ESL Games
The Categories Game

The Categories Game is one of the best ESL games for filling up extra time. It gets the kids thinking fast and doesn't require any equipment!!

THE CATEGORIES GAME

Target English: vocabulary in a specific category
Things You Need: just a group of kids!
Age: 4 or older
English Level: low-high
Game Outline:
1. Have the kids sit in a circle and establish a rythmic clapping pattern. I like to use a slap legs/clap hands/pause for answer pattern, but anything works.
2. Tell the kids what the category will be. Easy categories are colors, animals, and food. If you have kids with a higher level of english, you can narrow food down to fruits or vegetables, or do something even more difficult such as vehicles or countries.
3. Everyone starts the clapping pattern. During the "pause" the teacher says a word from the category. The clapping pattern continues and the next student in the circle has to say a different word in the category. 4. There can be no repeats. This continues until nobody can think of another word.

Variations

  • To make it harder, a student is "out" if he or she repeats another student's answer or cannot think of a word quick enough.
  • To make it easier, teacher can help the students think of answers.

Hope you and your kids have fun with this game.

Love,
Shannon Sensei

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