Word games - 10 things that ...
This fun vocabulary activity works wonderfully with small to large groups, from beginners through to advanced students.
It’s a race and a competition, which encourages participation and increases motivation. It can increase participation for the remainder of the class when used as a warm-up.
Beginner classes may like to use a dictionary – it will help expand their vocabulary, especially if you do a follow-up activity and make sentences with the words they found.
Make the 10 things more difficult for higher level classes.
- Divide the class into groups of 3-5 students.
- Each group can either have one writer, or everyone can write (increases speed and confusion – good for advanced classes).
- Students will write down 10 things that … as fast as they can.
10 Things that …
- are round
- are yellow
- can fly
- live in the sea
- must be kept cold
- have feathers
- are stressful
- are spectacular
- are dangerous
- are imaginary
- live in the Amazon jungle
- have an exoskeleton
- sleep during the day
- require fuel
- have an x in their name
- use the same word for their singular and plural forms
3 minutes to list as many words as possible
What verbs are similar or related to the following verbs?
- smile
- sleep
- eat
- speak
- walk
For example – smile: grin, smirk, laugh, giggle, …
Use the words in sentences.
Eat - I can only nibble on a tiny amount of this ultra rich chocolate coffee cake
What adjectives are similar, opposite or related to the following adjectives?
- rich
- tired
- productive
- fun
- happy
- hot
Write or tell a silly story
Choose at random 3 nouns, 3 adjectives and 3 verbs. Or better – get someone else to pick the words randomly.
Write or tell a short story using all nine words, in the past tense.
The sillier the better!