AMSLINK EDUCATION CENTER

KINDERLINK PROJECT

ACTIVITY BANK
FOR PRESCHOOLERS
 CONTENTS
I. GAMES WITH FLASHCARDS ....................................................................................................... 6
Behind your back ...................................................................................................................................... 6
Bit by bit ................................................................................................................................................... 6
Charades ................................................................................................................................................... 6
Chinese whispers race .............................................................................................................................. 6
Cross the river .......................................................................................................................................... 7
Flashcards steal ........................................................................................................................................ 7
Flower flashcard game ............................................................................................................................. 7
Hammer battle ......................................................................................................................................... 7
Lightening flashcards ................................................................................................................................ 8
Lucky dip................................................................................................................................................... 8
Memory game (1) ..................................................................................................................................... 8
Monster .................................................................................................................................................... 8
Odd one out ............................................................................................................................................. 8
Pass the flashcards ................................................................................................................................... 9
Slap the board .......................................................................................................................................... 9
Shuffled cards ........................................................................................................................................... 9
Six corners game ...................................................................................................................................... 9
Sticky ball................................................................................................................................................ 10
Stop! ....................................................................................................................................................... 10
Swap the dot .......................................................................................................................................... 10
The facing flashcards .............................................................................................................................. 10
Throw the dice........................................................................................................................................ 11
Touch ...................................................................................................................................................... 11
Who's got it? .......................................................................................................................................... 11
Yes / No game ........................................................................................................................................ 11
II. GAMES WITH MINIFLASHCARDS (FOR PLAYTIME ONLY) ......................................................... 12
Air drawing ............................................................................................................................................. 12
Bingo ...................................................................................................................................................... 12
Flag tag ................................................................................................................................................... 12
Group snap ............................................................................................................................................. 13
Guess the flashcard ................................................................................................................................ 13
In order ................................................................................................................................................... 13
Patterns .................................................................................................................................................. 13

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 Pelmanism .............................................................................................................................................. 13
Show me ................................................................................................................................................. 14
Silent words ............................................................................................................................................ 14
Snap ........................................................................................................................................................ 14
Survey ..................................................................................................................................................... 14
Treasure hunt ......................................................................................................................................... 15
Which word is it? .................................................................................................................................... 15
III. GAMES WITH POCKET POSTER .............................................................................................. 16
Colour and number pockets ................................................................................................................... 16
Find it! .................................................................................................................................................... 16
Memory game (2) ................................................................................................................................... 16
Whats inside the pocket? ...................................................................................................................... 16
What's missing? (1) ................................................................................................................................ 17
IV. GAMES WITH ROUTINE POSTERS (FOR PLAYTIME ONLY) ...................................................... 18
1. Numbers and colours ............................................................................................................................. 18
Guessing game with sticky notes ............................................................................................................ 18
How many are there? ............................................................................................................................. 18
I'm thinking of a number ... .................................................................................................................... 18
Something red ........................................................................................................................................ 18
Special colour days ................................................................................................................................. 19
Special number days ............................................................................................................................... 19
What's missing? (2) ................................................................................................................................ 19
Which colour? ........................................................................................................................................ 19
Which number? ...................................................................................................................................... 19
2. Weather ................................................................................................................................................. 20
Post-it game ........................................................................................................................................... 20
Weather forecast.................................................................................................................................... 20
What's the weather like? ........................................................................................................................ 20
3. Birthdays ................................................................................................................................................ 20
Count the candles ................................................................................................................................... 20
Draw yourself ......................................................................................................................................... 20
Draw your present .................................................................................................................................. 21
Guess the birthday boy / girl .................................................................................................................. 21
Sing Happy Birthday ............................................................................................................................... 21
V. GAMES WITH MONKEY .......................................................................................................... 22
Correct Monkey ...................................................................................................................................... 22

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 High five! ................................................................................................................................................ 22
Monkey can't hear you!.......................................................................................................................... 22
Monkey says ........................................................................................................................................ 22
Monkey speaks English........................................................................................................................... 22
Monkey's sleeping .................................................................................................................................. 22
Pass Monkey........................................................................................................................................... 23
What's Monkey got? .............................................................................................................................. 23
Where's Monkey?................................................................................................................................... 23
Who can Monkey see? ........................................................................................................................... 23
Who's right? ........................................................................................................................................... 24
VI. GAMES WITH ALPHABET ....................................................................................................... 25
Alphabet and sound recognition ............................................................................................................ 25
Bomb game ............................................................................................................................................ 25
Either side............................................................................................................................................... 25
Find the letter ......................................................................................................................................... 25
I have it in my name ............................................................................................................................... 26
Shape the letter ...................................................................................................................................... 26
Stand in order ......................................................................................................................................... 26
Write the letter....................................................................................................................................... 26
VII. OTHER GAMES ..................................................................................................................... 27
Action race ............................................................................................................................................. 27
Change places, please! ........................................................................................................................... 27
Clapping.................................................................................................................................................. 27
Colour commands .................................................................................................................................. 28
Counting race ......................................................................................................................................... 28
Find your partner.................................................................................................................................... 28
Fly the airplane, pilot! ............................................................................................................................ 28
Go to the colours .................................................................................................................................... 29
Grouping game ....................................................................................................................................... 29
Hello ....................................................................................................................................................... 29
I spy ........................................................................................................................................................ 30
Missing word .......................................................................................................................................... 30
Mouse and cat ........................................................................................................................................ 30
Musical chair .......................................................................................................................................... 30
No peeking ............................................................................................................................................. 31
Order the pictures .................................................................................................................................. 31

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Please ..................................................................................................................................................... 31
Pictionary ............................................................................................................................................... 31
Shopping game ....................................................................................................................................... 31
Simon says .............................................................................................................................................. 32
Sticky ball pass ........................................................................................................................................ 32
The race .................................................................................................................................................. 32
Touch something. ................................................................................................................................ 32
We are different ..................................................................................................................................... 33
Word guessing ........................................................................................................................................ 33

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 I. GAMES WITH FLASHCARDS

Behind your back

Age: All ages
Students hold their hands and stand in a circle. Two volunteers will have a flashcard for each
sticking on their backs by a paper clip and stand face to face. Running inside the circle without
touching the other, two student have to find out what word is in the others flashcard without
letting the other see theirs.
Extra materials: paper clips

Bit by bit
Age: All ages
Pick a set of flashcards that you want to revise. Take one of the flashcards and cover the front of it
with a book or a sheet of paper. Hold it up to the class so the class can see it and gradually reveal
the flashcard so the children can guess what it is.

Charades
Age: All ages
Pick three or four flashcards that are easy to 'act out', e.g. nose, run, duck. One child comes to the
front of the room. Secretly show the child the flashcard. He or she acts out the card while the
others try to guess what it is. Say the word and encourage all of the children to do the action and
say the word.

Chinese whispers race

Age: 4-6
Stick a set of flashcards on the board. The children stand in two lines, facing the flashcards on the
board. Whisper two different words to the last child in each line. Then say One two three? Go?
Each child whispers the word to the child in front, and so on, to the front of the line-When the
word reaches the child at the front, he or she has to point to the correct flashcard. The children at
the front of the lines then go to the back for you to play again.

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Cross the river
Age: All ages
Place flashcards on the floor in a winding manner. Each card represents a stepping stone in the
river, as students must say word/phrase/question/etc to step on it and cross the river!

Flashcards steal
Age: All ages
Teacher divides class into two teams, each team sits on their own chair in two different sides of
class. Teacher puts flashcards in the middle of the class and two teams. Each team has one student
playing first. They need to listen to the word that teacher says and then run quickly to touch to the
right flashcard, then say out loud this word. Student who gets it first is the winner.

Flower flashcard game

Age: All ages
Hold up a set of flashcards spread out like a flower, with the pictures facing you. Hold them out for
a child to take one. Say, e.g. Take yellow! If the child doesn't take the correct card, say No! Never
mind! and then say the colour of the card that he / she has taken. If he / she takes the correct
card, say Yes! Well done! Show the flashcard to the class and repeat together Yellow. Make sure
that as many children as possible have a chance to play.

Hammer battle
Age: All ages
Ask the children to sit in a circle on the floor. Spread all the flashcards face up on the floor in front
of the children. Revise the words and the correct pronunciation of the items on the flashcards. The
children can all point to the correct word first, then repeat the word, then individual children can
say the word. After all the words have been revised, give two children a plastic hammer each. Say
one of the words on the flashcards. The children locate the flashcard and hit it with the hammer.
The first to hit is the winner. The children pass the hammer to the child on their left and the game
continues. When the children know the words from the flashcards quite well, ask one of them to
take over your role and shout out the words.
Extra materials: Two plastic hammers

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Lightening flashcards
Age: 3-6
Teacher stands in front of class with flashcards. Students from two teams standing in a line. Two
go first and face away from the teacher. Teacher says 1, 2, 3, What is it? and students quickly
turn around and the first student to call out the correct answer wins a point for their team.

Lucky dip
Age: 4-6
Sit the children in a circle. Put a set of flashcards into a bag and pass it round. Each child must pick
out a flashcard and say the word. If they don't know the word, they must return the flashcard to
the bag. If they do, they can keep the flashcard. Continue the game until there are no flashcards
left in the bag.

Memory game (1)

Age: All ages
Place six flashcards on the board in a line. Point to each flashcard and say the word encouraging
the children to join in with you. Turn over all the flashcards, and then turn five of them back again.
See if the children can tell you which one is still facing down. Repeat a few times. To make this
more challenging, leave more than one flashcard still facing down each time.

Monster
Age: 4-6
Have one student (the monster) hold all the flashcards and show the flashcards one by one to the
other students. Other students have to say aloud the words or the structure with the word. Each
time they say a word/structure, they do the action and move forward one step. The monster can
choose any time to run and catch one student.

Odd one out

Age: 4-6
Stick six flashcards on the board, or in the Pocket Poster. Make sure five of the six cards are from
one 'group' (for example, clothes: T-shirt, hat, trousers, socks and shoes) with one card that is
from a different vocabulary set (for example, cow). Ask What's different? The children identify the
card that does not belong and say the word if they can.

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Extra materials: Another set of flashcard (from a different unit)

Pass the flashcards

Age: All ages
The children sit in a circle. Play a song from the CD and pass three or four flashcards around the
circle. When the music stops, ask the children with flashcards What have you got? and elicit the
words.
Extra materials: A song

Slap the board

Age: All ages
One student from each team comes to the front of the class, they cannot look at the board behind
them. Teacher sticks two or several flashcards on the board. Students spin around 5 times. Then
teacher will shout out a word Zebra!, Students turn around and slap the correct picture.

Shuffled cards
Age: 3-6
Take a set of flashcards and show them one by one to the class saying the word each time. Shuffle
the cards in an exaggerated manner so that they can see the order has changed. Pick the first
flashcard and ask What have I got? Encourage the children to guess until they guess the correct
word.

Six corners game

Age: All ages
Put six flashcards in six different corners of the classroom. Divide the class into 6 teams. Teacher
will stand in the centre of the class, close her eyes and count to ten. Meanwhile, six students from
six teams will secretly choose one flashcard that they like and stand next to them. Teacher calls
out a word from a flashcard without opening her eyes. The student chosen this flashcard will lose.
The other teams get a point.

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Sticky ball
Age: All ages
Teacher sticks Flashcards on the board then pick two students go to the front. When teacher says
a word or does an action, e.g. Blue, students throw the balls to the flashcard and say the full
sentence.
Extra materials: two sticky balls

Stop!
Age: All ages
Say a word and then show each flashcard from a set one after the other. When the children see
the flashcard that matches the word you said, they must shout Stop!

Swap the dot

Age: 3-6
This activity is for revising vocabulary in more than two Units (Topics). Ask the children to stand in
a circle and give each one a card. Practise the vocabulary. You can do this by pointing to each card,
saying the word and asking the children to repeat; by saying a word and asking the child with the
card to hold it up; by going round the circle and asking each child to say their word, and so on.
Now play the game. Call out a number and a colour, for example, five and orange. The children
with these cards must come to the centre, shout out their words and then swap their cards.
Repeat until all the children have swapped cards. Now ask each child to say what is on their new
card.
Extra materials: Two or three sets of flashcards (or miniflashcards) depending on the class size.

The facing flashcards

Age: 4-6
Students are divided into two teams. Two students from the two teams play holding two different
flashcards and standing back to back. Teacher count 1, 2, 3 as the students step forward, then they
turn around and read aloud the words in their friend's flashcards.

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Throw the dice
Age: 4-6
Stick the flashcards onto the board and give each one a number from 1-6. Ask a volunteer to
throw the dice. When the dice lands on a number, the child must make a sentence about the
flashcard, e.g. Its a lion. Other students take turn to play the game.
Extra materials: A dice

Touch
Age: All ages
Stick six flashcards around the classroom. Say to the class e.g. Touch the apple! The children
should find the correct flashcard and touch it.

Who's got it?

Age: 4-6
Ask six volunteers to come to the front of the class. Give them a flashcard each and ask them to
show them to the class. Say one of the words and encourage the class to say the name of the
person holding that flashcard. To make this more challenging, ask the volunteers to turn their
flashcard over once they've shown it so the rest of the class has to remember what it was.

Yes / No game
Age: All ages
Hold a flashcard above your head so that the children can see it but you can't. Ask the children e.g.
Is it a cow? If it is, the children should say Yes. If it isn't, they should say No.

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 II. GAMES WITH MINIFLASHCARDS (FOR PLAYTIME ONLY)

Air drawing
Age: 4-6
Say different words that the children know in English. Encourage them to 'draw' a picture of the
object in the air. Alternatively `draw' a picture of an object they know in the air and encourage the
children to say the word or hold up the corresponding miniflashcard.

Bingo
Age: 4-6
Ask the children to choose three miniflashoords from the set that you are working with. Tell them
to place them face up on their desks. Call out the words from the unit one by one and write them
down so chat you don't forget which ones you have used. When the children hear you say one of
the words that they have chosen, they turn the corresponding miniflashcard over. When they have
turned all three over, they call out Bingo! The first child to colt Bingo! is the winner.

Flag tag
Age: 5-6
Divide the rest of the class into two teams (A and B) of an equal number of players. Each team
member is secretly given a miniflashcard which is an item of vocabulary you want to
practice/revise. The same names are given to each team. For example, if you want to revise
colours, one child on Team A is blue and one child on Team B is also blue, one child on Team A is
yellow and one child on Team B is yellow and so on. (You can either whisper the words to each
child or give them a card with their word on it.) The two teams line up facing each other,
preferably about 3 metres apart, with the speaker in the middle, at the head of the two teams.
The speaker holds the flag where it is clearly visible. The speaker calls out a word, for example
BLUE. The two children who have been named blue must run to the speaker and try to grab the
flag. They must not touch each other. The child who grabs the flag first runs back to their team. If
they manage to reach the team without being touched by the blue from the opposing team, they
win the point. If the opposing blue manages to catch up with the runner and touch them, then no
points are scored. The game continues until all the words have been called out. The team with the
most points at the end is the winner.
Extra materials: A handkerchief or piece of cloth

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Group snap
Age: 4-6
Ask each child to pick a miniflashcard from the vocabulary you want to revise. Hold up a flashcard
from this set so they can all see it and say the word. The children with a matching miniflashcard
should hold them up and say Snap!

Guess the flashcard

Age: 4-6
Give the children a set of miniflashcards each, e.g. colours. Take the same set of large flashcards
and hold one with the picture facing you. Ask the children to guess which colour you have by
holding up one of their colour miniflashcards. Then show your flashcard and say e.g. Yes! Blue!
Encourage the class to clap all the children who held up that miniflashcard.
Extra materials: flashcards

In order
Age: 5-6
Make sure each child has the same set of miniflashcards. Explain that you will say various words
from the set and they must put their miniflashcards in that order.

Patterns
Age: 4-6
Stick a series of miniflashcards on the board, for example, hand, bird, hand, bird. Hold up a hand
flashcard and a bird flashcard. Encourage children to identify which card completes the series.

Pelmanism
Age: 5-6
Ask the children to come and sit in a circle with teacher. Place two sets of the mini-flashcards in
the centre. Invite one child to turn over two cards and name them. If the two cards match, the
children can keep their pair and have another turn. If they don't match, the child replaces them
face down. The next child then turns over two cards. If you prefer, the children can play this game
in pairs or small groups.

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Show me
Age: 3-6
Ask the children to take out one set of miniflashcards. Say Show me a (snake). The children must
find the matching miniflashcard and hold it up, repeating the word if they can.

Silent words
Age: 3-6
Hand out a set of miniflashcards to each child. Sit where all the children can see you and mouth in
an exaggerated manner one of the words on the miniflashcards. Encourage the children to hold up
the corresponding miniflashcard and say the word with you.

Snap
Age: 4-6
You need two sets of flashcards all shuffled together and faced down. Two students play together.
Each student takes turn to turn over two miniflashcards facing down from two piles. The student
has to read out loud the words from the miniflashcards. At some point, two identical cards may be
placed on top of each other and the students race to slam the piles and shout "Snap!". The
student who does these actions first takes the pair. Students should try and lose all their cards.
The students getting more pairs wins.

Survey
Age: 5-6
Give the children a set of miniflashcards each, e.g. toys. Ask them to choose their favourite toy and
to put the corresponding flashcard face up on their desks. Stick the same set of large flashcards or
the board and task, e.g. Is your favourite toy a teddy? The children who chose the teddy as their
favourite toy come out and make a line in front of the flashcard on the board. Take the children's
miniflashcards and stick them on the board to make a bar chart. Do the same with the rest of the
toys and when you have finished and all the children are standing at the board, count the number
of children who like each toy to see which is the most popular. Say, e.g. Five children like teddies.

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Treasure hunt
Age: 3-6
Divide the class into two teams. The teams will go out of the classroom for a while. Teacher will
hide the mini flashcards somewhere in the room. Students come in and find the flashcards in a
period of time (e.g. 2 min), after that, the team got the most flashcards wins the game.
Or divide the class into 2 teams, team 1 goes out for a while, team 2 will hide the miniflashcards
somewhere. Team 1 comes in and finds the flashcard within a period of time. Teacher takes
note of the number of flashcards they got. Then it's Team 2's turn to go out. After the game
finishes, teacher compares the numbers of flashcards. The team with the highest number wins.

Which word is it?

Age: 4-6
Pronounce the first sound of a word from a specific lexical set and encourage the children to guess
which word it is and hold up the corresponding miniflashcard.

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 III. GAMES WITH POCKET POSTER

Colour and number pockets

Age: 4-6
Show a set of flashcards one by one, saying the words. Encourage the children to listen and
repeat. Place the cards in the pockets one by one. Ask questions, for example Where's the
(banana)? The children call out the colour or the number of the pocket where the card is.
Alternatively, say the colour or number and ask the children to say which flashcard is in that
pocket.
Extra materials: a set of flashcards

Find it!
Age: 3-6
Place the flashcards on the walls around the classroom. Explain that you will say a word and the
name of one or two children who must find the correct flashcard and place it in one of the pockets
on the Pocket Poster as quickly as possible.
Extra materials: a set of flashcards

Memory game (2)

Age: 4-6
Place six flashcards in the pockets one by one, saying the words and encouraging the children to
repeat. Turn the first card over (face down) in the pocket and encourage the children to say the
series. Repeat until all the cards are face down.
Extra materials: a set of flashcards

Whats inside the pocket?

Age: 4-6
Teacher hides flashcards in the pocket poster. A student throws the dice to choose the pocket.
When it hits the ground, the student says the number (or the colour) on the dice. All the students
guess the word or flashcard inside the pocket with that number (or colour). The one having the
correct answer will receive the flashcard.
Extra materials: a dice, a set of flashcards

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What's missing? (1)
Age: 3-6
Put six flashcards in the pockets and tell the children to try to remember the cards. Say Close your
eyes and take away one of the cards. The children open their eyes and say which card is missing.
Extra materials: a set of flashcards

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 IV. GAMES WITH ROUTINE POSTERS (FOR PLAYTIME ONLY)

1. Numbers and colours

Guessing game with sticky notes
Age: 3-6
Put the poster where everyone can see it well. Cover some parts of the poster, e.g. the numbers or
the shapes, with sticky notes. Point to the sections you have covered and ask What is it?
Encourage the children to guess or to try and remember.
Extra materials: sticky notes

How many are there?

Age: 3-6
For this activity, you need objects that are the same, e.g. pencils or wooden blocks. Ask the
children to sit in a circle with you. Place three identical things on the carpet in the middle of the
circle. Point to the numbers and the pompoms on the poster and ask a child to come out and point
to the number of objects there on the carpet. Alternatively you could ask the class to count the
objects and then point to the numbers on the poster one by one for them to say Yes! when you
reach the correct number. Change the number of objects and repeat the activity, counting and
finding the corresponding number on the poster.
Extra materials: objects related to the poster

I'm thinking of a number ...

Age: 4-6
Say I'm thinking of a number and encourage the children to guess which number on the poster it
is. The child who guesses correctly can then have a turn thinking of a number for the rest of the
class to guess.

Something red
Age: 4-6
Say I can see something (red)! Encourage the children either to guess an item or to come to the
poster to point to something. The child who finds the correct item can then have a turn at
choosing an item on the poster of a different colour for the rest of the class to guess.

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Special colour days
Age: 4-6
Choose one particular colour and focus on it for the day or for a week of English classes, e.g. tell
the children It's Green day / Green week. Ask them to wear an item of clothing which is green and
bring in something green from home. Make a green display table and focus on things which are
green in the classroom, in nature and in our everyday lives, etc. The children can also do craft
activities using green paint, green plasticine, green wool etc.

Special number days

Age: 4-6
On special number days, write the number on the board and count classroom items to that
number. Encourage the children to find the number in various types of print, e.g. in magazines, on
food packets, etc. The children can focus on the form of the number by making the number shape
with plasticine. They could also draw it on paper and punch holes around the outline or fill it with
pasta, balls of tissue paper, etc.

What's missing? (2)

Age: 3-6
Cover a number and the buttons above with a post-it note and ask the children to remember
which number is missing.

Which colour?
Age: 3-6
Say a number and elicit the colour of the number (and the same quantity of buttons) on the poster
from the children. E.g. What colour is number 1?

Which number?
Age: 3-6
Say a colour and elicit the number (and amount of buttons) on the poster from the children. E.g.
What number is blue?

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2. Weather
Post-it game
Age: 4-6
Before the children come into the class, draw the most appropriate weather symbol for the day in
the space and cover it with a post-it (sticky note). Ask the children what symbol they think you
have drawn for the day, depending on the weather. Remove the post-it, so they can check to see if
they were right.
Extra materials: sticky notes

Weather forecast
Age: 4-6
At the end of the lesson, ask the children to guess what they think the weather will be like for the
next English class. Draw the appropriate symbol on the poster. In the next class, point to the
symbol and ask them if they were right according to the day's weather.

What's the weather like?

Age: 4-6
Point to each of the weather symbols on the poster and elicit the weather. Then ask the children
to look outside. Ask What's the weather like today? Encourage the children to tell you. Either ask a
volunteer to come and draw the appropriate symbol in the space or you draw the symbol.

3. Birthdays
Count the candles
Age: 3-6
Point to the birthday cake on the poster and encourage the children to count the candles with
you.

Draw yourself
Age: 3-6
Once the class has wished him / her Happy Birthday, the birthday child can draw himself / herself
in the space on the paper.
Extra materials: pencils, crayons, paper

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Draw your present
Age: 4-6
Instead of drawing their own face, the birthday child could draw a present they have had for their
birthday in the space.
Extra materials: pencils, crayons, paper

Guess the birthday boy / girl

Age: 4-6
Before you tell the children who has a birthday, draw the child in the space. Then encourage the
class to guess whose birthday it is.

Sing Happy Birthday

Age: 3-6
Encourage the class to join in singing the traditional song Happy Birthday to the birthday boy / girl.
Alternatively, sing the Happy Birthday song.
Extra materials: Happy Birthday song

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 V. GAMES WITH MONKEY

Correct Monkey
Age: 3-6
Give instructions to the Monkey puppet, e.g. Point to blue, Monkey and make Monkey point to
the wrong colour. Encourage the children to correct Monkey by saying Is Monkey right?.

High five!
Age: All ages
Go round the class with Monkey giving a high five to each child with Monkey's paw. Each child
should say Hello Monkey!

Monkey can't hear you!

Age: All ages
If the children are a bit tired and unwilling to participate, especially in singing songs, say to the
children Monkey can't hear you! to encourage them to sing louder.

Monkey says
Age: 4-6
Ask the children to stand up. Explain that Monkey is going to give them instructions but that they
should only follow them if they hear Monkey says before the instruction, e.g. Monkey says touch
your head. If they don't hear Monkey says before the instruction, they should stay still.

Monkey speaks English

Age: All ages
To encourage the children to speak English, explain to them that Monkey only speaks English and
wants to be their friend. Encourage them to say Hello to Monkey and to cuddle him.

Monkey's sleeping
Age: All ages
If the children are overexcited, cradle the Monkey puppet in your arms and say Shhh! Monkey's
sleeping to encourage them to quieten down.

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Pass Monkey
Age: All ages
Sit the children in the circle and play a song from the course. Pass Monkey round the circle and
then pause the song. The child holding Monkey at that point should hug Monkey and say either
Hello or Goodbye depending on the stage in the lesson.

What's Monkey got?

Age: 3-6
Bring one item from the unit core vocabulary set to each lesson to give to Monkey, e.g. a different
coloured crayon each day for Unit 2, an item of doll's clothing for Monkey to wear for Unit 4, a
different type of fruit each day for Unit 5, etc. Put Monkey and the object out of sight before the
lesson. Ask the children What's Monkey got? and encourage them to guess before you bring out
Monkey. Then elicit what he's got.
Extra materials: flashcards

Where's Monkey?
Age: All ages
Before the lesson, hide Monkey somewhere in the classroom. When the children arrive, ask
Where's Monkey? Choose a volunteer or two volunteers to go and look for Monkey. When he is
found, encourage them to say Here's Monkey!

Who can Monkey see?

Age: 4-6
Ask the children to stand in a circle. Put the four character flashcards, Rocket, Star, Twig and
Melody, face down in the middle of the circle. Ask the children to hold each other's hand and put
Monkey in the circle as well so that you and the child next to you are holding him between you.
Walk round in a circle with the children and say rhythmically Monkey's going for a walk. Who can
Monkey see? Stop and turn over the first flashcard in the middle of the circle. Say e.g. Rocket!
Hello Rocket! Come with me! Leave the flashcard face up and walk round in the circle again with
the children. Say rhythmically Monkey and Rocket are going for a walk. Who can they see? Stop
and turn the next card over in the middle of the circle. Continue until all four character flashcards
are face up.
Extra materials: flashcards of the four characters

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Who's right?
Age: 3-6
Take a flashcard or a classroom object and show it to the children and to Monkey. Say e.g. Its a
ball. Then make Monkey whisper in your ear and say Hm, Monkey thinks it's a train. Who's right?
Encourage them to say who they think is right: you or Monkey.
Extra materials: objects related to the unit (or flashcards)

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 VI. GAMES WITH ALPHABET

Alphabet and sound recognition

Age: 4-6
Give one set of letter cards to each student, pair or group of students and ask them to spread the
letters out on the top of their desks, leaving a space at the bottom. Ask the students to tell you the
order of the letters in the alphabet and start putting up your flashcards in the correct order on the
board, or write the letters in order. At the same time, the children rearrange the cards on their
desk into the correct order. Once all the children have their cards in the right order, the teacher
calls out a letter and the children hold up the card with the letter on it.
Extra materials: Letter cards for each student

Bomb game
Age: 4-6
Use a sticky ball as a bomb. Divide the class into two teams standing in two lines and facing each
other. Within two minutes, each student from one team will say a letter (starting with A) and
throw the bomb to another member of the second team. The next student has to say the next
letter in the alphabet. When the time is up, the bomb will explode. The team which has the bomb
will lose.
Extra materials: sticky ball

Either side
Age: 4-6
Divide the class into teams of 3-4. Teacher says a letter (or several), all the teams have to write (or
speak loudly) the letters before and after the given letter in the alphabet on their white boards.
Which team finishes first will get one point.
Extra materials: white boards, markers, rubbers

Find the letter

Age: 4-6
Divide the class into teams of 3-4. Give each team a A3 (A2) paper which is filled of letters. Teacher
says a letter, e.g A. In one minutes, the team circling the most letter A will get a point.
Extra materials: four A3 (A2) paper filled with letters, pencils or crayons
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I have it in my name
Age: 5-6
Say a number and a letter, for example, three, M. Tell the children that if they have an M as
the third letter in their name, they should raise their hand. All the children who have M as the
third letter in their name raise their hands and then take it in turns to spell out their name
together with the numbers corresponding to the position of each letter.
For example:
Teacher: Three M.
Child: My name is Asma, one A, two S, three M, four A.

Shape the letter

Age: 4-6
Divide the class into teams of 3-4. Teacher says a letter, all the teams have to shape the letter with
their bodies. Which team finishes first will get one point.

Stand in order
Age: 4-6
Divide the class into teams of 3-4. Each team will take turn going to the front. Each member
receives a letter (or flashcard). They need to create a word from the given letters by standing in
the order facing the class within a period of 10 seconds (or 15 seconds or more). If they get the
valid word, the team will get a point.
Extra materials: flashcards (or paper) of letters

Write the letter

Age: 4-6
Divide the class into teams of 3-4. Teacher says a letter (or several), all the teams have to write it
on their white boards. Which team finishes first will get one point.
Extra materials: white boards, markers, rubbers

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 VII. OTHER GAMES

Action race
Age: 4-6
This is a fun game using actions. Use actions like jump, hop, clap, run etc. Have the students split
into two teams and sit in lines with a chair by each team and one chair at the other end of the
room. One students from each team stands next to their chair and teacher calls an action, e.g.
"Jump". Students must jump to the chair on the other side of the room and back, sitting down in
their chair students say "I can jump". First one to do it gets their team a point.
Extra materials: chairs

Change places, please!

Age: 5-6
Put all the chairs in a circle facing the middle. There should be chairs for all the children but not
one for the teacher. Stand in the middle of the circle of chairs and nominate two children to
change places (for example, Marco and Anna, change places please). When the children are used
to moving around, say a sentence such as If you have brown eyes, change places. The children
who have brown eyes get up and try to sit in another chair. While the children are moving, the
teacher tries to find a chair. Someone will be left without a chair and this child then makes the
next change places please sentence. At the end of the game, say there will only be one more
sentence. At this point, the child who is in the middle can say, If you are a teacher, change places,
please making sure that the teacher always loses the game.
Extra materials: Chairs

Clapping
Age: All ages
Ask the class to stand up. Show a number flashcard and say the number. Invite the class to clap
the number and clap with them a matching number of times. Show a few more numbers and clap
together. Now say the number but do not show the card or join in the clapping. See if the class can
clap the correct number of times on their own. Praise them all. Say That's great!

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Colour commands
Age: 5-6
Divide the children into groups of four or five. Assign each group a colour. Give instructions
preceded by a colour. The group whose colour is mentioned follow the instructions, for example,
Red. Clap your hands. Blue. Point to the door. When they have understood the idea, add more
colours, for example, Yellow, blue and green. Stand up!

Counting race
Age: 4-6
Have the students sit in a circle on their chairs. The activity is for reivising number, e.g. 1-6. Each
student randomly stands up and shouts out a number in order 1-6. The students do not know who
will be the next to stand up. In case there are two children standing up or shouting out at the
same time, they will be eliminated from the game. The game continues until there are two
children left.
Extra materials: chairs

Find your partner

Age: 4-6
Take several sets of miniflashcards (or cards), enough to ensure that every child has one
miniflashcard (or card). Give out the cards to the class and explain to the children that they must
find the other child (or children depending on the size of your class) with the same item of
vocabulary, e.g. red by asking the question e.g. Are you red?.
Extra materials: sets of miniflashcards (or cards).

Fly the airplane, pilot!

Age: 4-6
Give each child a piece of paper and then show them how to fold a paper airplane. Be prepared to
help children who struggle. Let the children play for a short time with their airplanes. Divide the
children into teams. Now decide with the children which parts of the classroom are going to be
targets. Assign a number to each target. Easy targets will have a low number, for example the
table could be worth 1 points. Difficult targets will have a high number, for example the trash can
might be worth 2 points. The most difficult target should be worth a good lot, for example, 3
points for the clock. The children stand in lines in their teams at the front of the class with their

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airplanes. Ask the first question to the front row of children. The first child to raise their hand has
to answer. If the answer is right, they get the chance to throw the airplane at a target of choice. If
the airplane hits the target, the child gets the points. If the answer is wrong, another child can try
to answer. All the first row must then go to the back of their lines so the next set of children can
have a turn. The team that scores the most points is the winner!
Extra materials: A piece of paper for each student.

Go to the colours
Age: All ages
Ask the children get into groups of three. Place different big coloured circles on the floor: red,
blue, green and yellow, or draw them with chalk. Say one of the colours, e.g. Red. Go to red. Ask
several groups of three children to go to this colour circle. Alternatively you could place one of the
four colour flashcards in each corner of the room to make colour corners. Ask groups of three
children to go to a particular colour corner.
Extra materials: a piece of chalk (or a marker), flashcards

Grouping game
Age: 5-6
Students sing and dance along the music. When the music stops, teacher says E.g. Stand in
groups of five!. Students run to the groups of five, the one who cannot stand in a group will be
out. The game continues until the winner is found.
Extra materials: a song

Hello
Age: All ages
Bring one child to the front of the class and ask them to turn and face the board. Signal to another
child in the class to say Hello! Ask the child at the board to turn around and guess who spoke.
Repeat bringing a different child to the board and asking another child to say Hello!

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I spy
Age: 5-6
Prepare some objects related to the unit vocabulary, e.g. fruits. Teacher says I spy with my little
eye something red and sweet. The students will guess what the object is. If he/she gives the
correct answer, he/she will be the one who says I spy

Missing word
Age: 4-6
Sing a verse from a song that the children know but miss out a word. Ask the children to tell you
which word is missing. Use words that you are sure they know.
Extra materials: a song

Mouse and cat

Age: 4-6
Students sit in a circle, one of the students (the Cat) will walk around the outside of the circle, and
point at other students. Each time he/she points at the other students, she/he has to say the
target vocab or structure, e.g. Blue, Blue, Blue. He/she can choose to change the word into a
different one, e.g. Red while pointing another student. When he/she stops, the student that
he/she points at has to catch her/him before he/she can occupy that student's space.

Musical chair
Age: All ages
Musical chairs is a game where a number of chairs, one fewer than the number of players, are
arranged facing outward with the players standing in a circle just outside the chairs. Usually music
is played while the players in the circle walk in unison around the chairs. When the music stops
each player attempts to sit down in one of the chairs. The player who is left without a chair is
eliminated from the game. And they will be asked to answer the question from the teacher. The
music resumes and the cycle repeats until there is only one player left in the game, who is the
winner.
Extra materials: chairs, a song

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No peeking
Age: 3-6
Secretly place some common objects children are familiar with in a bag (for example, ball, book,
car). Blindfold a child. He or she feels in the bag and takes out one item and holds it up for the
class to see. The child tries to guess what it is. If they don't know, the rest of the class can help
them. Repeat with a new volunteer.
Extra materials: objects related to the unit, a bag (or a box)

Order the pictures

Age: 3-6
This activity is suitable for story telling. Before the story, teacher prepares a set of pictures of story
details for each student (or pair). Students have to reorder the pictures after listening the story.
Then, teacher should encourage them to retell the story.
Extra materials: A story, sets of pictures

Please
Age: 4-6
Give various instructions to the children. They should only do them if you say Please. For example.
say Please stand up and the children stand up, Please jump and the children jump, Close your eyes
and the children don't do anything because you haven't said Please.

Pictionary
Age: 5-6
A student goes to the front, teacher gives the student a white board. The student draw an object
related to the core vocab (maybe under the instruction of the teacher), the others will guess the
word drawn.
Extra materials: a whiteboard

Shopping game
Age: 5-6
This can be used with a wide range of objects (plastic fruit works very well) or flashcards. Gather
all the students and show them all the objects you have. Ask a student "What do you want?" (or
maybe "What would you like?" to higher levels). The student should reply (e.g. "An apple, please").

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Teacher then says "Here you are" and the student finishes with "Thank you". At the end collect the
objects by playing the 'Give Me' game.
Extra materials: objects related to the unit, flashcards

Simon says
Age: 4-6
Teacher stands in front of the class and plays Simon. Teacher says "Simon says" with the name of
any one particular act and gesture expressed whether the teacher can just not right with the
action name mentioned. Students should only follow them if they hear Simon says before the
instruction, e.g. Simon says touch your head. If they don't hear Simon says before the instruction,
they should stay still.

Sticky ball pass

Age: 4-6
Have all students sit in a circle. Use a sticky ball and toss it to one student. But you must say one
English word as you pass. The student then throws to another student and says a different English
word. If the student you threw it to drops it, he/she is out. And the game keeps going until you
have one winner. It can be played with different categories, such as Food, Animals,..
Extra materials: a sticky ball

The race
Age: 5-6
This activity is for practicing lesson structures. Divide students into 2-3 teams. Each member of
each team takes turn to ask and answer the questions following the given structure, e.g. What
animal do you like? I like cow. The team which finishes first wins the race.

Touch something.
Age: All ages
This activity is for colour recognition. Teacher says Touch something red!. Students run to the
object (table, wall, person,) with that colour.

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We are different
Age: 3-6
1. Ask the children to stand in a line.
2. Tell the children you are going to ask questions or make statements. Explain that the children
have three options:
a. They should take a step forward if the answer to a question is yes, or if they agree with a
statement.
b. They should take a step backwards if the answer to a question is no, or if they disagree with the
statement.
c. They should stay in the same place if they do not know the answer to the question or if they
cannot decide if they agree with the statement.
3. Read out a statement or question, for example, Do you like ice cream? The children step
forward, backwards or stay in one place, depending on their answers.
4. Read out another statement/question, for example, I have a pet. The children step forward or
backwards or remain in the same place depending on what is true.
5. Continue until you run out of questions or until the children can no longer step backwards or
forwards.

Word guessing
Age: All ages (5-6)
Teacher describes a unit vocabulary, e.g. This toy is round. You often kick it and play with your
friends. Students will guess Its a ball. Teacher continues with other vocabulary.

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