VOCABULARY GAMES &

ACTIVITIES
Remember that
the game or activity you do in class
must be alligned with your objective
for the class.
and the game or activity should
always have a purpose.

Roles
It is important to give students roles
during a game or activity to keep them
active and encourage them to
participate
Assigning roles is also a classroom
management technique. This
technique limits classroom distractions
and allows for more learning.

Verb Relays

Divide the board into three or four sections.

Choose a pronoun and write it in each section.
Divide the class into three or four teams.
Give each team a container with infinitives written on
slips of paper.
One team member chooses a word, runs to the board,
and writes a sentence with a conjugated form of that
word.
If the verb is conjugated correctly, the team gets a
point.
That person then goes to the back of the row and
gives the paper to the judge.
The team with the most points at the end wins.
Change the pronoun every 3 or 4 students.

Verb Relays
Roles
Judge, secretary,
editor, cheeleader,
scorekeeper

You can also use this

game to review
vocabulary words.
Lower-level students
could write a phrase
instead of a sentence.
Advanced students
could write a negative
sentence or a question
using the verb.

Basketball
Divide students into groups of 8.
Each group will have two teams.
Prepare questions before class to distribute to
each group. Place two chairs or a desk facing
each other: one chair for team A and one chair
for team B. Place a ball in the middle. The host
will then ask two students a question; the first
to grab the ball and correctly answer gets a
chance to play basketball. If the student scores
a basket, he or she gets an extra point.
Options for basket: Masking tape on floor, piece
of paper on floor with tape
Options for basketball: Crumpled up paper ball,
ball of yarn, other small ball

Basketball Roles and

Variations
Basketball roles:
host, referee,
scorekeeper,
secretary, editor

Basketball Variations:
Use this game to
review vocabulary
words.
Create easier
questions for lowerlevel students.
Create higher level
questions for
advanced students.

Scattegories
Write 10 categories on the board and ask students to copy
them in their notebooks on the left hand side of the page,
leaving room to write on the right hand side.
Divide class in six to eight groups.
For beginner students, give each team three minutes to
think of a word for each category.
For advanced students, give students a letter of the
alphabet, and they must think of a word that starts with that
letter in each category.
The goal is to think of words that no other team will think of.
After three minutes, the respresentative from each group
will say the word the group wrote. If another team has that
same word, no one gets a point.

Scattegory Roles and

Variations
Scattegory Roles:
representative,
secretary, editor

Scattegory Variations:
Ask lower-level
students to be notetakers so that they
have more interaction
with the vocabulary
words.
Ask advanced students
to be spokespeople
and editors.

Small Group Pictionary

Divide the class into groups of six. Each group will
have two teams of three.
Each group of six receives a card with eight words.
Team A goes first, looking at the first word on the
card and drawing it. Team B members try to guess
what the word is. If team B correctly guesses word, it
receives a point. Team B then draws the next Word
on the card, and Team A tries to guess the word.
Once the teams have gone through all eight words,
they switch cards with another group. After going
through all the cards, teams will add up their points,
and the team with the most points wins.

Group Pictionary Roles and

Variations
Small Group
Pictionary Roles:
scorekeeper,
secretary, editor

Small Group Pictionary

Variations:
Give lower-level students
a word bank of possible
words the team members
could draw before class
so that they can study
them.
Ask advanced students to
use the word in a
sentence to win the
point.

Pass the Musical Bag

Divide the class into groups of 8-10 students and give
each group a gift bag with pictures of vocabulary
words.
Start the music and have the students pass the bag
down the row or in a circle. Whoever is holding the
bag when the music stops must draw a picture out of
the bag.
Beginner students write the word on the board;
advanced students write a sentence using the word.
Students draw a picture out of the bag while they are
at the board, not by their desks, to avoid cheating.
The first team to get to 20 points wins.
Roles: scorekeeper, secretary, editor, judge

Bomb Game
Draw a grid with numbers across the top and letters
down the side on the board. In each square of the
grid, place a card or cover with a picture hidden
behind it. Prepare this in advance on a big piece of
paper.
Students form teams, which take turns answering
questions. If they correctly answer, they pick a
square on the grid to reveal the hidden picture. The
picture revealed determines the number of points
scored for the question.
Even if the teams are uneven in language skill, they
have an equal chance.
The game can be played with any type of questions:
conjugation, culture, vocabulary, grammar, and so
on.

Bomb Game Scoring and

Roles
Roles:
scorekeeper,
secretary, editor,
cheerleader

Value of hidden images:

o flag = +5 points (2 on grid)
o star = +2 points
o boat = +1 point
o grenade = -1 point
o bomb = -2 points
o atomic bomb = teams
point total goes to zero (2 on
grid)
The number of stars, boats,
grenades, and bombs
depends on the size of the
grid.