Bondaygee Arts & Therapy Center
Creative Soul Arts by James Purdie
“The Mystery Sentence”:
This is another hilarious game that I loved and created. Once you get into it, you’ll be making up funny games too with your own creative inspiration.
Ok, for this game, you can divide the class into two teams. Then choose two representatives for each team. Take those two reps outside of the room for a Continue reading ““The Mystery Sentence””
Name That Tune:
Of course the kids don’t really know the Beatles music very well, but some of the song titles are so obvious in the lyrics like “She loves you yah yah yah” or “You say goodbye and I say hello.” I wrote the titles of maybe 20 Beatles Continue reading “Name That Tune”
Treasure Hunt:
s it time to take the class outside? Do the classic treasure hunt in the nearby park with little signs set up giving hints and directions like “Go 50 meters towards the swings.”, or “Look near the Entrance”. Break them up into different teams and away they go. Some Continue reading “Treasure Hunt”
Rock Scissors Paper:
It’s quite a phenomena in Korea this game. You can throw it into so many situations. You can imagine you’re playing baseball and maybe you ask quiz questions, and maybe a “rock scissors paper” determines whether the student advances to another base. Perhaps the “pitch” is a study question. The “hit” is the right answer and rock scissors paper to see how far they go (at each base an opposing team-mate can “rock scissors paper” to see if they made it past that base or not).
Last Letter Word Game:
This is a simple ESL-Game you can play with students who are past their Phonics level and building up their English vocabulary. It’s very easy. You just start with a word, then the student must make a new word starting with the last letter of the word you chose, and so on. Give students three to five seconds to come up with a word, or they are out. Example: I say, “Cat”, next Continue reading “Last Letter Word Game”
Story Improv can be a lot of fun again for more advanced students. The first student starts out with a random sentence or word of choice. For example: “One day I went fishing…” next student adds a new sentence or word, or however, you decide. This game is great to exercise new vocabulary and the creative spirit/imagination at the same time, which is an extremely important Continue reading “Story Improv”
The Back Writing ESL Game is a great way to make students laugh and have fun while learning English. Have students make two, three or even row teams Continue reading “Back Writing”
Hangman:
Everybody knows and loves hangman. The games are more fun when you give some stickers or candy prizes, etc. (Note: Honestly, I love teaching and playing games in huge classes, like public schools or summer camps. If you have the games prepared they will provide the enthusiasm in big numbers. The bigger the groups, the more likely you will be able to connect with “awesome students,” who will inspire your teaching. I never learned this until later in my career. I used to think small groups were better, but I realized small groups are more tedious and are more susceptible to “bad energy”. Another secret of mine is to bring in parents or Korean teachers to help keep the students in line and at the same time the adults can also connect with you in meaningful ways that some students can’t. Hopefully they are good Korean teachers. I really believe in the “co-teaching” system.)
