Game Ideas for the Classroom for Teens and Adults

Game Ideas for the Classroom for Teens and Adults. Language teaching games for All ages. Using Games in Education for Language Learners for all levels and Languages.

Game Ideas for the Classroom for Teens and Adults

Game Ideas for the Classroom for Teens and Adults. Language teaching games for Children, Young Learners, Teenagers and Adults.

Using Games in Education for Language Learners to teach Grammar, Vocabulary, Reading, Listening, Writing and Speaking For all Languages Learners.

These games will help you get rid of the routine teaching time, warm up the students before the lesson, give students a break from the usual curriculum, use the time effectively when there is a little time left to kill, to assess and summarize at the end of the teaching and last but not least, to make your classes more interesting for your students as games make learning more fun and fast.

You can use these games for testing and teaching vocabulary, practicing conversation, learn tenses, improve syntax, making reading more fun, listening attentively and so forth. It is no doubt that when teachers use games where the students are active and responsible learners, the classes are sure to be more fun, active, energetic and challenging which fosters learning.

Games encourage many different skills; speaking and listening, problem-solving, as well as motor skills. Playing games together is also a great time for connecting with students.

You live a new life for every new language you speak. If you know only one language, you live only once
~
Czech proverb

Game Ideas for the Classroom for Teens and Adults

Here are different kinds of games that work well for teaching languages to young adults, teenagers and adults for all levels and languages.

SIMON SAYS

Time: 5-8 minutes
Age: Young Learners and Teenagers
Level: Beginner to Advanced
Materials: Commands prepared beforehand
Language Area & Skill Level: Listening, Vocabulary

Description
A person in class becomes Simon and says commands. When the commands starts with ‘Simon says’, the students do it. When the
command doesn’t start with ‘Simon Says’, the students do not do the action. The ones who does it when Simon does not give the order are out of the game. Simon gives commands for funny actions. E.g. Kiss your tummy!

HANGMAN

Time: 10 – 15 minutes
Age: Young Learners
Level: Beginner to Advanced
Materials: Board, Board marker, Paper, Pencils/Pens
Language Area & Skill Level: Vocabulary, Grammar

Description
One student draws a dash for each letter of the word, phrase or the sentence and the other student(s) tries to guess it by suggesting letters. If the letter does not exist in that word, phrase or sentence, the student draws a part of the hangman figure. If the student guesses the word at any time before the hangman figure is completed, he/she gets points.

THE MIME

Time: 10 – 15 minutes
Age: Young Learners and Teenagers
Level: Beginner to Advanced
Materials: Vocabulary items and sentences prepared
beforehand, a hat or bowl.
Language Area & Skill Level: Tenses, Vocabulary, Speaking

Description
One student from each pair or group draws a slip of paper on which there is a word or a sentence, mimes it and the other group members guess it. The pair or group with more guessed words or sentences wins the game. The vocabulary item can be a verb, adjective, adverb or any other vocabulary group that can be mimed.

SCRABBLE

Time: 20 minutes
Age: Young Learners, Teenagers and Adults.
Level: Pre-Intermediate to Advanced
Materials: Scrabble Tiles, Board / Life-Size Card Boards.
Language Area & Skill Level: Vocabulary

Description
This informal learning activity can be used to revise vocabulary. The game is originally a board game which can be played with 2-4 players. The students get points for each word that they create by using the tiles that has one letter on it, from left to right or downwards on a grid of squares. This is a fun vocabulary revising activity and can be used to revise any vocabulary item that has been taught.

RUNNING DICTATION

Time: 15 minutes
Age: Young Learners, Teenagers and Adults.
Level: Pre-Intermediate to Advanced
Materials: Texts prepared beforehand.
Language Area & Skill Level: Reading, Speaking, Listening, Vocabulary

Description
This activity makes reading more active and fun for those students who like moving. Teacher divides the class into groups of four or less and puts the texts on the different parts of the walls of the classroom and assigns each group with one text. It can be the same text for all or parts of a text if the text to be read is a long one. Each group sits within a reasonable distance from their own texts. One student from each group runs to the text, reads it, try to remember until they reach their group back, reads out the lines that he/she remembers and then goes back and do the same. One student from the group writes what he/she told upon returning from the text. Students take turns to run and write within the same group so that not the same student always writes or reads. The first group who completes the reading and dictating is the winner. After that, they get the text, check the missing words, spelling and punctuation. If the text is a part of a longer text to be read in the class that day, the groups share or summarize it to the rest of the class so that everyone could understand the other parts of the text that they do not have

SONG CONTESTS

Time: 15 minutes
Age: Young Learners, Teenagers and Adults.
Level: Pre-Intermediate to Advanced
Materials: Songs and lyrics prepared beforehand.
Language Area & Skill Level: Speaking, Listening, Vocabulary

Description
Songs can be used as a warm up before a new topic, to study tenses, cloze test activity for listening skills, speaking or a vocabulary activity. Songs can also be used as a competition tool. The students are divided into two groups of four or five. There appears a word on the board and the fastest group who raise hand, presses a button, rings a bell or anything showing sign that they are ready starts singing a song. The operator could be another student or teacher who interrupts the song anywhere he/she wants after a while and the next group should find a song that has the last word that the other group stopped at. If the group cannot find a song that included that word in a given set of time such as 15-20 seconds – could be less, the turn is the other team’s. The groups who can find more number of songs with those last words of the previous song wins the game. If the class is larger, the other students can play as an audience, applause, cheer up the teams and sing the songs along with the groups. Simpler song vocabulary can be chosen for lower levels or a set amount number of songs can be decided on to be included in the contest with the students.

PORTRAIT

Time: 20 minutes
Age: Young Learners, Teenagers and Adults
Level: Beginner to Upper Intermediate
Materials: A4 Colorful Papers, boardmarkers, pens / pencils.
Language Area & Skill Level: Speaking, Listening

Description
Students draw portrait of themselves displaying facts about
themselves such as what their characters are like, what they like, what their interests are etc, making this type of activity different from drawing typical portraits as they do not only draw their outlooking, but also something about themselves that is not visible at first sight. This activity can be used in a class where the students meet for the first time or to evaluate what they learned during a lesson or a set period of time. It can also be used for seeing the students’ perceptions about their peers. The students check the drawings and explain it to their peers or the peers choose random drawings and try to interpret it to the class.

TABOO

Time: 20 minutes
Age: Teenagers and Adults
Level: Pre-Intermediate to Advanced
Materials: Taboo Cards, tool/ gadget for countdown
Language Area & Skill Level: Speaking, Listening, Vocabulary

Description
The taboo cards consists of a picture that illustrates a word or only a word to be described along with three – four words that are forbidden to use to describe the word. The students work in two groups, sitting in a circle so that they have players from the other team on both sides to check if they use the forbidden words to describe the word or the picture unless their team utters any of those words while trying to guess what the word is. One player keeps the time that is one minute and the student from one team tries to describe the word to his/her team members. If the students describing the word do not break the game rules or the peers guess the word within the set time limit, the students from the same team continues playing the game. Otherwise, it is the other team’s turn to describe and guess. The group with more words guessed wins the game. For lower levels; drawing, miming or speaking in the mother tongue can also be used to vary the game according to the level and the level of the vocabulary can be adapted according to the level or the topic covered. This game is used for revising and assessing the vocabulary in a fun way.

THE ALPHABET GAME

Time: 15 minutes
Age: Young Learners, Teenagers and Adults.
Level: Pre-Intermediate to Advanced
Materials: Board / Large Papers and Board Markers.
Language Area & Skill Level: Speaking, Listening, Vocabulary

Description
Students are divided into two teams. They line up in front of the board or large papers on the walls on which they will have the letters of the Alphabet written from A to Z. Their task is to find a words beginning with each letter of the alphabet, that’s one word per letter. The students take turns to run to the board, write the word with whichever letter they want, run back to their teams and hand the board marker to the next player. The fastest team who finds words for each letter is the winner. The team members can help their teammates to remember a word or they can just tell the word so that he/she can write. A time limit can be set to make it more challenging.

AM I TELLING THE TRUTH?

Time: 5 – 7 minutes
Age: Young Learners, Teenagers and Adults.
Level: Pre-Intermediate to Advanced
Materials: The Cards bearing sentences / Papers.
Language Area & Skill Level: Speaking, Listening,
Grammar, Vocabulary

Description
Each student is given a card on which there is a sentence or students can form their own sentences. They work in pairs or groups, each student shares his/her sentence and the peer/other members try to guess if he/she is telling the truth or not. They explain further why they think it’s the truth or a lie. All kinds of tenses and structures can be revised with this activity.

Game Ideas for the Classroom for Teens and Adults

TALKING TO THE WALL

Time: 5 – 7 minutes
Age: Young Learners, Teenagers and Adults
Level: Pre-Intermediate to Advanced
Materials: Topics on slips of paper
Language Area & Skill Level: Speaking, Vocabulary

Description
Students face the walls of the classroom and between each student there should be a reasonable distance so that their own talking are not interfered by the others. They are given a topic on which they are supposed to talk for a set amount of time such as one minute or more. They talk to the wall, so no one listens to one another’s talk. This activity is especially good for students who can be a little shy to talk to the other peers in the target language and on the given topic, and it also feels fun and crazy to talk to the wall.

SHOUT OUT

Time: 10 minutes
Age: Young Learners, Teenagers and Adults.
Level: Pre-Intermediate to Advanced
Materials: Topics on slips of papers.
Language Area & Skill Level: Speaking, Listening,
Vocabulary

Description
Students are divided into two groups and they stand in two line facing one another with a distance between them, therefore they should speak loudly to make themselves heard by their peers standing on the other side. They are given different topics on each of which they speak for a set amount of time such as one minute or a minute and a half, but this time they talk to their peers facing themselves in the distance. Students feel comfortable to talk because when everybody starts talking at the same time, there’s already a lot of noise and not the whole class is listening to them. The only person who is trying to hear and answer is the their peer on the other side. The topics may vary according to the interests of the group. This can be used as a warm up or as a break.

THINGS IN COMMON

Time: 5 minutes
Age: Young Learners, Teenagers and Adults.
Level: Preintermediate to Advanced
Materials: Features and / or Personality Traits.
Language Area & Skill Level: Speaking, Listening.

Description
This activity enables the teacher and the students learn more things about one another without asking any questions. The teacher prepares a list of sentences or phrases that he/she will read out loudly and these sentences say anything that can reveal the students features. The teacher assigns corners of places in the classroom before each sentence. As they hear the sentences and if they are true about themselves, they move to the assigned corners or places in the classroom. For instance, students who like horse riding go to that corner. Hence, they learn things about one another. This can be used at the beginning of a course to get to know the group better or to revise a language item such as grammar in a more fun and interactive way.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Time: 10 – 15 minutes
Age: Young Learners, Teenagers and Adults.
Level: Pre-Intermediate to Advanced
Materials: Papers bearing questions.
Language Area & Skill Level: Speaking, Listening,
Grammar.

Description
Teacher prepares questions and stick them on the board or wall with the front page facing the wall so that students do not see the questions. The students sit in a semi-circle in front of the wall and by taking turns, they come to the board/wall, pick a question, read it loudly and answer that question. The level or the structure may vary depending on the level of the group. The group members may ask further questions such as ‘Have you ever eaten sushi?’ and if the student answers ‘Yes’, the students in the semi-circle may ask ‘Where, when etc’ questions. This can be used for the group to get to know one another or as a revision activity. The teacher should pay attention to the fact that the questions are related to the group interest in terms of content.

DESCRIBE AND DRAW

Time: 10 minutes
Age: Young Learners, Teenagers and Adults.
Level: Pre-Intermediate to Advanced
Materials: Pictures, papers to draw and pens/pencils.
Language Area & Skill Level: Speaking, Listening,
Vocabulary

Description
The students work in pairs and they have a picture. One student will be looking at the picture and describing it to his/her peer so that the peer can draw the picture. The pair with the drawing closest to the original one wins.
The type of the picture is decided upon depending on the level of the students. If the level of the students are lower, students can be provided with the expressions showing the location of the item on the picture, such as on the bottom, at the right corner etc. If you have students who like drawing, this activity is worth trying.

Game Ideas for the Classroom for Teens and Adults

ICEBERG

Time: 15 minutes
Age: Teenagers and Adults.
Level: Pre-Intermediate to Advanced
Materials: Large-size Papers, post it notes, pens/pencils.
Language Area & Skill Level: Vocabulary, Speaking,
Listening.

Description
This activity consists of iceberg figures put on the walls of the classroom. This iceberg represents the easily recognizable or known things about somebody/something and the things not visible at first sight, but still exist. This activity can be used to work on vocabulary used to describe the personality or on topics like stereotypes about countries. The students use post it note papers and pens/pencils to write adjectives and they can stick them on the iceberg taking the fact that the most visible features about somebody/something should be sticked close to the top and more discreet ones to the bottom. If it is about each person in class and the topic is personality traits, the regarding students can go to their own station to check what adjectives and where their peers posted and they can evaluate and give feedback to one another in groups. This activity can be good to get to know the students in the group or see the students’ perceptions about one another during an academic year. It can also be used to check the pre-knowledge about a specific topic and do it again at the end of a topic, such as countries.

INTERVIEWING CELEBRITIES

Time: 15 minutes
Age: Young Learners, Teenagers and Adults.
Level: Beginner to Advanced
Materials: Questions.
Language Area & Skill Level: Speaking and Listening

Description
One student is chosen to pretend to be a celebrity and sits in front of the group in a semi-circle. The class students pretend to be fans or journalists.
They ask questions and the celebrity answers. The level and the type of the questions may vary depending on the class level. For instance, they may ask ‘Yes–No’ Questions if they learned such questions for a specific tense, they may practice it. The celebrities can be chosen according to the group’s interest or the student in the middle can decide who he/she would like to be. This activity can be used to make a revision of what the students have learned.

SILENT MOVIE

Time: 15 – 20 minutes
Age: Teenagers and Adults.
Level: Pre-Intermediate to Advanced
Materials: Papers bearing various movie names.
Language Area & Skill Level: Vocabulary and Speaking.

Description
The students are divided into two teams. Teacher prepares numerous papers
on which there are the names of the movies. One member from each team uses body language in order to enable students to guess the word or phrase he is trying to tell. After they guess the name of the movie correctly, the guessing students have to say a phrase or sentence from the movie. The team with more correctly guessed movie names and sentences from it wins the game. This game is good for teachers who uses movies a lot in teaching. The movie names are chosen among the ones the students have already watched. The movie names and sentences should be uttered in the target language. The teacher checks the correction.

Game Ideas for the Classroom for Teens and Adults. Language teaching games for All ages. Using Games in Education for Language Learners for all levels and Languages.

Game Ideas for the Classroom for Teens and Adults. Language teaching games for Children, Young Learners, Teenagers and Adults.

Using Games in Education for Language Learners to teach Grammar, Vocabulary, Reading, Listening, Writing and Speaking For all Languages Learners.

Game Ideas for the Classroom for Teens and Adults

Here are different kinds of games that work well for teaching languages to young adults, teenagers and adults for all levels and languages.

SIMON SAYS

Time: 5-8 minutesAge: Young Learners and TeenagersLevel: Beginner to AdvancedMaterials: Commands prepared beforehandLanguage Area & Skill Level: Listening, Vocabulary

HANGMAN

Time: 10 – 15 minutesAge: Young LearnersLevel: Beginner to AdvancedMaterials: Board, Board marker, Paper, Pencils/PensLanguage Area & Skill Level: Vocabulary, Grammar

THE MIME

Time: 10 – 15 minutesAge: Young Learners and TeenagersLevel: Beginner to AdvancedMaterials: Vocabulary items and sentences preparedbeforehand, a hat or bowl.Language Area & Skill Level: Tenses, Vocabulary, Speaking

SCRABBLE

Time: 20 minutesAge: Young Learners, Teenagers and Adults.Level: Pre-Intermediate to AdvancedMaterials: Scrabble Tiles, Board / Life-Size Card Boards.Language Area & Skill Level: Vocabulary

RUNNING DICTATION

Time: 15 minutesAge: Young Learners, Teenagers and Adults.Level: Pre-Intermediate to AdvancedMaterials: Texts prepared beforehand.Language Area & Skill Level: Reading, Speaking, Listening, Vocabulary

SONG CONTESTS

Time: 15 minutesAge: Young Learners, Teenagers and Adults.Level: Pre-Intermediate to AdvancedMaterials: Songs and lyrics prepared beforehand.Language Area & Skill Level: Speaking, Listening, Vocabulary

PORTRAIT

Time: 20 minutesAge: Young Learners, Teenagers and AdultsLevel: Beginner to Upper IntermediateMaterials: A4 Colorful Papers, boardmarkers, pens / pencils.Language Area & Skill Level: Speaking, Listening

TABOO

Time: 20 minutesAge: Teenagers and AdultsLevel: Pre-Intermediate to AdvancedMaterials: Taboo Cards, tool/ gadget for countdownLanguage Area & Skill Level: Speaking, Listening, Vocabulary

THE ALPHABET GAME

Time: 15 minutesAge: Young Learners, Teenagers and Adults.Level: Pre-Intermediate to AdvancedMaterials: Board / Large Papers and Board Markers.Language Area & Skill Level: Speaking, Listening, Vocabulary

AM I TELLING THE TRUTH?

Time: 5 – 7 minutesAge: Young Learners, Teenagers and Adults.Level: Pre-Intermediate to AdvancedMaterials: The Cards bearing sentences / Papers.Language Area & Skill Level: Speaking, Listening,Grammar, Vocabulary

Game Ideas for the Classroom for Teens and Adults

TALKING TO THE WALL

Time: 5 – 7 minutesAge: Young Learners, Teenagers and AdultsLevel: Pre-Intermediate to AdvancedMaterials: Topics on slips of paperLanguage Area & Skill Level: Speaking, Vocabulary

SHOUT OUT

Time: 10 minutesAge: Young Learners, Teenagers and Adults.Level: Pre-Intermediate to AdvancedMaterials: Topics on slips of papers.Language Area & Skill Level: Speaking, Listening,Vocabulary

THINGS IN COMMON

Time: 5 minutesAge: Young Learners, Teenagers and Adults.Level: Preintermediate to AdvancedMaterials: Features and / or Personality Traits.Language Area & Skill Level: Speaking, Listening.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Time: 10 – 15 minutesAge: Young Learners, Teenagers and Adults.Level: Pre-Intermediate to AdvancedMaterials: Papers bearing questions.Language Area & Skill Level: Speaking, Listening,Grammar.

DESCRIBE AND DRAW

Time: 10 minutesAge: Young Learners, Teenagers and Adults.Level: Pre-Intermediate to AdvancedMaterials: Pictures, papers to draw and pens/pencils.Language Area & Skill Level: Speaking, Listening,Vocabulary

Game Ideas for the Classroom for Teens and Adults

ICEBERG

Time: 15 minutesAge: Teenagers and Adults.Level: Pre-Intermediate to AdvancedMaterials: Large-size Papers, post it notes, pens/pencils.Language Area & Skill Level: Vocabulary, Speaking,Listening.

INTERVIEWING CELEBRITIES

Time: 15 minutesAge: Young Learners, Teenagers and Adults.Level: Beginner to AdvancedMaterials: Questions.Language Area & Skill Level: Speaking and Listening

SILENT MOVIE

Time: 15 – 20 minutesAge: Teenagers and Adults.Level: Pre-Intermediate to AdvancedMaterials: Papers bearing various movie names.Language Area & Skill Level: Vocabulary and Speaking.

Game Ideas for the Classroom for Teens and Adults

Here are some other Game Ideas for the Classroom you can find on Language Advisor

Game Ideas for the Classroom for Teens and Adults

How Often Do You…?

“How Often?”

“Pick Up Two” for Practicing Adverbs of Frequency

“It’s Something I Do…” for Practicing Adverbs of Manner

“Interview the Group” for Practicing Adverbs of Frequency

“How Do I Do It?” for Practicing Adverbs of Manner

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Buy Me a Coffee

Time: 5-8 minutes
Age: Young Learners and Teenagers
Level: Beginner to Advanced
Materials: Commands prepared beforehand
Language Area & Skill Level: Listening, Vocabulary

Time: 10 – 15 minutes
Age: Young Learners
Level: Beginner to Advanced
Materials: Board, Board marker, Paper, Pencils/Pens
Language Area & Skill Level: Vocabulary, Grammar

Time: 10 – 15 minutes
Age: Young Learners and Teenagers
Level: Beginner to Advanced
Materials: Vocabulary items and sentences prepared
beforehand, a hat or bowl.
Language Area & Skill Level: Tenses, Vocabulary, Speaking

Time: 20 minutes
Age: Young Learners, Teenagers and Adults.
Level: Pre-Intermediate to Advanced
Materials: Scrabble Tiles, Board / Life-Size Card Boards.
Language Area & Skill Level: Vocabulary

Time: 15 minutes
Age: Young Learners, Teenagers and Adults.
Level: Pre-Intermediate to Advanced
Materials: Texts prepared beforehand.
Language Area & Skill Level: Reading, Speaking, Listening, Vocabulary

Time: 15 minutes
Age: Young Learners, Teenagers and Adults.
Level: Pre-Intermediate to Advanced
Materials: Songs and lyrics prepared beforehand.
Language Area & Skill Level: Speaking, Listening, Vocabulary

Time: 20 minutes
Age: Young Learners, Teenagers and Adults
Level: Beginner to Upper Intermediate
Materials: A4 Colorful Papers, boardmarkers, pens / pencils.
Language Area & Skill Level: Speaking, Listening

Time: 20 minutes
Age: Teenagers and Adults
Level: Pre-Intermediate to Advanced
Materials: Taboo Cards, tool/ gadget for countdown
Language Area & Skill Level: Speaking, Listening, Vocabulary

Time: 15 minutes
Age: Young Learners, Teenagers and Adults.
Level: Pre-Intermediate to Advanced
Materials: Board / Large Papers and Board Markers.
Language Area & Skill Level: Speaking, Listening, Vocabulary

Time: 5 – 7 minutes
Age: Young Learners, Teenagers and Adults.
Level: Pre-Intermediate to Advanced
Materials: The Cards bearing sentences / Papers.
Language Area & Skill Level: Speaking, Listening,
Grammar, Vocabulary

Time: 5 – 7 minutes
Age: Young Learners, Teenagers and Adults
Level: Pre-Intermediate to Advanced
Materials: Topics on slips of paper
Language Area & Skill Level: Speaking, Vocabulary

Time: 10 minutes
Age: Young Learners, Teenagers and Adults.
Level: Pre-Intermediate to Advanced
Materials: Topics on slips of papers.
Language Area & Skill Level: Speaking, Listening,
Vocabulary

Time: 5 minutes
Age: Young Learners, Teenagers and Adults.
Level: Preintermediate to Advanced
Materials: Features and / or Personality Traits.
Language Area & Skill Level: Speaking, Listening.

Time: 10 – 15 minutes
Age: Young Learners, Teenagers and Adults.
Level: Pre-Intermediate to Advanced
Materials: Papers bearing questions.
Language Area & Skill Level: Speaking, Listening,
Grammar.

Time: 10 minutes
Age: Young Learners, Teenagers and Adults.
Level: Pre-Intermediate to Advanced
Materials: Pictures, papers to draw and pens/pencils.
Language Area & Skill Level: Speaking, Listening,
Vocabulary

Time: 15 minutes
Age: Teenagers and Adults.
Level: Pre-Intermediate to Advanced
Materials: Large-size Papers, post it notes, pens/pencils.
Language Area & Skill Level: Vocabulary, Speaking,
Listening.

Time: 15 minutes
Age: Young Learners, Teenagers and Adults.
Level: Beginner to Advanced
Materials: Questions.
Language Area & Skill Level: Speaking and Listening

Time: 15 – 20 minutes
Age: Teenagers and Adults.
Level: Pre-Intermediate to Advanced
Materials: Papers bearing various movie names.
Language Area & Skill Level: Vocabulary and Speaking.