Games/Activites for Preschool and Kindergarten ESL Classrooms

Quiet/Loud:

First teach the children the words for quiet and loud, along with hand gestures. I put my hands very close together when I say quiet and, of course, I say the word quietly. I say that a few times with my hands close together and have the children repeat, with their hands close together as well. Then I spread my arms very far apart and shout (or say very loudly): Loud! Loud! Loud!

I repeat those two words and gestures until they understand that when I put my hands close together, they should say "quiet" in a quiet voice and when I spread my arms apart, they should say "loud" in a loud voice.

Then, to teach new vocabulary, you can take whatever word you want them to learn and have them say it quietly or loudly according to your hand gestures. For example, if you want them to learn the word "apple", put your hands together and have them say "apple" quietly, and then spread them apart and have them say "apple" loudly. Repeat with different patterns so the children don't know when they have to be loud or quiet unless they are watching you intently.

The children like this game because it gives them an opportunity to be loud, which is fun for them.



Magic Numbers:

I use this game when I am teaching the children new vocabulary words and I want them to practice saying the vocabulary words over and over again. First you give them a vocabulary word (living room, for example). Then you hold up a certain amount of fingers - one through five. Depending on how many fingers you hold up, that is how many times they have to say the word. With each time that they say the word, you put one finger down. When all of your fingers are down, they must stop saying the word and be quiet. They have to be watching you so that they know when to stop saying to word and be quiet instead of repeating the word more.

So, for example, if I am playing this game with the word living room and I hold up four fingers, then they have to say: "living room, living room, living room, living room". Each time, I put one finger down until I only have a fist. Then I make the sign for stop, which is basically a Time-out signal. If you have a blackboard, you can keep track of points and the children really enjoy this. You can write G&B or S (for Girls and Boys or Students) on one side and T (for Teacher) on the other. If they say the word the correct number of times, then the students get a star. If they don't - if they say it an extra time or are not quiet, then the teacher gets a star. This challege between the students and the teacher really makes the students want to do it correctly. Another way is to split the students up into three or four groups and have the groups compete against each other.

With this game you just have to make sure that the students are pronouncing the words correctly and well. If need be, you might have to stop and correct their pronunciation so that they practice the words with the correct pronunciation.