The Circle Game

The Circle Game surprises me every time with its simplicity. It only requires flash cards. And though by the nature of the game, there are no winners and losers, the kids respond to the game in the same way that they respond to my most active and competitive games. I learned this game in a seminar and I frequently come back to it.

It's great because you go in a circle. This means that there are no start and finish points. Thus, the game can go on for as long as you want it to.

THE CIRCLE GAME

Target English: anything you want
Things You Need: flash cards
Age: 4 or older (old enough to play rock, scissors, paper)
English Level: low-high

Game Outline:
1. Place all of the flash cards in a large circle around the classroom. If this is your first time playing the game, it's fun to do this in silence and have them wondering what you are doing.
2. Explain to them that they will play rock, paper, scissors against the teacher. If they win, they can move forward 5 spaces. If you win, they must move back 1 space.
3. Tell them to stand on any card that they want.
4. After students have selected the card that they want, play rock, paper, scissors with the first student. They move forward or backwards accordingly, and then they say the target English with the new card.
It's up to you whether you want to remember the order that the students started in or just keep going around the circle no matter what their place is. The upside to going around the circle is that students who "win" more may get more turns.
5. Repeat with the next student.

Variations

  • Make this easy by only requiring the kids to say the vocabulary word. Make it harder by having them use it in a sentence.
  • You can change the number of spaces that they move forward or backwards.
  • Breathe life into the game by having the kids play "ant, human, elephant" instead of "rock, paper, scissors". Elephant is your thumb. Human is your index finger. Ant is your pinky. Elephant beats human. Human beats ant. Ant beats elephant (because it's scared of the ant).

Hope you and your kids have fun with this game.

Love,
Shannon Sensei

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