30 Fun ESL Games to Engage Young Learners
As an ESL tutor, one of the most effective ways of engaging young learners is to incorporate games into your lesson plans. Games increase student motivation, provide a fun way to learn, and foster friendly competition among peers. Moreover, they serve as vital tools to boost student creativity, enhance problem-solving skills, and build confidence in the classroom.
Below are 30 exciting ESL games you can play with your young learners.
- Bingo
This classic game is always a hit with ESL students. Create Bingo cards with vocabulary words or phrases that you want your students to learn and call out the words for them to mark off on their cards. - Alphabet scavenger hunt
Give your students a letter of the alphabet and have them find as many items in the classroom that start with that letter. - Word chain
Start with a word and have students take turns saying a word that starts with the last letter of the previous word. - Picture dictation
Divide students into teams, and give each team a picture to describe to the team members. Each team must create a drawing based on the description, and the team with the most accurate picture wins. - Hangman
Pick a word or phrase, and have students try to guess it by suggesting letters one at a time. - Sentence scramble
Write a sentence on the board and have students scramble to put the sentence in the correct order. - Charades
Acting out vocabulary words or phrases is a fun way to help students remember them. - Pictionary
Have students draw vocabulary words or phrases on the board for their classmates to guess. - Simon says
This popular game is a great way to teach body parts and action verbs. - Hot potato
Pass a ball or stuffed animal around the room while asking students to say a word or phrase in English. - Board race
Divide students into teams and have them race to write vocabulary words or phrases on the board correctly. - Hang the tail on the donkey
Create a donkey without a tail and have students try to pin the tail in the right spot while saying a vocabulary word or sentence. - Memory game
Lay out vocabulary words or pictures on a table and have students try to match them. - Go fish
Create cards with vocabulary words or phrases and have students play Go Fish with them. - Tic-tac-toe
Use vocabulary words instead of X’s and O’s. - Jeopardy
Divide students into teams and have them answer questions in various categories to win points. - Whose line is it anyway?
Have students improvise skits based on pictures, prompts, or scenes. - 20 questions
Have students guess an object by asking yes or no questions. - Opposites
Call out a vocabulary word and have students say the opposite. - Follow the leader
Play this game to help students learn action verbs by doing different movements around the classroom. - Word search
Create word search puzzles with vocabulary words. - Uno
Create a version of Uno with English vocabulary words. - Spelling bee
Call out words and have students spell them correctly. - Word ladder
Give students a word and have them change one letter at a time to make a new word. - Bridge building
Have students create sentences that connect two words together. - Telephone
Whisper a vocabulary word or phrase to one student who then whispers it to their neighbor, and so on, until the last student repeats it out loud. - Storytelling
Have students create stories using vocabulary words or phrases. - Picture association
Show students a picture, and have them associate it with a vocabulary word or phrase. - Taboo
Give students a word and have them describe it without using specific related words. - Swat the fly
Draw vocabulary words on the board and have students swat them with a fly swatter while saying the word correctly.
In conclusion, incorporating games into your ESL lessons is an effective way to boost student engagement, comprehension, and retention. These 30 fun games are excellent for helping your young learners become more proficient in English while having fun at the same time.
