Vocabulary games

Areas Sections Objectives Materials Teaching steps Remarks

Games Find a - Recap the - Word and - Give one card to each student. Variation
partner target picture cards - Ask students to walk around the classroom and find a - Divide the class into teams.
vocabulary classmate with the matching picture or word card. - Hand out a set of word and
picture cards to each team. Have
students compete to match the
cards.
- The first team to match all the
word and picture cards correctly
wins.
Games Mime and - Recap the - Invite a student to come up.
guess verbs - Ask the student to do an action without saying the word,
e.g., run.
- Ask the class to guess the action and say the word.
- Repeat with another action.
Games Pelmanism - Recap the - Word and - Divide the class into groups. Hand out a set of word and
target picture cards picture cards to each group.
vocabulary - Ask students to shuffle the cards and put them face down
on the desk.
- Each member takes turns choosing two cards.
- If the member finds a matching word card and picture
card, he/she can keep the cards. If not, he/she must turn the
cards back.
- The member with the most cards wins.
Games Snap! - Recap the - Word and - Divide the class into groups. Hand out a set of word and
target picture cards picture cards to each group.
vocabulary - Put the picture cards face down on a desk. Turn over one
card.
- Shuffle and deal the word cards to each player in the
group. Have them hold the cards face down in front of
them and take turns throwing a card face up into a pile on
the desk.
- When a matching card turns up, the players try to touch
that card. The first player to touch the card can keep it.
- Turn over another picture card and continue the game.
The player with the most cards wins.
Games Hangman - Recap the - Divide the class into two teams. Draw two posts for

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Vocabulary games

Areas Sections Objectives Materials Teaching steps Remarks

spellings of hanging their men.
the target - Write a simple definition for a vocabulary item on the
vocabulary board. Then write the correct number of blanks for the
word/phrase.
- Let each team take turns guessing the word/phrase.
- The team that guesses the most words wins.
Games Touch the - Recap the - Picture cards - Divide the class into teams. Invite a representative from
card target each team to come up.
vocabulary - Put the picture cards face up on the desk. Have the
representatives gather round the desk.
- Name a card. Students try to touch the corresponding card
on the desk. The first one to touch the correct card wins a
point for his/her team.
- Ask each team to choose another representative and
continue the game.
- The team with the most points wins.
Games Chinese - Recap the - Word and - Divide the class into teams. Line the teams up in front of
whispers target picture cards the board.
vocabulary - Put the word cards up on the board.
- Show the last player in each team a picture card and tell
him/her to whisper the word to the next player in the team.
Continue in this way until the word reaches the first player
in the line.
- Upon hearing the word, the first player in the line must go
to the board and select the correct word card. Award a point
for every correctly matched card.
- The team with the most points at the end wins.
Games Word wall - Enrich - A thick marker - Write the target vocabulary items on coloured paper with
students’ - Coloured paper a thick marker.
vocabulary - Blu-tack or - Put the coloured paper in alphabetical order up on the
adhesive tape classroom wall.
- Ask students to practise chanting and writing of about
five to eight words a week.
- Use the words on the word wall to play games, e.g.,
Bingo!
- Write the words on cards. Get students to form sentences

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Vocabulary games

Areas Sections Objectives Materials Teaching steps Remarks

on the board.
Games Around the - Recap the - Picture cards - Have students sit in a circle. Ask two volunteers to stand
world target up next to each other to begin the game.
vocabulary - Show the two students a picture card. The first student to
correctly name the card wins a point.
- The student who loses a round has to sit back. The
‘winner’ moves to stand beside the student on his/her left.
This student then stands up.
- Show the new pair a different picture card and repeat the
above two steps. Continue in this way around the circle.
- If any student can go around the entire circle without
having to sit down, he/she has gone ‘around the world’ and
gets five more points. The student with the most points
wins.
- For larger classes, students can move along rows of desks
instead.
Games Let’s play - Recap the - Picture cards Preparation Variation
basketball! target - Use coloured paper to make two basketballs. - Place a bin at the front of the
vocabulary - Draw a basketball hoop on each side of the board. Below classroom. After correctly
each hoop, draw a column of six horizontal lines. identifying a card, students shoot a
- Attach the two basketballs below the bottom line of each ball into the bin. If they make a
hoop. basket, the team gets a point.
In class
- Divide the class into two teams. Invite a student from
each team to come up.
- Show these two students a picture card. The first student
to correctly name the card moves his/her team’s basketball
up one line.
- Invite another pair to come up and name another picture
card. Continue in this way. The first team to move their
basketball to the hoop wins.
Games Musical - Recap the - A music CD - Play some music. Have students pass a box around. More for you
box spellings of - A box - Stop the music. Have the student holding the box stand - For more able students, ask
the target up. Ask, for example, Can you tell me the name of an students to make sentences using
vocabulary animal, please? Elicit responses. the words on the board.
- Enrich - Ask the class Who can spell the word? Invite a volunteer

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Vocabulary games

Areas Sections Objectives Materials Teaching steps Remarks

students’ to come up and write the word on the board.
vocabulary - Continue for a few rounds. Then read the words on the
board aloud.
Games Vocabulary - Enrich - Write a target vocabulary item on the board, e.g., apple.
building students’ - Ask What phrases contain the word ‘apple’? Elicit
vocabulary responses.
- Introduce - Write students’ suggestions on the board, e.g., apple pie,
students to apple juice.
some - Read the list on the board with the class.
vocabulary - Ask students to copy the new words in their notebooks.
building
skills
Games Dance of - Recap the - Picture cards - Divide the class into two teams. Invite a representative More for you
the target - Blu-tack or from each team to come up. - For more able students, set a
ostriches vocabulary adhesive tape - Tape a picture card on the back of each representative. time limit for each pair. If the time
The two representatives try to name the card on each limit expires before a correct
other’s back, while at the same time trying to hide their identification is made, a new pair
own picture with their hands. comes up to play.
- The first student to name the other student’s card
correctly wins a point for his/her team.
- Invite another pair to come up and play the game.
Continue for a few rounds.
- The team with the most points at the end wins.
Games Memory - Recap the - Picture cards - Divide the class into teams of three to four.
game target - Place about 10 picture cards on the desk.
vocabulary - Invite a representative from each team to come up. Give a
few minutes for the representatives to look at the picture
cards on the desk.
- When the time is up, the representatives must run back to
their teams and name the pictures they have seen. Each
group then makes a list together. They can either write the
name or draw a picture of each item on the picture cards.
- Invite each team to read their list aloud to the class.
- Compare each team’s list with the picture cards.
Announce the winning group.
- Show students the picture cards one by one. Say the

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Vocabulary games

Areas Sections Objectives Materials Teaching steps Remarks

words with the class.
Games Draw and - Recap the - Word cards - Divide the class into two groups.
guess target - A box - Put the word cards in a box. Invite a representative from
vocabulary each group to come up and draw a word card.
- Each representative draws a picture for the word on the
board. Their group members must try to guess what the
word is. The first team to say the correct word wins a point.
- Invite another pair up and continue the game. The team
with the most points at the end wins.
Games Pictures in - Recap the - Tell students that they are going to look for some pictures
my book target in their book.
vocabulary - Say a word, e.g., A ball. Have students look up their book
to find a picture of a ball.
- The first student to find a correct picture can come up and
lead the game.
Games Look and - Recap the - Picture cards - Write four categories on the board, e.g., ‘animals’, ‘things
match target for school’, ‘colours’ and ‘fruit’.
vocabulary - Divide the class into four groups. Invite a representative
from each group to come up.
- Show the students a picture card. Have them stand in
front of the correct category.
- If the students stand in the correct position, their teams
get one point.
- Invite other members to come up to play the game. The
team with the most points at the end wins.
Games Guess the - Recap the - Picture cards - Divide the class into groups. Give each group 10 to 15
cards target picture cards of a same category.
vocabulary - Have each group place their cards face down on a desk.
- Ask a student in each group to point to a card. He/She
then tries to guess what it is and turns the card over.
- If the student makes a correct guess, he/she can continue
guessing another card. If not, another member takes his/her
place and guesses another card.
- Continue in this way until all the cards are turned over.
Games Go fish - Recap the - Picture cards - Divide the class into groups of four.
target - Practise saying the following dialogue with students:

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Vocabulary games

Areas Sections Objectives Materials Teaching steps Remarks

vocabulary S1: Do you have (a hamburger)?
S2: Yes, I do./No, I don’t.
- Give each group about 40 picture cards. Have a student in
each group shuffle the cards and give seven cards to each
member. The remaining cards are placed face down in the
middle of the group.
- If any student has four identical cards, he/she names the
cards and places them face up on the desk in front of
him/her.
- A student in each group (S1) begins by asking a group
member Do you have a (hamburger) card? If the member
has the requested card, he/she replies Yes, I do. and gives
the card to S1.
- If the member does not have the requested card, he/she
replies No, I don’t. Go fish! And S1 takes one card from the
pile in the middle of the group.
- Groups continue in the same way, trying to collect sets of
four of the same card, naming them, and placing the sets in
front of them until all the cards are played. The student
with the most sets at the end wins.
Games Do it - Recap the - Picture cards - Give each student a picture card. More for you
together! target - Name one of the cards twice and then give a command, - For more able students, name
vocabulary e.g., Apple, apple, please stand up! Student(s) with that two or three cards with the same
picture card have to name the card and then do the action. command, e.g., Apple, apple, boy,
- Continue in the same way for a few rounds. boy, please stand up!
- Ask a volunteer to take on the
teacher’s role.
Games Can you - Identify the - Word and - Give each student a picture or word card.
hear that? target picture cards - Read a text containing the target vocabulary. Have
vocabulary in students listen carefully and hold up their cards when they
a text hear the words named.
- Pause after each target vocabulary item to see if students
are holding up the correct cards and give them a chance to
hold up cards they may have missed.
Games Guess the - Recap the - Picture cards - Hold up a picture card with a piece of paper covering it so
pictures target that only a small part of the picture is revealed.

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Areas Sections Objectives Materials Teaching steps Remarks

vocabulary - Ask students to guess what the picture is.
- For each incorrect guess, slide the covering sheet down a
bit to reveal more of the picture. Continue in this way until
a student makes a correct guess.
- Repeat with other picture cards.
Games Tic-Tac- - Recap the - Picture cards - Have students work in groups of four. Two pairs play
Toe target against each other.
vocabulary - Give each group nine picture cards. Ask students to
arrange the cards in a 3 x 3 grid.
- Students take turns naming a card in the grid. If a pair
names a card correctly, they can put a marker on the picture
card. The first pair to place three markers in a row, either
horizontally, vertically or diagonally, wins the game.
Games Can you - Recap the - Picture cards - Divide the class into groups. Give each group a set of
remember? target picture cards.
vocabulary - Invite two groups (Group A and Group B) to come up.
Have the students stand facing each other.
- Ask members of Group A to show their cards to Group B,
then shuffle the cards and place them face down on a desk.
Members of Group B take turns naming the cards. They get
a point for each correctly named card.
- After all the cards have been named, the two groups
change role.
Games The - Recap the - Picture cards - Divide the class into groups. More for you
missing target - Put six picture cards on the chalk tray. Say the words - For more able students, remove
card vocabulary aloud with the class. more than one card each time.
- Give students a few minutes to study the cards. Then ask
them to close their eyes. After that, remove one of the
cards.
- Ask students to open their eyes and try to identify the
missing card. The first student to identify the card can
come up and lead the game.
- Repeat until all the cards are removed.
Games Run and - Recap the - Picture cards - Put some picture cards up on the classroom wall. Variation
find target - Divide the class into two teams. Invite a representative - Divide the class into groups of
vocabulary from each team to come up. four. Give each group a set of

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Vocabulary games

Areas Sections Objectives Materials Teaching steps Remarks

- Name a picture card. The representatives have to repeat picture cards.
the word and find the corresponding picture card in the - Ask each group to put the cards
classroom. The first one to touch the correct picture card face up on a desk.
wins a point for his/her team. - Say one word. Have students
- Invite another pair to come up and play the game. repeat after you and grab the
Continue for a few rounds. corresponding card on the desk.
- The team with the most points at the end wins. The first student to hold up the
correct picture card can keep the
card.
- Continue playing in this way
until all the cards have been
collected. The student with the
most cards in each group wins.
Games Old maid - Recap the - Picture cards - Divide the class into groups of four to six. - The student with the odd card at
target - Give each group a set of cards made up of two identical the end is the Old Maid and
vocabulary sets of 10 picture cards each, plus one card without a match cannot win the game even if
(the Old Maid card). he/she has the most matching
- Ask students in each group to divide the cards among pairs.
themselves. They then have to place the matching pair(s)
on the desk and name the cards. If a student cannot name
the cards, he/she has to keep the cards until the next turn.
- Students in each group then take turns taking one card
from the student sitting on their left.
- If the new card matches one they have, they name it and
put the pair down on the desk.
- If the card does not match, they keep the card and the
next student takes a turn.
- Continue in this way until a student has put down all
his/her cards. The student with the most matching pairs at
the end wins.
Games In my book - Recap the - Student’s Book - Name an item or an action from a unit in the Student’s - As an item or action may appear
target or a storybook Book or a page from a storybook. on more than one page, accept any
vocabulary - Ask students to try to find the page on which the item or answer that is correct.
action appears, point to it and name it. The first student to
do so wins a point.
- Continue in the same way until students have looked at
about one third of the pages they have studied. The student

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Vocabulary games

Areas Sections Objectives Materials Teaching steps Remarks

with the most points at the end wins.
Games Race track - Recap the - Picture cards - Divide the class into groups of five to six. Give each More for you
target - A dice for each group two sets of picture cards and a dice. - For more able students, when a
vocabulary group - Ask each group to place their picture cards face up in a student lands on a card and
circle. correctly names it, he/she turns the
- Designate a starting point on each group’s circle and tell card over so that the next student
students how many times they must go round the circle in to land on that card must name it
order to win. from memory.
- Ask each student to place a marker on the designated
starting point. Students in each group then take turns
rolling the dice and moving their markers in accord to the
points on the dice.
- When students land on a card, they have to name the card.
If they name the card correctly, they remain on that card. If
not, they return their marker to the previous position.
- The first student in each group to complete the required
number of rounds wins.
Games Odd one - Recap the - Picture cards - Divide the class into two teams. Invite a representative
out target from each team to come up.
vocabulary - Give each representative identical sets of four picture
cards, three cards from the same unit or category and one
card from a different unit or category, e.g., ‘pig’, ‘cat’,
‘horse’ and ‘pencil’.
- Say Go! The representatives have to look at their cards,
place the card that does not belong on the chalk tray, and
name it. The first volunteer to place the correct card on the
chalk tray and name it wins a point for his/her team.
- The team wins another point for each card its members
can correctly name.
- Continue in the same way until all students have had a
turn. The team with the most points at the end wins.
Games Verb relay - Recap the - Picture cards - Divide the class into two teams: Teams A and Team B.
verbs for verbs Line the teams up in front of the board.
- Give a set of picture cards for verbs to the first student
(S1) in each line. Have S1 turn to face his/her team and
mime the action on the first card for the second student in

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Vocabulary games

Areas Sections Objectives Materials Teaching steps Remarks

his/her line (S2).
- S2 has to name the action being mimed. If S2 cannot
name the action, his/her teammates help.
- S1 then mimes the action on the next card for S3.
Continue in the same way until S1 reaches the end of the
line. The first team to finish wins a point.
- Have S1 in each team go to the back of the line and
continue playing the game. The first team to get five points
wins.
Games In the bag - Recap the - Realia of the - Place realia of the target vocabulary in a bag.
target target vocabulary - Invite a volunteer to come up and feel the bag. He/She
vocabulary - A bag tries to identify an item in the bag without looking at it,
then removes the item from the bag.
- If the student identifies the item correctly, he/she keeps it
and another volunteer takes a turn.
- If he/she does not identify the item correctly, he/she has
to put the item back in the bag and another volunteer takes
a turn.
- Continue in the same way until all the items in the bag are
used.
Games Word chain - Enrich - Select a topic, e.g., animals.
students’ - Begin the game by saying the name of an animal, e.g., a
vocabulary horse.
- Ask a student to repeat the name and add one more
animal to the list, e.g., a horse and a monkey.
- Ask a different student to repeat the words while adding
one more animal to the list, e.g., a horse, a monkey and a
lion.
- Continue in this way until the chain is broken (a students
makes a mistake with the animals or order). Start again
with a new set of vocabulary.
Games Bingo! - Recap the - Word and - Put the word and picture cards up on the board. Practise Variations
target picture cards saying the words with students. - Ask students to work on a 5 x 5
vocabulary - Ask each student to draw a 3 x 3 grid on a piece of paper. grid. Have them cover squares to
Have them choose nine words from the board and write the form the shape of a predetermined
words down on their grid. letter, e.g., T.

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Vocabulary games

Areas Sections Objectives Materials Teaching steps Remarks

- Call out a word at random. Have students put a marker on - Ask students to cover just the
the word in their grid. Continue until a student marks three four corner squares of their grid.
squares in a row, either horizontally, vertically or - Ask students to cover every
diagonally. The student should call out Bingo! square on their grid. When a
- Ask students to draw and write another grid and play the student does this, he/she should
game again. shout Blackout!
Games Grab and - Familiarize - Word and - Put the word cards up on the board.
run students with picture cards - Divide the class into two teams. Ask each team to choose
the target a representative.
vocabulary - Hold up a picture card. The representatives have to run to
the board to find the corresponding word card. The first
one to touch the correct card can keep the card.
- Ask each team to choose another representative. Continue
the game until all the word cards are collected.
- The team with the most cards wins.

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