Boxed Games In The ESL Classroom

I sometimes like to add some classic games into the lesson mix, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with bringing a few board or boxed games into your ESL class. Depending on which country you are teaching in, it could often be the case that the students may never have seen or heard of the game. For us what may seem like very basic and simple English, lets take for example - Twister- can be very challenging to English learners. Lets take a look at a few of my commercially bought boxed games that adapt perfectly for ESL learning.

Boxed Games

Twister

Right foot green, left hand blue etc, really gets the students thinking. Those playing the game have to coordinate what their brain hears, work it out in their mind and then move accordingly. Of course you also have one student who acts as the caller, spinning and calling the directions for the other students to hear. It really works very well and is a great change of scenery for the kids. Don't be fooled into thinking this is too easy for your students. I've had English teachers have trouble doing this game. Left from right can always be confusing, hand or foot and four colours...It can still make them think!

HedBanz  

When I purchased this game, I had no idea that it was going to be such a hit with my students. I thought it looked kind of fun and had good learning material, but it exceeded all my expectations. The basic idea is the kids wear a head band with a card on the front, they ask the students questions to try to guess what they are. Am I an animal? what colour am I? am I big? can I fly? and so on. There are many ways you can utilize playing this game. I've even found the most successful way is actually in a big class. Split the students into six groups (as there are six headbands). Each student takes a turn in wearing the headband and asking the rest of his group questions to find out what they are. When they have guessed they come and retrieve another card from me and go back and start with a new student. You have six Headbands games running at once in the one class, it works awesomely well. I've successfully played this in classes of 60 students.

Uno  

Of course the ever reliable Uno is a must for any class. incorporating colours, numbers and new phrases such as reverse, skip etc. It is cheap enough that you can buy a few packs , split your class into groups and enjoy the universal game of UNO! As far as boxed games go, it's small and light to carry...which is a big bonus if you're carrying teaching materials around to different countries.

Apples 2 Apples  

I'd never heard of this game until a fellow teacher left it to me with good wishes upon her departure. I've not quite thought of a way to incorporate it into big classes yet but in small classes it really is a lot of fun. A game of unusual comparisons, that really gets the students to think outside the square, which is often not easy to do. It takes a little explaining to the kids, but is really excellent to teach them some new vocabulary. I have the original edition which I have to filter through and take out any cards that are just too difficult for the students, so unless you are teaching advanced learners, purchasing the junior edition may be a better idea.

The trouble I have often had in the past is the weight of carrying boxed games back to the country I'm teaching in, so down below I've included a really handy Amazon widget with the above mentioned boxed games and more, all available for quick and easy purchase and delivery. The prices are much cheaper than the toy stores too.

Good luck with your games and make sure you have fun!

ESL-TASTIC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
hoyasmeg via Compfight cc">Photo by .