10 ESL Games for Teaching Kids

As parents, it’s important for us to recognize that children have varying learning styles, and it’s not a one-size-fits-all approach. Some children may learn better by seeing, some by hearing, and others through touch and movement. Identifying your child’s learning style is an essential first step to ensure effective learning and academic success. One way to identify your child’s learning style is through simple observation. Observe how they interact with their surroundings, what activities they enjoy the most, and how they study.

A popular trend nowadays is gamification as it rewards children for completing tasks and encourages them to learn in a fun and engaging manner. It has done wonders for kids learning Spanish online because it’s interactive and adaptive to their learning style. For instance, visual learners can benefit from games that use pictures and images, while auditory learners can benefit from games that involve music or listening activities. Experiment with different learning styles and see which one your child responds best to.

 

Gamification of foreign language learning is important for attracting children’s attention in ESL classes. However, knowing only one or two games is not enough for a teacher. Children need variety and get tired of doing the same task for a long time. Online TEFL courses for teachers introduce a large number of exciting activities for kids. If you master at least 10 of them, the kids will always look forward to your classes.

Best ESL Classroom Games

Games allow teachers to make English lessons interactive. Try one of the popular ESL games to help kids develop helpful skills.

Board Race

Use this game to help students memorize vocabulary. Divide students into groups and let them to write the maximum number of words on a given topic. The element of competition adds excitement and promotes excellent results.

Action Race

If children are tired and need emotional and physical exercise, play Action Race. The teacher names the actions in English, and the children perform them.

Telephone

Place the children in the circle and whisper an English word in the first child’s ear. When this word goes down the chain to the last kid, laugh together at what came out of it.

Hot Potato

Create a circle and pass a small object from one kid to another. When the teacher says “Stop,” the kid having this object in their hands must answer the question.

True / False

Invite children to say three personal statements: one false and two true. Other kids must find out the false statement by asking questions.

Bang!

Children take out cards with words and read them. If they do it correctly, they keep those cards. However, if the child pulls out a card with the word “Bang!”, they return all their accumulated cards to the basket.

Ball Toss

Throw the ball to the child and ask them to name a fruit, animal, tree, etc.

Mime It

Write the word on a card and ask a student to show it to others with gestures and without words. The rest of the kids guess the meaning of the word.

Colors in the Air

Hand out colorful paper figures to the children. Name different colors, and those who have them in their collection should raise them high.

Last Letter

The kids take turns naming words in English, and each word should begin with the last letter of the previous word.

Of course, you can invent your own games and share them with other teachers. Thanks to such activities, you will involve even the most silent and modest children in the class.❦