Title: 

Dancing animals

Topic: 

animals

Vocabulary:

bird, butterfly, fish, rabbit

Description: 

Have your students sit on chairs in a circle, facing outward. Go around the circle, naming the students as animals. For example: “Bird, butterfly, fish, rabbit. Bird, butterfly, fish, rabbit. Bird, butterfly,” and so on.

When you call out “Birds!,” the “bird” students stand up and dance around the outside of the circle like birds – one hand held up to their nose like a beak. When you say “Go home” they continue dancing in the same direction back to their seat.

Do the same with the other animals. The “butterflies” flutter their arms like wings, the “fish” mouth “O”s as though they are blowing bubbles, and the “rabbits” hop.

Title: 

Musical letters

Topic:

the alphabet

Vocabulary:

letters A–Z

Materials:

CD

Description:

Play a song from the CD. Have your students dance around the classroom, singing along. Then pause the CD and call out a letter. Children attempt to become a “statue” of the letter shape with their body. Continue playing until the end of the song.

NOTE: The game can also be played using numbers instead of letters.

When is your birthday?

Topic:

birthdays and months

Vocabulary:

January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December

Materials:

Have the students form a circle, going clockwise in the order of their birthdays. They do this by asking one another “When is your birthday?” and answering with the month. To check they have done this correctly, the students then go around the circle saying the month of their birthday. Then go around the circle again, with a student saying “I’m older than …” or “I’m younger than …” and naming a student to their left or right as appropriate.

Title: 

Take one step if you like playing football

Topic:

sports and other activities

Vocabulary:

playing football, swimming, surfing, playing baseball, playing tennis, playing basketball, skateboarding, walking, dancing, washing the dishes, cleaning your room, doing your homework, eating carrots, going to bed early, getting up early

Description:

Have your students stand in a line against one wall of the classroom. Be sure to keep the space clear between the students and the opposite wall. (You can also mark the end of the game with a piece of rope lying in a straight line across the floor, or masking tape put across the floor.) Give the instruction “Take one step if you like …” and follow it with a sport or activity, such as “… playing football.” The students who like playing football should take one step forward.

Continue with other sentences, such as “Take one step if you like … swimming,”
“… surfing”
“… washing the dishes”
“… playing baseball”
“… cleaning your room”
“… playing tennis”
“… doing your homework”
“… playing basketball”
“… skateboarding”
“… doing your homework”
“… eating carrots”
“… going to bed early”
“… getting up early”
etc.

The first child to reach the opposite wall or to cross the rope/masking take is the winner.

Title: 

Find someone with long hair

Topic: 

describing people

Vocabulary:

long/short hair, blue/brown/green eyes

Description: 

Have your student sit in a circle, with one student standing in the middle. Call out: “Find someone with long hair.” The student in the middle goes over to one person with long hair, and says “Long hair.” Then have these two students swap places, and the game continues.
Continue with further instructions, such as “Find someone with blue eyes,” “… red hair,” “… short hair,” etc.
NOTE: You can also include clothes, such as “Find someone with … a yellow T-shirt,” “… a green sweater,” “… jeans,”  “… red sneakers.“