101 Games to Play

Making Things

Games 14-50 are all about making things.

14. Recycling box

Get an old shoebox and make a recycling box for old paper. Paint "I like the world" on the outside. "Me gusta el mundo."

15. Birthday cards

Make a birthday card for someone. Say "dar" when you give it.

16. Matchbox art

Write on the outside of a matchbox "me gusta" and put a picture of something or someone you like in the matchbox.

17. Blow painting

Use a straw and spell out pintar by blow painting.

18. Sock Puppet Play

You need some socks, buttons and a bit of material to make puppets. Get groups of students to write a little play using the verbs (the play can be in their mother tongue but the verbs in the target language). A playhouse can then be made out of an old cardboard cornflake box and material.

19. ID Cards

Make an ID card in the target language. Write all basic information (name, date of birth...) and what you like to do, using the infinitives. E.g. Me gusta: jugar, saltar, dormir etc.

20. Design your own door hanger

The best ones could be used for the classroom door.

21. Blow football

Using a cornflake box make a little cardboard football stadium. Then cut out some footballers and write "jugar" on them. Now get 2 straws and a ping-pong ball and you are ready to play.

22. Paper chain People

Fold a piece of paper up 4 times and cut out the shape of a person so that you have 4 people. Write, "to dance" on the people.

23. Growing seeds

Each child should place some seeds into a pot and write to grow on the side. Water it every day.

24. The new world

In a classroom corner, students should create a new world, using cardboard and small toys. Call it 'crear'.

25. Construir

Building sentences. Teacher gives students a word, e.g. carne. Students have to construct as many sentences as possible using at least one of the 101 verbs in each one. "quiero comer carne". "Me gusta la carne".

26. Paper planes

Write" to go" on a piece of paper then build a paper airplane award points for the plane that travels the furthest.

27. Word Links

Write a word then leave a gap and write another word. See how long it takes your friends to write the correct verb in the middle.

E.g. Pencil ________ book

Flowers _______ thank you.

28. Travel the world / Viaja por el mundo

Make a big title that says "To Travel" (or a different language). Each student needs to stick pictures of their dream destination with a sentence in the target language to explain their choice.

29. Maze

Draw a picture of a football at the top of the page and write " jugar" at the bottom. Do the same with a book at the top and "estudiar" at the bottom. Repeat this with 4 verbs and draw spaghetti lines from one to the other. Put letters at the top of the spaghetti lines and match them with the words and pictures

30. Colouring Activity

Print out one of the pictures on our website and you can colour them in.

31. Jumbled words

Jumble up the letters of all 101 verbs (one by one) and change the order. Now hand them in to the person sitting next to you so they rearrange the letters to make the right verbs.

32. Jumbled sentences

Give all students small pieces of paper. They write a word on each one to create a sentence. They also keep a record of the sentence. Once they have finished, they give their papers to another student who will have to put the word in the correct order.

33. Wordsearches

Each student should create a word search for his or her classmates to complete. Teachers should give out a grid to limit them to the same size. Students should hide the 11 infinitives.

34. Crosswords

Each student creates a crossword using the different verb conjugations. The clues can be drawn or written (e.g."sing" 3rd person singular, future(Answer: cantará)). Students should be allowed to check their answers in the book.

35. Boxes

Put some dots on a piece of paper so that they are in the shape of boxes

Ie
. . . . .
. . . . .
. . . . .

Students take it in turns to draw a line between two dots. When one student draws a line that makes a box, they write the first person of a verb of their choice in it. The other person writes dark. When all the dots have made boxes count how many you have to get your score

36. Painting

Each pupil has a letter and draws inside it. The best are chosen and put together to make the word pintar.

37. Puppets

Make a puppet with cardboard string and opening paperclips. Write "to dance" on your puppet and colour it in. Now make it dance!

38. Telephone

Take two plastic cups and some string then cut a little whole in the cups. Put the string through them and tie a knot in each one the use it like a telephone by going away from each other so the string is tight. You can now say "parler" to each other. To make it more interesting, you can take it in turns to tell each other the conjugation of this verb.

39. Classroom display

Give each student a blank piece of paper and ask them to draw their favourite verb and write the word in both their own language and the target language. Use all the drawings to make a classroom snake display.

40. Acrostic poems

Each student chooses a verb in the infinitive and writes it vertically. They then write a poem, using each letter of the verb as the first letter of each line.

41. Display

Make a display board entitled "me gusta" and one entitled "me gustan". Students can then write or draw something when they have been good or given a good answer.

42. Signs

Students to make a sign saying "je vais" or "voy" and use it every time they have to get up (to put something in the bin for example).

43. Simon Says

With your friends in the playground, give each other orders. You can use the infinitive. E.g. Correr, Andar, Saltar...

44. To open

Give students 2 minutes to think of things you can open. Say 'abrir' when they can start. Do the same with other verbs. What can you drink? Etc. The group with most words wins.

45. Prohibir

Choose the classroom or the environment and think of things that are forbidden. Use as many verbs as possible. E.g. No se puede GRITAR. No se puede PELEAR. Etc.

46. The hungry toy

Bring a soft toy and give him a name. He should also have a space in the classroom. Above him, place a sign that says "comer". Students draw different food items and label them in the target language. The teacher keeps them. Every day, feed him something different and get the students to make a sentence. E.g. Monito está comiendo una manzana".

47. Kicking around.

Write 'patear' on a ball and kick it around the playground.

48. Decision time!

On the 2 sides of a coin, write 'decido' and 'decides'. Whoever gets to make the choice has to quiz the other on a verb conjugation.

49. Cutting out

Prepare a pattern for your friends to cut out. Write the instructions on it: Cortar.

50. Activity Booklet

Students create an activity booklet to practise the verbs. Include activities such as word searches... Students who finish work early in class can work on this while they are waiting for the others to finish.

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