students practice parts
Vocabulary Activity: total of the body, action verbs and imperatives.
physical response (TPR),
creating and following Procedure
instructions (pair work)
Before you begin, review parts of the body and action verbs with
the class.
Focus
Examples:
Parts of the body
Parts of the body: arms, ears, knees, feet, nose, head, etc
Action verbs
Action verbs: w
alk, jump, wiggle, shake, clap, spin, run, kick,
Imperatives
point, tap, wave, etc.
Next, create a large space in the classroom for the students to

Aim
stand.
To practice parts of the
body, action verbs and Give the students some basic instructions and have them follow
imperatives. along, e.g. 'Put your hands on your knees.' 'Put your hands on
your head.' 'Shake your right leg,' etc.
Preparation Then, tell the students that they are going to create a new dance
routine.
A popular dance song
Play a popular dance song and suggest the first set of actions,
Level e.g. 'Wave your hands in the air.' 'Put your hands on your hips.'
Any Write the sentences on the board and have the students do the
actions.
Time Next, in pairs, students take it in turns to decide what action they
20 minutes think should come next.
As each new set of movements is suggested, write them on the

board and ask the students to read them and do the actions.
When you have a long list of dance moves, play the music again
and practice the dance routine as a class.
Finally, pairs practice alone and then come up one by one and do
the dance routine in front of the class.
Award points for each performance or have the class vote for the
best pair of dancers.

ESL MIMING GAMES
WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S Emphasize

Pronunciation and In this acting game, students use word stress, tone, gestures and
Speaking Game: reciting body language to act out a situation for others to guess.
a dialogue, using stress,
intonation, and gestures, Procedure
guessing (pair work)
Explain to the students that in English we give stress to words to
emphasize feelings.
Focus
Review examples like 'Oh!' to express feelings of disappointment,
Word stress, tone,
anger, surprise, etc.
gestures and body
language
Then, model this sentence: You want me to give you money.
Read the sentence aloud a few times, putting emphasis on a

Aim
different word each time (e.g. money, me, give, you).
To practice stress,
intonation and gesture Ask the students what feeling each stressed word gives.
to express emotion and
attitude. Next, students memorize the dialogue below:
A: Hi, how are you?

Preparation B: Fine, thank you and you?
A: Just great. What have you been doing lately?
Make one copy of the
B: Oh, not much, but I've been keeping busy.
situation cards and cut as
A: Well... it's been good to see you.
indicated.
B: Yes, it has... well, bye!
A: Goodbye.
Level
Do a class choral response until they have memorized the dialogue.
Intermediate (B1-B2)
In pairs, students then practice the dialogue, keeping a neutral
tone.
Time
25 minutes Next, give each pair of students a situation card.
Tell the students that they must keep the card secret and not
show it to anyone else.
The card contains the situation they are going to act out.
The idea is that they don't change the dialogue.
Instead, they use word stress, intonation, gestures and body

language to suit the situation.
After each pair of students has had a chance to practice the

dialogue a few times, they perform the dialogue to the class who
tries to guess the situation.

ESL MIMING GAMES
WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S Emphasize
1. Two athletes who are going to compete 2. Two people who are angry with each
in an event other
3. Two old people who are almost deaf 4. A landlady and her overdue tenant
6. Two people who have met before but

5. A robot and his designer
can't remember where
7. A very shy man and a beautiful woman 8. Two spies who are meeting late at night
9. A divorced couple 10. A detective and a criminal

ESL MIMING GAMES
WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S Classic Charades

Miming and Vocabulary In this classic miming game, students use actions to describe
Game: guessing film, film, song or book titles.
song or book titles (group
work) Procedure
Focus
A player from one team comes up to the front of the class.
Film, song or book titles
Give the player a film, song or book title to act out. You can
whisper the title or write it on a piece of paper and hand it to the
Aim player.
To review and practice Choose someone from the other team to be the timekeeper and
previously taught set a time limit of three minutes.
vocabulary or film, song
or book titles. The player starts by indicating which category the title belongs to
by using one of the following gestures:
Preparation Film title: Pretend to crank an old-fashioned film camera.

Song title: Pretend to sing.
Think of film, song or Book title: P ut the palms of the hands together and then open
book titles for your them like a book.
students to act out,
depending on the The player then indicates how many words are in the title by
age and level of your holding up a corresponding number of fingers.
students.
Next, the player indicates which word they want to start miming
by showing that number of fingers, e.g. the player holds up two
Level fingers for the second word.
Pre-intermediate (A2-B1) The player shows the number of syllables in the word by laying a
corresponding number of fingers on their arm.
Time The player then starts miming the word.
30 minutes When a teammate calls out the correct word, the player points at
that student and nods their head to indicate 'yes'.
If the player wants to mime the whole title at once, they indicate
this by sweeping their arms in a big circle.
If the player's team guesses the title within three minutes, they
score a point.
It's then the other team's turn to play and so on. The team with
the most points at the end of the game wins.
It's a good idea to practice all the gestures with the class before
they play the game. Other gestures include:
Sounds like: Cup one hand behind your ear.

Past tense: Wave your hand over your shoulder toward your back.
Short word: Bring your thumb and index finger close together.

ESL MIMING GAMES
WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S Charades

Miming and Vocabulary This amusing ESL miming game can be played by students of all
Game: guessing ages and levels.
vocabulary (group work)
Procedure
Vocabulary practice
sits facing their team with their back to the board.
Aim
Write a word you want the students to practice on the board.
To review and practice
previously taught The aim of the game is for the students in the teams to use
vocabulary. actions to describe the word.
Teams are not allowed to speak or spell the word in the air.
Preparation
The two players watch their teammates and try to guess the word.
None
The first player to guess the word scores a point for their team.
Level
That player then changes places with someone in their team.
Any
The other team has to keep the same player in the seat until they
are first to answer correctly.
Time
20 minutes The next word is then written on the board and so on.

ESL MIMING GAMES
WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S Back to the Board

Miming and Vocabulary This entertaining miming game can be used to review a variety
Game: guessing of vocabulary.
vocabulary (group work)
Procedure
Vocabulary revision
sits with their back to the board.
Aim
Tell the two players that they are not allowed to look at the board.
To review recently taught
vocabulary. Write three words you want the students to revise on the board.
When you say 'go', the two teams start miming the first word to
Preparation their player sat at the front of the class.
None
The first player to correctly guess the word scores a point for their
team.
Level
The two teams then mime the second word and so on.
Any
When all three words have been guessed correctly, two new
players come to the front and three new words are written on the
Time board.
20 minutes
Play continues until everyone has had a turn guessing mimes.
As a variation, teams take it in turns to play and set a time limit of

one minute for the player to guess the three words on the board.

ESL MIMING GAMES
WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S What am I doing?

Miming, Grammar This ESL miming game can be used to practice or review the
and Speaking Game: present continuous tense.
guessing, forming
sentences (group work) Procedure
Focus
A student from one team comes to the front of the class.
Present continuous
Give the student a present continuous sentence to mime.
Aim
The student asks the class 'What am I doing?' and mimes the
To guess present sentence on the card.
continuous sentences
from mimes. When a member on either team thinks they know, they give their
answer, e.g. 'You are eating a pizza.'
Preparation If the team member is correct, they score a point for their team.
Write present continuous
If not, the student continues with the mime.
You are... sentences on
slips of paper, e.g. 'You
When a sentence has been correctly guessed, a student comes up
are eating a pizza.'
from the other team and so on.
Level The first team to ten points wins the game.
Pre-intermediate (A2)
Time
20 minutes

ESL MIMING GAMES
WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S Verb Antics

Miming and Vocabulary Here is an engaging miming game to help students practice verbs
Game: guessing and verb forms.
vocabulary, changing
word forms (group work) Procedure
Focus
A player from one team comes to the front of the class and is
Verbs
given a verb to mime.
Verb forms
The player then mimes the verb to the class.
The first team to correctly guess the verb scores a point.

Aim
To review or practice The winning team can then score an extra point by choosing a
verbs and verb forms. team member to go to the board and write down the base form,
past form and past participle form of the verb.
Preparation If the team member does this successfully, they score an extra
point for their team.
Write verbs you want the
students to practice on
If not, the other team can steal the point by correcting the
slips of paper
student's mistake.
Level A player from the other team then comes to the front of the class
to mime a verb and so on.
Any
Time
20 minutes

ESL HANGMAN GAMES
WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S Sentence Hangman

Grammar, Vocabulary and This hangman game is useful for practicing parts of speech,
Spelling Game: guessing, sentence structure and grammar.
forming words and
sentences from prompts Procedure
(group work)
Divide the students into two or more teams.
Focus Draw a line for each letter in the sentence, separating the words
with a slash.
Parts of speech
Example: The capital of England is London.
Sentence structure
___/_______/__/_______/__/______
Grammar
Teams then take turns guessing either individual letters or
complete words.
Aim
To review or practice If a team correctly guesses a letter, they score a point for each
parts of speech, occurrence of the letter in the complete sentence.
sentence structure and
grammar. Example: A team guesses the letter N. They score 4 points.
___/_______/__/_n___n_/__/__n__n
Preparation
If a team correctly guesses a word, they score the total number of
None
letters in the word. This includes any previously entered letters.
Level Example: A team guesses the word England, scoring 7 points.
Any ___/_______/__/England/__/__n__n
When a team correctly guesses a letter or word, they have another

Time turn.
20 minutes
If a letter or word isn't in the sentence, play passes to the next
team.

ESL HANGMAN GAMES
WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S Scrambled Hangman

Vocabulary and Spelling In this ESL hangman game, students guess words by unscrambling
Game: guessing, letters.
unscrambling (group
work) Procedure
Divide the students into two to four teams.
Focus
Draw a line on the board for each letter of the word you have
Vocabulary
chosen.
Teams take it in turns to choose a letter.

Aim
To review previously If the letter is in the word, write the letter in a different place to
taught vocabulary. where it should go.
If a letter isn't in the word, play passes to the next team.

Preparation
Once all the letters of the word are revealed, teams race to
None
unscramble the word.
Level The first team to guess the word scores a point.
Any Play several rounds.
The team with the highest score at the end of the game is the
Time winner.
20 minutes
The word can be guessed before all the letters are revealed.
However, this is normally very hard to do.
You may also wish to base the words on a theme or category to

help the students guess the words.

ESL HANGMAN GAMES
WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S Parts of Speech Hangman

Grammar and Vocabulary This version of hangman is ideal for practicing parts of speech,
Game: guessing, forming sentence structure and grammar.
Arrange the class into two to four teams.
Focus
Think of a sentence containing the language point you wish to
Parts of speech
introduce or revise.
Sentence structure
Draw a line on the board for each word in the sentence and
Grammar number each line.
Example: He ran really fast.

Aim
1 2 3 4
To practice parts of
speech, sentence
______ ______ ______ ______
structure and grammar
The first team chooses a number.
Preparation
Give the team a clue for the word, e.g. 'It's a verb'.
None
The team then guesses the missing word.
Level If the team correctly guesses the word, they score one point and
the word is written in the space.
Intermediate (B1)
If not, the next team can ask for a second clue or choose another
Time number.
15 minutes If they ask for the same number again, you give another clue,
e.g. 'The verb is in the past simple tense.'
You should try to have at least three clues for each word with
each clue getting gradually easier.
After the sentence has been guessed correctly, you may go on to

focus on the language point illustrated in the sentence.
Then, repeat the game with other examples of the language point.

ESL HANGMAN GAMES
WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S Letter by Letter Hangman

Vocabulary and Spelling In this hangman game, teams guess the letters of a sentence in
Game: guessing, forming order and get one guess at each letter.
Focus
Draw a line for each letter in your chosen sentence.
Sentence structure
Separate the words with a slash.
Aim
Explain that the teams are going to play a game of hangman,
To review previously but instead of guessing any letter they guess the letters in order
taught vocabulary or through the sentence and have one guess per letter.
sentence structures.
Write the first letter of the first word on the board.
Preparation Ask the first team to guess what letter comes next.
None
If the team guesses the correct letter, write it in the space and
ask the other team for the next letter.
Level
If the team guesses incorrectly, draw the first part of the hangman
Any for that team and ask the other team what letter they think comes
next.
Time If the other team gets the letter wrong, draw the first part of the
20 minutes hangman for their team.
Then, write the correct letter in the space and move on to the
next letter.
Continue until the whole sentence is complete.
The team with the least complete hangman wins the round and
scores one point.
If a team’s hangman is completed, they lose the round and a

point is awarded to the other team.

ESL HANGMAN GAMES
WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S Last Man Standing

Vocabulary and Spelling In this engaging hangman game, students guess film titles,
Game: guessing, forming idioms, slogans, famous people and places from hangman clues.
words from prompts
Divide the students into four teams (A, B, C and D).
Focus
Copy the following on the board:
Film titles, idioms,
slogans, famous people
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
and places
Correct consonant = 20pts
Aim
Vowel = -10pts
To guess film titles,
idioms, slogans, famous Correct answer = 50pts
people and places from
hangman clues. Wrong answer = -50pts
A. 50 B. 50 C. 50 D. 50
Preparation
Clue - It's big and green.
Prepare some film titles,
idioms, slogans, famous
___/______
people or places and
write a clue for each one.
Each team starts with 50 points.
Level Read the clue to the class.
Any Teams then take it in turns to choose a letter from the top of the
board.
Time If a team chooses a consonant that's in one of the words, they

25 minutes score 20 points for each occurrence of the letter.
If a team chooses a vowel, they lose 10 points.
A correct answer is worth 50 points (e.g. The Amazon).
If a team gives a wrong answer, they lose 50 points.

ESL HANGMAN GAMES
WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S Dice of Fortune

Vocabulary and Spelling In this fun hangman game, students guess letters in words,
Game: guessing, forming phrases or sentences and then roll a dice to try to win points.
words or sentences from
prompts (group work) Procedure
Divide the students into three teams.
Focus
Draw the six sides of a dice on the board.
Vocabulary or grammar
revision
Assign the following value to each number:
1 = 10 points 4 = Bankrupt
Aim
2 = 20 points 5 = Play again
To review previously 3 = 30 points 6 = 100 points
taught vocabulary or
sentence structures. Draw a hangman style clue on the board.
The clue can be a word, phrase or complete sentence.

Preparation
The first team chooses a letter and then rolls the dice.
A large dice
If you can, use an oversized dice, the bigger the better.
Level
If the letter appears in the clue, the team scores the assigned
Any value for every occurrence of the letter.
If the letter doesn't appear in the clue, play passes to the next
Time team and no value is assigned.
20 minutes
When a hangman clue has been correctly guessed, the points
scored by each team are safe and can't be rubbed out if bankrupt.
The team with the highest score at the end of the game is the
winner.

ESL HANGMAN GAMES
WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S Consonant Hangman

Vocabulary and Spelling This hangman game helps to introduce or revise vocabulary.
Game: guessing, forming
words from prompts Procedure
(group work)
Divide the students into two to four teams.
Focus Draw a blank for each letter in the word you wish to introduce or
review on the board.
Vocabulary
Teams take it in turns to choose a consonant.
Aim
If the consonant is in the word, the team scores one point.
To introduce new
vocabulary or revise The team can then buy a vowel for one point and guess the word,
previously taught or save the point to be used again later in the game.
vocabulary.
Correct vowels do not earn points.
Preparation If a consonant isn't in the word or a team saves a point, play

passes to the next team.
None
If a team has points they haven't used, they can use them only
Level after correctly guessing a consonant.
Any The first team to guess the word wins.
Play several rounds to find the overall winning team.

Time
15 minutes

ESL LISTENING GAMES
WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S Sticky Fingers

Listening and Vocabulary This entertaining listening game works well with young learners.
Game: word recognition
Procedure
Focus Choose three students to play first.
Vocabulary
Clear a runway to the far wall of the classroom.
Outstretch your arm.

Aim
To practice listening Each student then grabs one of your fingers.
for keywords or to
review recently taught Assign the three students with a keyword, e.g. take.
vocabulary.
Tell the students that if they hear that word, they should let go of
your finger and run to the wall.
Preparation
Start saying words that have a similar sound to the keyword, e.g.
None
took, tickle, bake, cake, etc.
Level If a student lets go of your finger and runs when you haven't said
the keyword, they are out of the game.
Young learners
When you say the keyword, the students let go of your finger and
run to the far wall.
Time
15 minutes Your task is to tag out the students before they get to the wall.
Any student who is tagged is out of the game.
Repeat until only one student is left.
Then, start a new round with three more students.
When everyone has had a go, play again with the winners of each
round until you find the ultimate champion.

ESL LISTENING GAMES
WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S Odd One Out

Listening Game: odd one Here is an engaging listening game to help students practice a
out variety of vocabulary.
Procedure
Focus
Ask the students to stand in a circle.
Vocabulary
Explain that you are going to say lexical sets of words and that if
the students hear a word that does not belong to that set, they
Aim
must stop what they are doing.
To listen for words that
don't belong. Ask the students to do an action, e.g. hop like a frog, dance like
a monkey, jump like a kangaroo, etc.
Preparation As the students are doing the action, they listen to you call out
sets of words, e.g. run, speak, hear, read, look, banana.
None
When the students hear a word that doesn't belong to the set,
Level they stop doing the action.
Young learners The last person to stop is out of the game.
If a student stops on the wrong word, they are also out of the
Time game.
10 minutes
Repeat with different lexical sets, e.g. animals, nouns, etc.
The last student left standing wins the game.
It is a good idea to play an example round with the students

before they begin the game.
To make the game harder, you can use similar-sounding words.
You could also ask the students why the word doesn't belong to
the lexical set when everyone has stopped, e.g. 'A banana is a
fruit. The other words are verbs.'

ESL LISTENING GAMES
WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S It's not Musical Chairs

Listening Game: In this fun listening game, students listen to an audio recording
answering comprehension and race to answer comprehension questions about it.
questions
Procedure
Focus Put chairs in a circle with one less chair than there are students
in the class.
Listening comprehension
Ask the students a comprehension question based on the audio
recording you have prepared.
Aim
To practice listening for Then, play the audio.
specific details.
Students then walk around the circle of chairs listening to the
recording.
Preparation
When a student hears the answer to the question, they sit down.
Prepare an audio
recording, script and
There may be one or several students who sit down.
listening comprehension
questions about the
At this point, pause the audio.
recording.
The audio can come from If it is just one student who sits down, ask them for the answer
a course book you use in to the question.
class. You can use one
long recording or several If it is a few students who sit down, ask them to whisper the
short ones. answer to you individually.
If a student's answer is correct, they remain seated.

Level
If not, they stand up.
Next, ask another question that can be answered in the next part
of the recording and restart the audio.
Time
20 minutes The standing students then start walking around the chairs again
until they hear the answer to your next question and so on.
The last student left standing is out of the game.
Then, everyone stands up, a chair is removed from the circle and
the game continues until there are only two students competing
for one chair to become the ultimate winner.

ESL LISTENING GAMES
WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S English Whispers

Listening and Speaking This listening game can be used to practice a variety of language
Game: repeating and points or vocabulary.
writing sentences (group
work) Procedure
Divide the students into equal teams.
Focus
Each team sits in a row facing the board.
Grammar and vocabulary
Give the student sat at the back of each row a written conversation.
Aim
The students at the back whisper the first sentence of their
To listen and repeat conversation to the student in front of them.
sentences.
That student whispers the sentence to the next student and so on
down the line.
Preparation
When the sentence reaches the person at the front, that student
Prepare a short written
stands up and writes the sentence on the board.
conversation for each
team. Try to make each
If the sentence is incorrect, it is whispered down the line again.
conversation of equal
length. Five to eight
It's up to the students at the back when to whisper the next
sentences are ideal.
sentence. They can say each sentence quickly or wait until the
sentence has been written on the board.
Level
The game continues until one team has written all the sentences
Any of their conversation on the board correctly.
That team wins the game.

Time
20 minutes For young learners, use individual words rather than sentences.

ESL GRAMMAR GAMES
WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S Verb Races

Grammar Game: forming Here is a fun grammar game for practicing or reviewing verb
conjugations (group conjugations.
work)
Procedure
Focus Divide the students into equal teams of seven. Equal teams of
five or six are also possible.
Verb conjugations
Have each team sit in a line facing the board.
Aim
Assign each student in a team with a subject pronoun: I, You, He,
To practice verb She, They, It or We.
conjugations.
Give the first student in each line a piece of paper.
Preparation Say a present tense and a verb, e.g. present simple and 'run'.
None
The first student conjugates the verb using their subject pronoun
and writes it on the paper, e.g. I run.
Level
The student then passes the paper to the student behind them.
Elementary (A1-A2)
The second student writes their verb conjugation (e.g. You run)
and passes the paper to the person behind them and so on down
Time the line.
20 minutes
When the student at the end of the line has written on the paper,
they run to the board to write all the answers up for everyone to
see.
The first team to correctly write all the verb conjugations on the
board in the right order scores a point.
The student at the back of each line then moves to the front
and everyone else moves back one place, changing to a different
subject pronoun as they go.
The game is then repeated with a different tense and verb and
so on.

ESL GRAMMAR GAMES
WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S Just a Minute!

Grammar and Speaking In this grammar game, students practice peer correction of
Game: impromptu spontaneous speech. This game works best with small class sizes.
speech, peer error
correction (group work) Procedure
Divide the students into groups of six. Have each group sit around
Focus a table. Bigger or smaller groups are also possible.
Error correction
Give each group one 'The speaker is right' card and one 'The
challenger is right' card. Also, give each student ten counters.
Have one student in each group keep the time.
Aim
To practice peer The first student is given a topic to talk about for one minute by
correction of impromptu the student sitting to their right, e.g. holidays.
speech.
The speaker then starts talking about the topic and the other
students in the group listen. When someone in the group hears
Preparation the speaker make a grammar mistake, they challenge the speaker.
Make one copy of 'The
The student timing pauses the stopwatch and the challenger
speaker is right' and 'The
explains what the student said without correcting the mistake.
challenger is right' cards
for each group of six.
The other group members then vote on who is right by placing
Also, prepare ten one counter on either 'The speaker is right' or 'The challenger is
counters for each right' card.
student.
The teacher then judges who is correct.
Level If the speaker is correct, they take all the counters on 'The speaker
is right' card.
Upper-intermediate (B2)
If the challenger is right, they take all the counters on 'The
challenger is right' card and attempt to correct the speaker's
Time grammar mistake.
25 minutes
If this is done successfully, the challenger takes one extra counter
from the speaker. If the correction is wrong, the challenger gives
the speaker one counter.
The extra counters are then removed from the game.
The speaker then resumes talking about the topic until the time
limit is up.
If there is a second challenge, the process is repeated. When the

time limit has been reached, the next speaker is given a topic to
talk about and so on. If a student runs out of counters, they are
out of the game.
The student with the most counters at the end of the game wins.

ESL GRAMMAR GAMES
WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S Just a Minute!
The speaker The challenger

is right. is right.

is right. is right.

is right. is right.

is right. is right.

is right. is right.

is right. is right.

ESL GRAMMAR GAMES
WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S Grammar Races

Grammar and Writing This grammar revision game is ideal for reviewing all aspects of
Game: forming sentences grammar. It also helps you to spot problem areas or common
from prompts, error mistakes your students are making.
correction (group work)
Procedure
Focus Divide the students into four teams.
Grammar
Choose one student in each team to be the 'runner' and one
student to be the 'writer'.
Sentence structure
Assign each team with a number and allocate a space on the
Vocabulary revision
board for each team to write.
Have the writers stand next to their space by the board.

Aim
To write sentences Give each team a different keyword.
containing a certain word
and to identify grammar The keywords should be vocabulary or a grammar point you wish
mistakes. the students to revise.
Each team must then come up with sentences using their keyword
Preparation or grammar point.
None
When a team thinks of a sentence, they tell the runner.
Level The runner then goes to the board and tells the sentence to the
writer who writes it on the board.
Any
After a few minutes, stop the round and evaluate the sentences
from each team.
Time
25 minutes Award one to three points for each sentence, depending on the
grammar, sentence structure and vocabulary usage.
If you spot a mistake, ask the other teams to identify and correct
it.
The first student to raise their hand and correct the mistake scores
the points for their team.
Play a few rounds using different keywords each time.

ESL GRAMMAR GAMESC
WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S Grammar Auction

Grammar Game: error Here is a fun grammar game to help your students identify
correction (group work) grammar mistakes.
Procedure
Focus
Write 16 sentences on the board some of which should contain
Error correction
grammar mistakes.

Aim
To identify grammar Explain that all the sentences on the board are for sale and that
mistakes in sentences. you are going to auction the sentences off to the highest bidder.
Each team has $100 and their task is to buy the sentences they
Preparation think are correct.
Prepare 16 sentences,
In their teams, students discuss which sentences they think are
some sentences should
right and decide which ones to buy.
be correct and some
should contain grammar
Students should also decide how much they are prepared to pay
mistakes.
for each sentence.
Level Teams shouldn't spend too much money too soon as once they
have spent all their money they won't be able to buy any more
Any sentences.
You then take on the role of an auctioneer and sell each sentence
Time to the team that offers the most money, keeping track of how
25 minutes much each team has spent on the board.
When all the sentences have been sold, go through them one at
a time and elicit which ones are correct and which are incorrect.
If a sentence is wrong, ask the students to correct the mistake.
The team that bought the most correct sentences wins the game.
If it's a draw, the team with the most money left wins.

ESL GRAMMAR GAMES
WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S Correction

Grammar Game: error This useful grammar game helps students practice error correction.
correction, betting (group
work) Procedure
Write 12 sentences on the board with each one containing a
Focus grammar mistake.
Error correction
Tell the teams to read the sentences and look for the mistakes.
Explain that each team starts with 100 points and that they are
Aim
going to gamble points, depending on how confident they are
To identify grammar about correctly identifying the mistake in each sentence.
mistakes.
Team A starts and chooses a sentence for Team B to correct.
Preparation Team B decides how many points they would like to bet, the more
confident they are, the more points they bet.
Create 12 sentences
that contain grammar
The maximum bet is 50 points.
mistakes on your chosen
language focus.
The members of Team B then consult with each other and give
their correction.
Level
If the team correctly identifies the grammar mistake, add the
Any points they bet to their total.
If they fail to identify the mistake, they lose the number of points
Time bet.
20 minutes
Team A then has a chance to steal the points by correcting the
sentence.
If Team A answers correctly, they get the points that Team B

would have won.
Team B then chooses a sentence for Team C to correct and so on.

ESL FLASHCARD GAMES
WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S Flashcards at Dawn

Vocabulary Game: This entertaining ESL flashcard game can be used to practice any
identifying vocabulary vocabulary or language point.
(group work)
Procedure
Focus Divide the class into two teams.
Vocabulary or language
One student from each team comes to the front of the class.
revision
Have the two students stand back to back.
Aim
Give each student a flashcard containing the target language.
To review recently taught
vocabulary. Each student holds their flashcard in front of them with the picture
side facing away.
Preparation Both students then take three steps away from each other before
quickly turning around (similar to the pistols at dawn scenario).
Flashcards of the target
vocabulary or language
The two students then race to call out what's on the other student's
flashcard.
Level
The first student to correctly call out what's on the flashcard
Young learners scores a point for their team.
Play until all the flashcards have been used.

Time
10 minutes The team with the most points at the end of the game wins.

ESL FLASHCARD GAMES
WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S Sumo

Vocabulary Game: Here is a fun flashcard game to play with young learners.
identifying vocabulary
Divide the students into two teams (A and B).
Focus
Have all the students form one large circle.
Vocabulary revision
Choose one student from each team to play first.
Aim
The two players stand facing each other in the centre of the circle
To review recently taught and take on the role of sumo wrestlers.
vocabulary.
Stick a flashcard to the back of each player.
Preparation Tell the two players to place their hands behind their back and
perform a 'Sumo stomp'.
vocabulary and some
When you say 'go', the two players move around and try to see
sticky tape
what flashcard is on their opponent's back.
Level The two students are not allowed to touch each other and must
keep their hands behind their back at all times.
Young learners
The students who form the circle must not help the players in any
way.
Time
15 minutes Award a point to the other team if this happens.
The first player to call out what's on their opponent's flashcard

scores a point for their team.
Two new players then enter the centre of the circle, and the game
continues with new flashcards.
Continue the game until all the students have had a chance to
play.

ESL FLASHCARD GAMES
WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S Mr Wolf

Speaking Game: asking This flashcard version of Mr Wolf is ideal for practicing a variety of
and answering questions yes/no questions and short answers.
Procedure
Focus
You are the wolf.
Yes/no questions and
short answers
You stand at one end of the classroom with a flashcard.
The other students line up at the other end of the room next to
Aim
the wall.
To practice asking and
answering simple yes/no Show the students your chosen flashcard, e.g. a flashcard of a
questions. car.
Ask the students questions about the flashcard that would get a
Preparation 'no' response, e.g. 'Is it a motorbike?'
Every time the students answer no (e.g. No, it isn't.), they take
language
one step forward.
Level When the students are close to you, ask them a question about
the flashcard that would get a 'yes' response, e.g. 'Is it a car?'
Elementary (A1-A2)
When the students answer 'yes', you chase the students and try
to tag them out before they reach the wall at the other end of the
Time room.
10 minutes
Whoever is tagged is out of the game.
Repeat the game with a new flashcard and so on.
The last student left in the game wins.
You can also play the game with a strong student being Mr Wolf,
or you can have the students who are out of the game become
wolves and help you ask questions and chase students.

ESL FLASHCARD GAMES
WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S Grab it

Vocabulary Game: You can use this engaging flashcard game to review or practice a
matching, identifying, variety of language or vocabulary.
providing vocabulary,
answering questions Procedure
(group work)
Stick flashcards of the target language or vocabulary on the board.
Focus Divide the class into two teams.

Language or vocabulary
Have each team line up at the back of the room.
revision
Make sure that the students have a clear runway to the board.
Aim
For lower-level students, call out a word from one of the flashcards.
To review or practice
target language. One student from each team runs to the board.
The two students then race to grab the corresponding flashcard

Preparation and repeat the word.
You could also call out a word, and have the two students race to
language or vocabulary
grab the opposite flashcard.
Level For higher-level students, describe a word and have the two
students race to find the flashcard being described.
Any
You could also ask a question, and have the two students race to
find the corresponding flashcard to answer.
Time
15 minutes For all versions of the game, the first student to grab the correct
flashcard and respond appropriately keeps the card for their team.
Repeat the game with two more students and so on.
The team with the most flashcards at the end of the game wins.

ESL FLASHCARD GAMES
WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S Whisper

Listening and Speaking This ESL flashcard game is ideal for reviewing words, sentence
Game: repeating and structures or tenses.
forming sentences (group
work) Procedure
Focus
Have each team sit in a line facing the board.
Revision: words,
sentence structures or
Put a set of identical word cards in front of each team next to the
tenses
board.
Whisper the same sentence to the student at the back of each

Aim
line.
To review words,
sentence structures or The student at the back of each line whispers the sentence to the
tenses. student in front of them.
The next student then whispers the sentence to the student in

Preparation front of them and so on, down the line to the student at the front.
Make sentences you want
The student at the front then grabs the flashcards that make up
the students to revise.
the words in the sentence and puts them on the board.
Then, put the each word
from the sentences on a The first team to put up the correct sentence scores a point.
flashcard.
The student at the front then moves to the back and everyone
Create two identical sets. moves up one place.
The game is then repeated with a new sentence and so on.

Level
Any
For young learners, use picture flashcards and whisper three or
Time four words to the students at the back. Students then whisper
the words in order. The first team to place the corresponding
20 minutes flashcards in order on the board scores a point.

ESL FLASHCARD GAMES
WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S Tiddlywinks

Vocabulary Game: In this amusing flashcard game, students answer questions about
matching (group work) flashcards.
Procedure
Focus
Begin the game by marking a start line on the floor at one end of
Language revision
the classroom.
Spread out flashcards face up at the other end of the room.

Aim
To answer questions Divide the students into teams of three (Player 1, 2 and 3).
related to particular
words. Give the first player in each team two tiddlywinks.
Have the players line up at the starting line.

Preparation
Demonstrate how to move the tiddlywinks.
Tiddlywinks
Flashcards and prepared Hold a tiddlywink between your forefinger and thumb and press
questions down on the edge of the other tiddlywink.
This propels the tiddlywink forward.

Level
Ask the players a question based on one of the flashcards.
Elementary (A1-A2)
Players then race to flip their tiddlywinks across the room and on
to the correct flashcard.
Time
20 minutes The first player to land a tiddlywink on the flashcard gets to
answer the question.
If the player answers the question correctly, they score a point

for their team.
If not, the game continues until the question is answered correctly.
Players then swap, and the game begins again from the start line
with a new question.
The game continues until all the questions have been answered.

ESL FLASHCARD GAMES
WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S The Flashcard Exchange

Vocabulary Game: This engaging flashcard game can be used to practice vocabulary
matching, identifying on a variety of topics.
vocabulary
Procedure
Focus Arrange the students' chairs in a circle (minus one chair).
Vocabulary revision
Ask the students to sit on a chair.
The student without a chair stands in the middle of the circle.

Aim
To review or practice Give each student sitting in a chair a flashcard based on the same
target language. topic, e.g. sports.
Call out two words based on the topic, e.g. football and tennis.
Preparation
The two students who have those flashcards must then swap
Flashcards based on a
places.
topic
The student in the middle has to try to sit in one of their seats
Level while the two students are swapping places.
Young learners If the student in the middle manages to sit in one of the chairs,
the student left standing has to give their flashcard to the student
who took their place.
Time
15 minutes Then, call out two other words based on the topic and so on.
The game continues until all the students have had each flashcard
at least once.

ESL FIRST DAY OF CLASS GAMES
WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S Who am I?

Speaking Game: asking This first day of class icebreaker helps you to introduce yourself
questions from prompts to the class and gives you insight into your students' level of
(group work) English.
Procedure
Focus
Cover the board with numbered information and answers about
Personal information
yourself. The type and amount of information you write will
questions
depend on the level of your class.
Example: Who am I?
Aim
To ask personal 1 2 3 4 5 6
information questions.
John blue Yes, I can. football London the beach
7 8 9 10 11 12
Preparation 13 years 10 years 183 cm steak Honda Yes, I am.
None
Next, divide the students into two teams (A and B).
Level Tell the class that the information and answers on the board are
Any about you.
Explain that the aim of the game is for teams to choose a number
Time and ask a question that they think matches with the answer on
the board.
20 minutes
For some answers, many questions may be possible, but only one
question is correct.
Teams then take it in turns to choose a number and ask a question.
Teams score one point for the correct question and one point for
using the correct grammar. The team with the most points at the
end of the game wins.
Example: 2, blue
Teacher: What number would you like Team A?
Team A: Number 2, please. What is your favourite colour?
Teacher: S
orry, that's the wrong question. My favourite colour is
green. What number would you like Team B?
Team B: Number 2 again. What colour are your eyes?
Teacher: C
orrect. Well done. (Crosses off number 2) What
number would you like Team A?

ESL FIRST DAY OF CLASS GAMES
WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S Two Truths and a Lie

Writing and Speaking This first day of class ice breaker can be used to either introduce
Game: writing true or information about yourself to a new class or for students to get
false statements, asking to know one another.
and answering questions,
guessing (group work) Procedure
There are two versions of this game. One version is played
Focus between the teacher and the class and in the other students play
in small groups.
Giving personal
information
Teacher-to-class version
Divide the class into teams.

Aim
To introduce oneself Present a set of statements to the class with one being false.
by sharing personal
information. Example: education
1. I was home-schooled as a child.

Preparation 2. I graduated top of my class in high school.
3. I did a one-year student exchange in Greece at university.
Prepare ten sets
of 'Two Truths and
Each team then asks you one question to help them determine
a Lie' statements,
which statement is a lie. When all the teams have asked one
corresponding to
question, they guess which statement is false.
categories of personal
information, e.g. family,
If a team guesses correctly, they score one point.
hobbies, education, etc.
Level
Student-to-student version
Each student prepares four categories of 'Two Truths and a Lie'
statements.
Time
In groups of four, students then take turns presenting a set of
20 minutes
statements, and each group member asks one question to help
them determine which one is a lie.
When all the students have asked one question, they guess which
statement is false.
Students who guessed correctly score one point.
The student with the most points at the end of the game wins.

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ESL TV GAME SHOWS

WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S Who wants to be a millionaire?

Activity Type Introduction

When both players have answered correctly, two new players

Fifty-Fifty: This is where two of the four answers are eliminated,

Ask a friend: The player chooses someone in the class to help

When one player answers a question incorrectly, their team loses

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WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S The Weakest Link

Activity Type Introduction

Time However, if a team answers incorrectly, all the points scored by

The last two teams left in the game win.

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WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S The Price is Right

Activity Type Introduction

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WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S Strike it Lucky

Activity Type Introduction

If a team picks a square that's a 'Hot Spot', the team moves

Example Teacher's grid:

Note: This resource can be edited using a PDF editor.

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WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S Mastermind

Activity Type Introduction

With higher-level students you can use long words.

The first team to guess the secret word scores a point.

Repeat the process with a new secret word and so on.

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WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S Family Fortunes

Activity Type Introduction

(Family name) FAMILY FORTUNES (Family name)

A copy of the survey 4.

Students in the playing team then take it in turns to guess the

The playing team gets three lifelines per round. If an answer is

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WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S Family Fortunes

We asked 100 English teachers to name...

a former president of the USA a European capital city an African country

1. Obama 1. Paris 1. Kenya

an ice cream flavour a hot country an item of jewellery

1. vanilla 1. Thailand 1. ring

a water sport a car brand a country starting with C

1. water skiing 1. BMW 1. Canada

a fruit a type of music a famous person who is dead

1. mango 1. pop 1. Michael Jackson

an English football team a dangerous animal a job

1. Manchester United 1. tiger 1. teacher

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WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S Countdown

Activity Type Introduction

The first team chooses nine letters by saying either 'vowel' or

There is a countdown TV theme song that you can find online.

The team with the longest word gives their answer.

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WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S Blockbusters

Activity Type Introduction

Start with the center hexagon.

The two teams then race to answer, e.g. baker.