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101 Games to Play

Classroom Games

Games 51 - 98 are all about having fun in the classroom.

51. Passing game

All pupils stand in a line or a circle. The first student starts to conjugate the verb “to give” in the present. They pass a bean bag to the next person (under their leg or over their head), who has to carry on. Go through all the tenses . The last students then starts again with a different verb.

52. When students are noisy…

Explain to students that when they are too noisy, you will say ‘dormir’ 2 or 3 times. They will have to stop talking straight away, put their heads down and close their eyes or they will be in trouble! When you think they can start working again, say ‘despertar’.

53. Chinese whispers

Put the chairs in a row then the pupil at the start of the row whispers a verb into the ear of the second child. If the verb that is shown to the first pupil is the one that gets to the end of the line, they get a point.

54. Exchange rates…

Each student makes a ‘cambiar’ sign. They bring items that they would like to swap and decide which ‘cambio’ shop they want to change them in.

55. Do you know…

Ask your partner if they know the meaning of verbs of your choice. E.g. Sabes ‘ver’? The person who knows more than the other wins.

56. Spelling

Each student draws large letters on A4 paper (teacher to say which ones). One person stands at the front of the class with a letter. Other students then go to the front of the class with other letters until a verb has been spelt.

57. Mostrar

Place a secret object under a cloth. Others will have to guess what it is to win a point. If they can’t guess, they say ‘mostrar’ and you show it to them.

58. Song

Make up a pattercake song using 5 verbs, including “cantar”.

59. Porter

What do you like to wear? Good revision for clothes vocabulary. Make a display entitled “Me gusta llevar...”

60. Recognition of person / endings

Each student is given a person (yo, tú, él/ella/Usted, nosotros, vosotros, ellos/ellas/Ustedes). The teacher calls out conjugated verbs. Students stand when their person is being used. Those who don’t are eliminated. E.g. “dijeron” – ellos,ellas,Ustedes stand up.

61. Poder

Have a display board where each student can write/draw what they would like to be able to do.

62. Routines in the classroom

Each morning, someone should ask to “encender” la luz.

63. Stepping stones

Prepare stepping stones to go from one side of the room to the other. 2 students are given verb cards, (according to their level). These could be simply the infinitive or the ifinitive with a person. When students say the right word / conjugation, they move to the next stepping stone. Teams can help by shouting the answers.

64. Dice game

Students play in groups. The number on the dice represents the subject pronoun (I=1, you=2, he=3 etc.). The student pick a card with an infinitive and a tense and have to conjugate it correctly to score a point.

65. Shhhh

If someone is talking to you during the lesson, tell them “calla!”.

66. Ring the verb

The teacher writes several verbs in the target language on the board, making sure there are at least 2 of each. 1 representative of each of the 2 teams come to the board. The teacher shouts out a verb in their first language. The first student to circle the correct verb gets 1 point for his/her team.

67. The fastest learner

In groups, pupils write ‘aprender’ vertically. Each group has to find another verb that starts with each letter. The fastest group gets a point. Repeat the process with different verbs.

68. Word association

One student calls out a verb. The next must say a word he associates with it.
E.g. Se peigner – cheveux, Se marrier – robe etc.
Students only have 5 seconds to answer.

69. Class learning homework
On a board entitled ‘estudiar’, teacher writes the things students have to learn each week.

70. Separation

Teacher writes verbs, adjectives and nouns on the board. Students separate them in categories. The starting signal is ‘separar’.

71. Last letter

Use a ball. The first person throws it at a student, saying one verb. The next person must say a word that starts with the last letter of the verb. It is advisable to alternate between verbs and other vocabulary words.

72. Mystery verbs...

One students sits with their back to the board. The teacher writes a verb on the board. The class give the student clues and they have 1 minute to make them guess. E.g. Andar. The class will shout “pies, sin coche...”

73. Chase the vowels!

Write several verbs on the board, omitting the vowels. In teams or as a class, the students try to find the missing vowels. The first group to finish is the winner.

74. Jobs

Can you think of jobs that use these actions? E.g. jugar – futbolista.

75. Certificate

Draw and paint your own certificate with “Ganar” in it. Now race around the playground. When you arrive back at the start you can say that you have won and can give yourself the certificate.

76. Word Ladder

Write a verb at the top of the page then change a letter to write another word underneath. Try to change it to another verb with as little goes as possible.

77. Memory

Draw 10 objects that are related to the verbs. Now show them to someone else for 30 seconds. They must remember the object and the verb to win both points.

78. Missing words

Each student prepares a few sentences in the target language but they omit the verb. They then swap their sentences and try to fill in other students’ sentences. The teacher will tell students which tense (colour) to work on.

79. Hide and Seek

One person hides an object and the other looks for it. Say “to look for” while you are trying to find the object and “to find” when you do find it.

80. Beat the teacher

Write a verb in the infinitive and conjugate it in 2 tenses on the board. Students look at the board for 1 minute. They then close their eyes and you change 1 person to something wrong (E.g.’ il chante’ becomes ‘il chantes’.) If a student can tell you where the mistake is, the class gets a point. If not, or if they say something wrong, the teacher gets a point.

81. Remember

Students to try and remember as many ‘er’ verbs in 30 seconds. The starting signal is ‘recordar’.

82. Battleship

Use the grid provided. Students have to conjugate the verbs to try and find the other student’s ships.

83. Mind reading

Students work in pairs. One person thinks of a verb, conjugated or not and the other asks him for clues to guess the word.

84. Letters (recibir)

Write notes and write other students’ names on them. When you are given the notes addressed to you, try to guess who you have received them from.

85. Throw the ball

Everyone stands in a circle. One person throws the ball to someone else and says a verb. The next one translates the verb and then does the same (use different tenses if you wish i.e. I have thrown).

86. Recognition of person / endings

87. Write the longest sentence

Students should try to write a sentence using as many of the 101 verbs as possible. In groups of 3, students can then correct and compare each of their sentences.

88. Snap

See template. Cut out all parts. Students are in pairs. One turns the conjugated verbs around, the other the infinitives. When the two go together, the student who first says “snap” wins a point.

89. The letters game:

Teams are given 5 sets of letters which form 5 verbs. With these, they have to write as many words as possible and of course, find the 5 verbs.
E.g.
C O I
A C N
R
P A L
E E

Cocinar Pelear

90. Pick the correct word

Write all 11 verbs from the journal on the board. Teacher says a verb in the children’s mother tongue and students write the word in the foreign language. Go through all 11 verbs in a jumbled order and check the students have written them in order at the end.

91. Correct or not?

Students write 5 sentences which are correct and 5 which aren’t. They then swap their sentences and their partner should try and correct the sentences which are wrong.

92. Crazy Story

Write these titles on the board in the target language> WHO? (a famous man's name) WHOM? (a famous woman's name) WHERE? WHAT DID HE SAY? WHAT DID SHE SAY? WHAT DID THEY DO? For the last 3 questions, students can use the book an must use one of the book’s verbs.
Divide the class into groups of 6 if possible. Each group has a sheet of paper. The first student writes answers the first question and folds the paper so as to cover what he has written. He then passes the paper onto the next person. No one should see what the others have written. When all students finish, one student from each group will be asked to read their story. Write this format on the board.
_________________ met ____________ in/at _______________ He said ________________
She said ________________And so they _______________________

93. Spelling

Students stand in a circle. Give the first student a verb to spell. Let's say, "cocinar." That student will say cocinar and the next student will say, "C", and the next student will say, "O", and the next student will say, "C", and so on.... Finally a student will say "R" and the next student will say "Español" and sit down on the floor. The next student will start the new word and it will go down the line in the same manner. Repeat these steps until there is only one person standing - they are the winner! If a student says an incorrect letter, they sit down and the word is started again by the next person.

94. Dreamworld

Draw the word “soñar” or “to dream” or “rêver” and inside the letters, draw what you dream of. In class, have a dream board. Remember to add to it as your dreams change.

95. The Starting Game

Two students are at the board. They start writing a verb and the first team to guess the verb wins a point. The teacher shouts “empezar” when students are ready to start.

96. Pictionnary

Students pick a verb and a representative of each of the 2 teams need to draw it for others to guess.

97. Taboo

Teacher creates several cards. On each one, write a verb in bold and 4 words that are related to the verb. One student has to make his/her classmates guess the word without saying those 4 words. Play only in the target language or in the students’ mother tongue according to their level.

98. Stop!

All students should be in a circle. One says the alphabet ib his head and another shouts ‘para!’. The student says what letter he stopped on. The first student to shout a verb or other word starting with that letter gets 2 points for a verb and 1 for another word.

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