Games for kids

The Symbol Game

By the end of this game, everyone should have a smile on their faces and be familiar with all of their
classmates.

Directions: This can be used for students of all ages. Have each of the students
introduce themselves and choose an object or word to be their symbol. (For example,
I could say, Brian and orange because my favorite color is orange.) After
everyone has introduced him/herself, including the teacher, say someones symbol.
That person must then say another persons symbol, and so on. If someone hesitates
or says the wrong symbol, they are out. (For a punishment, you could have them try
to say everyones name, or symbol.)

Circle Memory Sentences

A good icebreaker or review speaking activity for all levels.

This activity is especially good for reviewing vocabulary when you have 15 minutes left at the end of class!
Simply write some vocabulary words learned recently, then ask for volunteer to go first. (The volunteer will
be very glad he/she did so!) Once you have your volunteer, ask him/her if you should go around the class
clockwise or counter-clockwise. The first student must say a sentence using one of the vocabulary words on
the board, which you can then cross out. The second student must say what the first person said, plus a
sentence of his/her own, using one of the remaining vocabulary words on the board. Each student will have to
say everything that was said before them, and the last student will have to say the most. A bit daunting, but
also a bit of fun, and a great way to review vocab! (Pay attention: the students may challenge you to say
everyones sentences at the end!)

This can also be very useful when learning different tenses! For example, on Monday, you can ask the
students, "What did you do this weekend?" Going around the circle, each student says a Past Tense sentence,
as well as all of the sentences said before him/her.

This game can also be adapted as an icebreaker: Have everyone introduce themselves and say an additional
sentence about themselves (such as, My name is Brian, and my favorite color is orange.). The second
person must say what the first person said (His name is Brian and his favorite color is orange.) as well as a
statement about him/herself (My name is Jane, and I have a pet cat.). Each student will have to say
everything that was said before them, and the last student will have to say the most.
Question Game

This game is good for practicing question forms.

Directions: Print and cut out the cards below. The teacher chooses a card and reads it aloud (this is
the "answer"). The students must then ask questions that would elicit such an answer. (For
example, if the card says, "Yes, I can." then the students should ask a question such as, "Can you
speak English?") You can play this game "game-show style," having the kids say "Ding!" if they
think they can say the correct "question."

Tomorrow. Yes, I do. Yes, I will. No, I wont. No, I dont.

Yes, I can. No, I cant. Yes, I did. No, I didnt. Yes, he does.

No, she Because Im In the In the

Yesterday.
doesnt. tired. morning. evening.

No, I
Yes, I should. In the sky. On the wall. Yellow.
shouldnt.
 In the
Short. Water. English. At 12:00.
kitchen.

The Lying Game!

Materials: pen, paper.

Directions: First, you, the teacher, write down three things about yourself, two of
which are lies. (For example: a) I have been to Japan b) I have eaten a snail c) I have
ridden a horse.) Read them to the students, who then write down a, b, or c, to guess
which statement is true. After everyone has guessed, reveal the true answer, and give
each student who guessed correctly one point. (If no one guesses the correct answer,
award the liar one or two points!)

Then, everyone has 5 minutes or so to write down three things about themselves, of
which two must be lies. Have the first student read his/hers, and have everyone guess
which one is true, assigning points for correct guesses as before. Then go on to the
next student, and proceed until everyone has read their three statements. Students tend
to really enjoy this game. I usually buy a tea or give a prize to the student or students
who have the most points at the end.

To make this game much more interesting, after the student has read the 3 sentences
about him/herself, allow anyone to ask that person one question (or more, if you like).
This way, the student must actually try to lie convincingly, and the game lives up to
its name!
Simon says

Tell the students to listen to the instructions you will give them, they can follow your actions too but at
some stage you will try and trick them so they have to be very careful not to get caught out.

Have everyone stand up and begin the game, for example you might start by saying "Simon says, hands
on head" while placing your hands on your head.

The students should follow your instructions, quickly putting their hands on their heads. If they don't do it
correctly or are just too slow then they are out of the game and should sit down (you might want to be
lenient on students making mistakes during the first round).

Continue the game with those remaining, slowly increasing the speed in an effort to catch them out. At
any point you can try and trick the students by, for example, saying "Simon says, hands on ears" while
placing your hands on your shoulders. Anyone who puts their hands on their shoulders is out of the game.

It's a simple, fast activity that is great for improving listening skills and is especially fun for younger
students who love moving around.

Animal Jokes for Kids

Enjoy our range of hilarious animal jokes for kids and laugh along with the neat humor and classic jokes
related to all our our friends living in the animal kingdom.

Find jokes about elephants, cats, butterflies, fish, birds, cows and more. Read on and check out all our
funny jokes about animals.

Why do bees hum? Because they dont know the words.

Why do birds fly south for the winter? Because its too far to walk.

What goes up slowly and comes down quickly? An elephant in a lift.

Why is there a crab in prison? Because he kept pinching things!

What do you call a brainy insect? A spelling bee.

Why did the man throw the butter out the window? Because he wanted to see butterfly.

What happened to the cat that swallowed a ball of wool? She had mittens.

How do porcupines kiss each other? Very carefully.

What do you give an elephant with big feet? Plenty of room!

Why did the chicken cross the road? To get to the other side.

What do you call a fish with no eyes? A fsh.

 Why does everyone love cats? Because theyre purr-fect!

Where do cows go with their friends? The moooovies!

How do you keep an elephant in suspense? Ill tell you tomorrow.

What do you call a fly without wings? A walk.

Monster Drawing Game

After you have taught the song"Heads and Shoulders" (Heads and shoulders knees and toes, knees and
toes etc.) and the colours then try this game.

Each child has a blank piece of paper and lots of colouring pens. You then describe a monster that the
kids have to draw. For example you say "This Monster has 3 RED HEADS" then perhaps "This Monster
has 5 PURPLE EYES".

It calms the kids down! If some of them don't seem so keen then tell them they are designing a new
Pocket Monster!!! They'll be interested then!!!!

For example......

1. This Monster has 2 blue heads 2. This Monster has 1 red head. 3. This Monster has 8 purple eyes.

4. This Monster has 3 green mouths. 5. This Monster has yellow hair 6. This Monster has 4 red arms.

This kids come up with some pretty funky designs!!

To make this class more advanced try introducing shapes (triangle, square etc.) and getting students to
draw their monsters using these shapes. How about a square head? Or star mouth?

Sticky Fingers!

You play this game with 3 kids at a time. Teach or review some vocab or question phrase, clear some
space in the classroom, then...

1. The kids each grab one of the teacher's fingers, which are outstretched as shown.

2. The teacher assigns a special "keyword"

3. The kids ask today's question. If the teacher answers with the keyword the kids run to the far wall.

4. If on the way, the teacher "tags" a kid, they are out.

5. If a kid lets go when the teacher hasn't said the keyword (e.g. if the keyword is "Dog" and the kid runs
when the teacher says "Dinosaur") then they are out!!

6. Repeat from 2 until only one kid is left.

7. Start again with 3 more kids.

 8. When everyone has had a go, try it again with 3 winners. Keep playing with the winners, just like a
championship, until you find the ultimate winner!

Start off easy, but you can get quite advanced, for example saying "elephant" when the key word is
"eleven" means the kids have to really listen. If they hesitate, of course, they stand a much bigger chance
of being tagged!!

Another great way to practice this is by having the kids shouting out a question and the teacher answers.
For example the kids shout out "How old are you?" and make one age as the keyword. If the teacher
shouts out, say, "I'm 10" the kids run, if the teacher says anything else they shouldn't run!

Jeopardy Game!

Do a review of about 30 vocab words and then....

1. On the board fasten (magnets is the best way) the 30 picture cards. Arrange them in 3 rows of
10 each. Actually the pictures should be facing the board, unlike here!

2. Label the 3 rows as A, B and C. Label the ten columns from 1 to 10.

3. Row A should be easy words, row B medium level and row C difficult words.

4. Assign the kids to one of two teams.

5. Make the kids pass a ball from one another untill you say stop.

6. The kid with the ball chooses between A, B or C questions. A is easy so is worth 10 points, B
is worth 20 points and C is difficult and is worth 30 points. They also choose a number between
1 and 10.

7. The teacher then takes the card that corresponds to the row and column that the kid has
chosen.

8. Turn the card over and if the kid can say the word in English they get the points!

9. Continue from step 5

This is good as an end of year review. Remember not to make the kids feel uncomfortable, help
them if they get stuck!!

Leapfrog!

This is an adaptation of a game Japanese kids play in their break time.

1. On the board, from left to right put about 8 or 9 picture cards. In this case we are learning
"time" so have clocks to read out.

2. Split the class into two teams. One team lines up on the left side of the room, and the other
team on the right side of the room.

3. The first kid from each team comes to the board, one at the left side and one at the right. They
read the words out loud, one at a time,"leaping" along to their opponent's side of the board.

4. When the meet they have to play Rock, Paper, Scissors. The losing kid sits down. This kid is
replaced by the next member in their team. This member starts from the start of their line. The
winning kid continues from where he/she stopped.

5. The teacher says "go!" and they start again, reading the words outloud until they meet.

6. Repeat from 4
 7. If they manage to reach their opponent's side of the board they have won!

This is a really quick, no preparation game - enjoy!

You can use it for any vocab. In Junior High you can use "Cool Words" with things like "Cool",
"Check it out", "Amazing", "You OK?" or whatever.

For younger kids you can try time. Draw 7 clocks on the board for the kids to read out (even
better, get them to draw the clocks themselves!).