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10 Awesome Minute to Win It Party Games - Happiness is Homemade

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10 Awesome Minute to Win It Party Games - Happiness is Homemade

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We recently celebrated my oldest son's 9th birthday with a Minute to Win It themed birthday party, and it was a TON of silly fun! These 10 Minute to Win It games were perfect for all ages (we had guests from ages 4-55 playing these games, and everyone had a blast!) - challenging enough for the older kids and adults, but still simple enough that the younger children could play as well.

We found some great invitation choices on Etsy (clockwise from top left): Minute to Win It party invitations by Candles and Favors, Minute to Win It printable invitations by CTR Design, Minute to Win It Invitations by Babadoo Stationery, and Minute to Win It Invitations by Bee's Knees Design Shop (in boy or girl colored designs).
What You'll Need for these Games:
The score keeping was simple: If a player attempted the game he/she automatically received 3 points, and if they were able to complete the task in under a minute they received 5 points. The top two point totals won the gold and silver prize at the end of the games.

This is a great game to kick off the party because all of the players can compete at the same time (or you can break it down into several rounds of game play). Each player places a cookie on their forehead, and the goal is to get the cookie into your mouth using only your facial muscles in under 1 minute. No hands! This is tougher than it looks!

STACK IT UP:

Players must stack 25 pennies in under a minute using only one hand. This game works well with 3 players competing in each round of play.

SUCK IT UP:

Players place a straw in their mouth and use suction to transfer a pile of 25 M&M's from one plate to another in under one minute. Only one hand may be used to hold the straw. Everyone gets to eat their candy when the round is finished! This game also works well with 3 players competing in each round.

Pong Tac Toe was one of our guests' most favorite games - some of the adults even asked if they could do play it twice! We used three trays from the game Bounce Off Party, and assigned one to each of the three players. Each player had one minute to bounce ping pong balls down the length of the table and into their tray - 3 in a row (in any direction) wins!

STACK ATTACK:

Players have to stack up a pile of cups and then place them back into a single stack in under a minute. The original Minute to Win It version of this game calls for 36 cups to be stacked, but we reduced the number of cups for the children. Each child stacked 21 cups, and we discovered that this was the perfect number that resulted in exactly half of the kids being successful. Challenging, but not too challenging! Two players competing in each round works well so that any falling cups won't knock over your competitor's stack, too!

SCOOP IT UP:

Using nothing but a spoon in your mouth, transfer six ping pong balls from one bowl to another) in less than one minute. No hands! Hands are only allowed if you drop the ping pong ball, and then they can be used to place the ball back into the original bowl for another transfer attempt. 2-3 players compete for each round of play.

Each player starts with a stack of 25 red cups with one blue cup at the top of the stack. Start by moving the top blue cup to the bottom of the stack, and continue moving cups from the top to the bottom until the blue cup is back at the bottom of the stack again. Again, we modified this from the original adult version of the game that calls for 40 cups, and found that 26 cups was a great amount for the kids to work with. 2-3 children per round of competition works well.

NUTSTACKER:
JUNK IN THE TRUNK:
Thread five hex nuts onto a wooden skewer. Using only one hand on the skewer, stack up all of the nuts in under one minute. Since this game requires the table to stay as still as possible, only two players compete per round.
DEFY GRAVITY: PRIZES:
This game was another crowd favorite! To prepare for this game, empty a tissue box, and use an Xacto knife to make two slits into the bottom of the box. Thread an adjustable belt or wide ribbon through the two slits to create a tissue-box-on-a-belt. Removing the thin plastic barrier from the tissue box opening will make game play easier (for younger children) or keep it intact for more challenging play.

To play the game, strap the tissue box onto the player's back, and fill it with 6-8 ping pong balls (we used 6, but 8 would be appropriate for older children and adults). Shake, shimmy, jump, and dance around until all of the balls have fallen out of the tissue box. No using your hands and no laying down! This game is hysterical to watch in action!

Using only one hand, players must keep two balloons from touching the ground for one minute. For a more challenging game, increase the amount to three balloons per player (and use different colored balloons for each player to make it easy to differentiate!). No holding the balloons! 2 players per round of competition worked well to give the players ample space to knock their balloons around.
Christmas Minute to Win It Games New Year's Eve Party Games & Activities for All Ages Outdoor Summer Minute to Win It Party Games 20+ Adult Party Games: Board Game Edition Thanksgiving Minute to Win It Games with Printable Score Card!
I used heat transfer vinyl from Expressions Vinyl in white, bright red, sky blue, metallic gold and metallic silver to create our "gold medal" and "silver medal" grand champion prizes. More more how-to details on layering vinyl, check out my post on DIY custom t-shirts here.

The birthday boy was SO happy to be one of the grand prize winners, and they both loved their shirts!

Everyone had a blast playing these fun Minute to Win It Games, and all ten games took 12 kids about an hour and a half to complete. Aside from the two grand prize winners receiving their special "Champion" shirts, each player also received a blue prize ribbon and a goofy "prize money" necklace. This was an incredibly fun party, and it was actually quite inexpensive to host, too!

Check out These Posts for Even MORE Fun Party Games!

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10 Awesome Minute to Win It Party Games - Happiness is Homemade

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We recently celebrated my oldest son's 9th birthday with a Minute to Win It themed birthday party, and it was a TON of silly fun! These 10 Minute to Win It games were perfect for all ages (we had guests from ages 4-55 playing these games, and everyone had a blast!)

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Number shuffle – Loading up my little darlings with Comprehensible Input

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Number shuffle – Loading up my little darlings with Comprehensible Input

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In Northern Nevada the weather is beautiful and we're all looking for a reason to get outside and replenish the Vitamin D supplies. Here's one of the outside games I love to play because it's always ready to go...it doesn't need any last minute prep. It's the game I reach for when I want to go outside as badly as my little darlings. (You can also play inside, it's just our excuse for going out!)

To prep: You only prep this game once and then you're good for the rest of your career. Seriously. I'm going on year 12 of these number cards and they're still going strong!

On index cards (use 4×6 or larger) write two numbers, one on each side. (So the card you see with 0 on it...there's a 1 written on the back, card 2 has the number 3 written on the back of it and so on) On the set of 5 cards, you have all numbers, 0-9. Write the entire set in the same color because the color will tell students which team they're on.

Repeat the process to make enough sets so all students can have a number. (I have 7 sets, so that's enough for 35 kids, but if you've got huge classes, make 8 sets.) Write each set in a different color. Remember, each set has 5 cards, with numbers 0-9 written on them.

Take one set and play with the numbers to make up large number combinations like this:

Write these out in your target language so you've got them and you don't have to think on your feet. Soon your list you write down trescientos cuatro and cincuenta y nueve mil, trescientos sestena y uno Actually move the cards around to create your list, because you have to be careful to not use a 1 and a 0 together in one number, since they're on the same card. And you can't the same number more than once in your combination, so don't do 7427, for example) Write out a bunch of number combinations, some 3 digit, some 4 digit, some 5 digit. On my list I have 17 different combinations written out.

That's it, now you're prepped for a lifetime of Number Shuffle.

Pre game: Pass out the cards so that each student has one or two cards. Start with one color, the greens for example. Pass out all the green cards, then move onto the blues, then the greens until everyone has a card. It's important that there are full sets of cards passed out, so if you pass out one card to every student and you've got 3 purples left over to complete the set, adjust so that a few students have 2 cards, and you've used up all the remaining purples. Make sure that if you give a kid 2 cards, they're both the same color!

Students look for students who have the same color card to form their teams. (So there's a red team, a green team, etc.) Students form a large circle, standing with their teammates and the teacher stands in the middle. It's easiest (and fastest!)(and least painful!) to do a practice round in English first so everyone gets the idea. Read off one of the numbers on your cheat sheet and student shuffle their bodies to make the number you're reading. (If a kid has 2 cards, anyone in their team can hold the additional card). Remind them it has to be correct from your perspective (So if you said eighty five thousand, one hundred sixty three, the student to the far left should be holding the 8 and the student on the far right will have the 3). Now that grasp the idea, it's time to start playing!

To play: Have everyone turn around facing away from the teacher (So they can't watch the other teams shuffle) and the teacher says a number in Spanish. Say it slowly and repeat it a few times, because, remember, it's input that counts! Then give the command, "Turn around!" and the teacher looks at all the groups to see who has the correct number displayed. One member from each correct team comes to the teacher and gets a poker chip (or anything else to indicate 1 point) and they return to their teams. Everyone turns around again (away from the teacher), teacher says a new number, students shuffle, and so on.

Hey visuals learners, here's what this game looks like.

Play until you run out of time, then the winning team has the most chips.

Pro tip: When you collect the cards back, it's easiest to have all the teammates pass the card to one person in their team, who brings them to you. That way all the greens are together, all the purples are together, etc. I just fold them number sheet around it the stack of cards and put them in my game cabinet until the next time we play.

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In Northern Nevada the weather is beautiful and we're all looking for a reason to get outside and replenish the Vitamin D supplies. Here's one of the outside games I love to play because it's always ready to go...it doesn't need any last minute prep. It's the game I reach for when I want to...

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Guys With Games ESL/EAL activities - YouTube - YouTube

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Guys With Games ESL/EAL activities - YouTube - YouTube

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"esl games" "classroom games" "english games" "esl activities"

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We are Guys With Games ESL/EAL Activities. We share new games every week for you to use in the ESL classroom. Our aims are teaching English in a fun way and sharing games that deliberately make English the main focus. Our teachers are Carson, from the USA and Dustin from Canada.

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Mundo de Pepita: Reloj A Fun Card Game from Spain for Spanish Classes of all Levels

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Mundo de Pepita: Reloj A Fun Card Game from Spain for Spanish Classes of all Levels

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AS THE END OF THE SCHOOL YEAR APPROACHES, and my elementary Spanish students are getting a bit squirrelly, I like to incorporate authentic games in class, whether that be going outside or playing games in the classroom. Many years ago I was introduced to RELOJ, a card game from Spain that is perfect for most levels of students, from upper elementary to high school. (I wish I could remember the teacher's name! It was during a presentation here in Maine about 15 years ago, if my memory is jogged I will give her credit) The object of the game is to go out first, to get rid of all your cards. Students can play in small groups, or as a whole class, which is how I do it with my 4th graders when introducing the game. Once they are familiar with it, I break them into groups of 4-5 to play.

PREPARATION
I purchased several decks of cards at the Dollar Store; I particularly like the oversized ones as they are easier to see and manipulate for my students. Remove the jokers and queens- Spanish decks do not have queens, and the jokers are not used in this game.

TO PLAY
Shuffle all the cards- if you are playing with the whole class, combine 4-5 decks, shuffling as best you can.
Deal out the deck(s), just as you would when playing War; all cards are dealt out face down. Students cannot look at their cards, they keep them in front of them in a pile. When playing with the entire class, I usually only deal out 8-10 cards per student, especially while they are still learning how to play.
Going clockwise, first student flips over the top card on his/her pile, puts it in the middle (discard pile) and says 'Reloj' (this card has no penalty for saying it- you will see what I mean!)
Next student flips over top card and says 'Uno', next student does the same saying 'Dos', and so on "around the clock" until you get to 'rey' whereupon you start again with 'reloj'. NOTE: a ten is called 'caballo', the jack is 'sota', and of course the king is 'rey'.

If a student flips over a card and says the same number as is the card he/she flips, he must take the entire discard pile! And since in order to win, you must go out, grabbing the discard pile is not what you want! You can see now why having 'Reloj' be the penalty free card is great- since there is no corresponding card, it's like a safety card. Game continues until one player goes out.

*I usually write the numerals and their corresponding names on the board for my 3rd & 4th graders as an additional support. For older students, this might not be necessary.

Have fun!

AND, TO HELP YOUR STUDENTS STAY IN THE TARGET LANGUAGE while playing, check out our Games Vocabulary Posters! You can find them here.

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Reloj A Fun Card Game from Spain for Spanish Classes of all Levels

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AS THE END OF THE SCHOOL YEAR APPROACHES, and my elementary Spanish students are getting a bit squirrelly, I like to incorporate authentic games in class, whether that be going outside or playing games in the classroom.

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Loading up my little darlings with Comprehensible Input

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I heard once, "if their bum is numb, so is their brain". I don't know who said it or when (it was a loooooong time ago) but it stuck with me. (My husband just suggested a new saying "if their bum is numb, their brain is dumb" Same idea, anyway.) Here are some of my favorite ways to move them around and wake them up!
Muévete si.... Move if...
It's easy and requires no prep at all. ( Score!) I usually use this between activities to pep them up. Teacher says Move if you have two sisters....five, four, three, two, one or Move if you're really tired right now....five, four, three, two, one or Move if you love eating In n Out hamburgers...five, four, three, two, one. You get the picture... Students listen to the statement, and move to an empty chair if it applies to them. Remember to speak slowly and use words they know. I count down from five to one pretty quickly just to add to the general sense of panic and pandemonium. It's more fun that way. Ba ha ha ha!
Animal Partners
Sometimes I just want to move them around and keep moving with my lesson, so I'll tell them to take out their Animal Partner Sheet and sit with their kangaroo buddy. Huh? What? Kangaroo buddy? It gets everyone out of their seat, mixes them up, and then we continue with my plan.

Number Duel: Students pair up and stand back to back. Both choose a number between 1-5 and hold up that number. They count to three and face each other, showing the other one the number they're holding up. Then they race each other to add both numbers and say it in Spanish. (So if one student is holding up 2 fingers, and the partner holds up five fingers, they race to say siete). Then they turn around and play again. After they get good at it, I change it tens. So, each finger is worth ten instead of one (so 3 fingers is 30). After they get good at tens, then we play by hundreds (5 fingers is 500). This one is a fun and easy break between activities, or great to fill in the last few minutes before the bell rings.
Chants, songs and pattycakes
I teach my students a LOT of songs. It's funny because I have a really awful voice. Really, really bad. Actually, I didn't know that my colleagues knew that I had such a bad voice (because I only sing in front of my students) until just recently. One of my dear teacher friends commented that she can tell which of her students had my class the year before because they sing off key. You guys: my students sing off key because I teach them songs off key. I can't help it. It sounds good in my head, honest. When my kids start to get drowsy, my first line of defense is to make them stand and sing. Here are a few of our favorites; I've given you the lyrics to project and videos so you can see the motions. (And also because secretly I am hoping become a YouTube singing sensation. Just like Justin Bieber. Well, not just like Justin, but you know). And just to be clear, I didn't make up any of these!

This one is challenging and my high schoolers especially love it. The Amazing and Talented Rita Barrett taught me this one years ago and it's just so much fun!

Lyrics: Con el ritmo de los pies Video: Con el ritmo de los pies

Lyrics: Cinco elefantitos Video: Cinco elefantitos

Remember "Who stole the cookies from the cookie jar?" This is the Spanish equivalent.

Lyrics: ¿Quién robó pan en la casa... Video: ¿Quién robó pan en la casa...?

I can't remember where I learned this one; I've been teaching it since the dawn of time.

Lyrics: Izquierda Derecha Video: Izquierda Derecha

It always surprises me how much my high schoolers get into doing juegos de manos, even the boys! I don't have any videos of my students doing these, but these are the ones I teach my kiddos throughout the year. It works wonders to wake them up, but I avoid these during flu season....all the hand slapping germ swapping ....gross....

Lyrics: Las vocales Video: Las vocales

Lyrics: Marinero se fue a la mar Video: Marinero se fue a la mar

Lyrics: Dos policías Video: Dos policías

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I heard once, "if their bum is numb, so is their brain". I don't know who said it or when (it was a loooooong time ago) but it stuck with me. (My husband just suggested a new saying "if their bum is numb, their brain is dumb" Same idea, anyway.)

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Classroom Icebreakers - Icebreakers, Icebreaker Ideas, Games, Activities!

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Classroom Icebreakers - Icebreakers, Icebreaker Ideas, Games, Activities!

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These classroom icebreakers are enjoyable teacher-approved activities and games that address all your school and classroom needs! We recommend the following icebreakers for students of all ages. We have teachers on our staff of writers and they have recommended these for class teaching purposes. Give them a try and we think you'll agree that your students will love them.

Classroom Icebreakers for Students
Breaking the Ice / Introduction Games
Breaking the ice is useful for the beginning of a class period or toward the beginning of a semester when students don't know each other well! Introduction and breaking-the-Ice games can dramatically transform the dynamics of your classroom, making it easier for students to share their opinions or to get along with other classmates. Sometimes you just need a good sharing or introduction oriented game to help students break the ice. Try the following recommended activities and let us know how well they worked for your classroom:

Art Effects (Drawing) - A fun drawing oriented game!

The Bests (Get-to-know-you) - A rapid fire game to see who is the "best" at various tasks.

Blanket Game (Get-to-know-you) - Quickly identify someone's name as you drop a large blanket!

Candy Introductions (Get-to-know-you) - A simple game to allow people to introduce themselves, using candy.

Catch the Ball (Get-to-know-you) - Another simple game of introductions, tossing a ball around the room.

Categories or Similarities Game (Get-to-know-you) - A game to help people get to know each others' similarities!

Collaborative Drawing (Teambuilding) - An interesting collaborative drawing game.

Energy Game (Talking, Active) - A game that grows in intensity over time.

Extreme Rock, Paper, Scissors (Active) - A twist on the classic rock paper scissors game!

Fabulous Flags (Get-to-know-you) - A clever way to involve drawing flags with symbols of what is important to a person.

Funny Icebreaker Stories (Get-to-know-you) - A silly sharing game to get folks laughing!

Great Wind Blows (Get-to-know-you, Active) - Also known as Big Wind Blows, a game similar to musical chairs!

Icebreaker Questions (Get-to-know-you, Teambuilding) - Try out these questions to help people get to know each other better.

Identity Circles (Get-to-know-you) - A deeper get-to-know-you game to share the values that make up your identity and how you prioritize them in your life

Interview Game (Get-to-know-you) - Interview your partner for a few minutes and then share this with the rest of the group.

Late Arrivals Game (Party, Talking) - A British game of introducing new arrivals to a party.

Lineup Game (Get-to-know-you) - Work together as a team to arrange your team in a line based on a quality that is not obviously apparent.

Lost on a Deserted Island (Get-to-know-you, Teambuilding) - Share who or what you would bring if stranded on a deserted island.

Memorable Catchy Names (Get-to-know-you) - Nervous Nancy? Fabulous Fred? A simple game of introducing yourself with another word descriptor.

More Good Icebreaker Questions (Get-to-know-you, Teambuilding) - Additional good icebreaker questions to use when you want people to share about themselves.

Name Aerobics (Get-to-know-you, Talking, Active)

Never Have I Ever (Get-to-know-you) - A game that lets people get a sense of each others' experiences!

Paper Airplanes/Name Planes (Get-to-know-you)

Personal Trivia Baseball (Get-to-know-you) - A game of trying to answer increasingly difficult facts about someone.

Picture Whispers (Drawing) - Like Pictionary mixed with the Telephone Game.

Shoe Pile Mingle (Get-to-know-you, Teambuilding) - Slightly smelly, but lots of fun!

Song Sync (Get-to-know-you, Talking)

Sorts and Mingle (Get-to-know-you)

String Game (Get-to-know-you) - A simple game that uses string to help people get to know each other better!

Superlative Game (Get-to-know-you) - Biggest! Strongest! Fastest!

Tall Tales (Talking) - A story continuation game in which each person will tell three sentences of a story and end with the word "suddenly."

Time Hop (Get-to-know-you) - E xplore different periods throughout each others' lives.

Two Truths and a Lie (Get-to-know-you) - The classic game of trying to guess which is the lie among three statements.

Unique and Shared (Get-to-know-you, Teambuilding)

Who Am I? (Mingling) - Great for parties! Folks mingle around the room and try to guess who is the name on their back.

Who Done It? (Get-to-know-you)

Sharing/Opinion Games

Some games help students to start expressing their opinions on various issues, to share personal stories, or to have a voice in the classroom. Try these activities to get things rolling for your learners to get them more engaged.

Connecting Stories (Get-to-know-you, Teambuilding)
Extremes: Where Do You Stand? (Get-to-know-you)
Four Corners (Get-to-know-you)
Story Starters (Get-to-know-you)
What I Would Have Done (Get-to-know-you)

Spelling/Word Games

These games are all about spelling or using words. They can be challenging but also a lot of fun! These might work really well for English Language Arts settings - or even for foreign language/ESL courses.

Ghost Game (Talking)
Word Associations (Talking)
Word Chains (Memory)

Assignments / Outside-of-Class Activities

The following activities can be useful as a larger task outside of the class period. Some of these teambuilding exercises can be helpful to support team dynamics and cultivate better chemistry. Note that some of these require time outside of class in order to achieve best results - plan accordingly.

Bigger and Better (Active, Teambuilding)
Defend the Egg (Teambuilding)
Photo Scavenger Hunt (Active, Teambuilding)

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Classroom Icebreakers - Fun Icebreaker Ideas & Activities

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These classroom icebreakers are enjoyable teacher-approved activities and games that address all your school and classroom needs! We recommend the following

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This is a variation of the classic 20 Questions game (animal, vegetable, mineral - you remember the one?) Partner A thinks of a thing and partner B has to work it out by asking Yes/No questions. It's a really good oral fluency games for relatively advanced learners.

My version here relates to job vocabulary. Assuming you have taught, say, 25 jobs using word lists, pictures, definitions, written and spoken texts and so on, let's say you want to embed this knowledge a week or two later, this is what you could do.

Partner A chooses a job which has been learned. Partner B is given a list of 15 questions he or she can ask in any order. Partner B can guess the answer at any time. If partner B uses all 15 questions up they score 15 points. If they correctly guess the job in less than 15 questions they get a number of points equivalent to the number of questions they needed, i.e. 10 questions for a right answer gets 10 points. If they make an incorrect guess at any point they get an extra 10 points. If Partner B cannot guess the job they get an extra 10 points. The aim is to score as few points as possible.

Let's say you have taught these 25 jobs:

Teacher, nurse, doctor, bus driver, computer programmer, plumber, baker, vet, shop salesperson, builder, secretary, electrician, call centre worker, engineer, train guard, postman/woman, headteacher, receptionist, bank clerk, cleaner, website designer, financial consultant, video games designer, refuse collector, farmer.

Here are 15 possible yes/no questions:

1. Do you work with the public?
2. Do you work outside?
3. Do you work with young people?
4. Do you repair things?
5. Do you work in a hotel?
6. Do you work with animals?
7. Do you do a creative job?
8. Do you earn a lot of money?
9. Do you have control over other people?
10. Did you have to go to university to do your job?
11. Did you have to do an apprenticehip to do your job?
12. Do you think your job is boring?
13. Is your job physical?
14. Is your job stressful?
15. Is your job dangerous?

Perhaps you could work out variations on this task. With some classes you could remove the questions from view after a certain amount of time. Or you could display gapped versions of the questions. With others you could let them add their own questions.

The value of the game is that students are recycling the target language multiple times, listening and reading, working on their pronunciation. In its basic form there is no spontaneous use of student-created language, but you could work this in with my suggestions above. This could work well with a Y9 or Y10 class and take about 20 minutes.

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This is a variation of the classic 20 Questions game (animal, vegetable, mineral - you remember the one?) Partner A thinks of a thing and partner B has to work it out by asking Yes/No questions. It's a really good oral fluency games for relatively advanced learners.

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Dom's MFL Page: Headline gap fill - practising vocabulary

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Dom's MFL Page: Headline gap fill - practising vocabulary

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Headline gap fill - practising vocabulary

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On the BBC comedy panel programme Have I Got News For You , in the final round, the panellists have to guess missing words from headlines f...

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¿Cómo estuvieron tus vacaciones? Class Activity

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Whiteboard Doublestack - Indwelling Language

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Whiteboard Doublestack - Indwelling Language

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It's been a while since I shared a low prep/no prep activity, but I was recently reminded of the fun and the mileage of this one, so it's time to share. Whiteboard Doublestack is a nice consolidation game or middle-of-unit (if you have those) activity, including both input and output, that I saw Nancy Llewellyn do in 2008 and have enjoyed ever since. As I often do, I'll describe the basic procedure and then suggest a bunch of variations and applications.

(Note: If you're waiting for the next installment in the Goals series, know that part of the reason for the recent delay in posts is my research into goal-setting, habit-building, and accountable-holding. I hope to share insights from that exploration soon!)

Whiteboard Doublestack: The Basic Procedure

After students have encountered a decent amount of relevant input, invite them each to write a two-part sentence in a given format. For instance,

(1) If I lived in Iceland, (2) I would pearl-dive in the hot springs.

(1) When you've finished breakdancing, would you please (2) turn off the lights?

(1) After a satisfying meal, I like (2) to frolic among the shrubberies.

(1) Unless I find a second shovel, I will (2) sad-nap until 6:00 p.m.

(1) My favorite food is artichokes because (2) I like prickly green things.

Here's the twist. Each student writes part (1) on one mini-whiteboard and part (2) on another. Then all whiteboards containing (1) are stacked together, while all the boards containing (2) are stacked with each other, and one of the stacks is shuffled.

The Payoff

Pick up the top board in pile (1) and read it aloud, followed by the top board in pile (2). This creates a goofy non sequitur while providing targeted input. By the end, students will have heard 15-35 sentences in the targeted format.

Variations and comments

1. If you don't have enough whiteboards for every student to use two, students can work in pairs. They can come up with both parts together, or one students can come up with part (1) and the other student with part (2).

2. If you don't have any whiteboards, students can write their sentences on notecards, loose paper, potsherds, philodendron leaves, or anything else writeonable-but everything is more fun with mini-whiteboards.

3. Because you are the one handling the whiteboard stacks and reading the sentences, you can make tweaks on the fly-correcting or shortening what students have written-to make sure that students receive high-quality input.

4. You can reshuffle one of the stacks multiple times and read new pairs of sentences to give students even more encounters with the language.

5. Instead of stacking the sentence parts, spread out all the boards with part (1) in one section of the room and the boards with part (2) in another. Have students try to either (a) figure out which parts went together (you can make this less obvious by instructing students to write each part in a different color) or (b) come up with the funniest combinations they can. Then read the newly constituted sentences and see what students think.

6. Pretty much any kind of subordinate or coordinate clause works with Whiteboard Doublestack.

7. Feel free to pick any of the resulting sentences, ask follow-up questions about it, discuss its logicality, play Good Idea/Bad Idea, co-create a story based on it with your students, have students share how they might have ended the sentence, etc.

8. If you like to get your students to use stock sentence frames, or are required to do so by your employer, this is a good way to do it. Even if this doesn't apply to you, Whiteboard Doublestack is a way to give your students a bunch of quick encounters with word chunks, especially if you ask follow-up questions that use or elicit the same chunks.

9. This activity turns out to be fun enough to be regularly reusable. You can do it with different types of sentences throughout the year.

Have you used Whiteboard Doublestack or something like it? Share your discoveries and ideas!

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Whiteboard Doublestack - Indwelling Language

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It's been a while since I shared a low prep/no prep activity, but I was recently reminded of the fun and the mileage of this one, so it's time to share. Whiteboard Doublestack is a nice consolidation game or middle-of-unit (if you have those) activity, including both input and output, that I saw Nancy Llewellyn do in 2008 and have enjoyed ever since.

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No Prep Required: Quick Review Game – Maris Hawkins

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No Prep Required: Quick Review Game – Maris Hawkins

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This next game I use throughout the year, too. It actually requires minimal prep, but it is really easy. I create a grid in Word with letters along the left and numbers on the top. Typically, I will letter it A-H and number it 1-8. I will project the grid, and then I print a copy for myself. On my copy, I write down numbers 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 in all of the different empty squares.

During the game, I ask students questions. When they answer correctly, they can choose a square. I look on my grid to determine if they will earn 10-50 points. This keeps the game exciting because a group can jump into the lead if they "discover" a 50 point square! The students enjoy it, and they love trying to pick their square.

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This next game I use throughout the year, too. It actually requires minimal prep, but it is really easy. I create a grid in Word with letters along the left and numbers on the top. Typically, I will letter it A-H and number it 1-8. I will project the grid, and then I print a...

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Salad Bowl: A fun vocabulary game for FL classes – Maris Hawkins

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Salad Bowl: A fun vocabulary game for FL classes – Maris Hawkins

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In our advisory, we had students bring games to play today. One of my amazing students brought the game Salad Bowl! It would be PERFECT to shake up your traditional game of charades.

First you have everyone in the class write down one or two vocabulary words on a piece of paper. You can collect them in a salad bowl (or any type of container).

You should have students split into teams. I would try to only make about 4-5 teams to keep students participating more often.

During the first round, one person on each team has to describe as many words as they can in the target language without saying the key word in thirty seconds (the online version said 1 minute, but I think 30 seconds is perfect.) The idea is 10,000 pyramid. Their group is trying to guess all of the words as the one student is describing it. Each group gets one point per word guessed. You continue to move through groups until all words are guessed. This also gives incentive for students to pay attention to all of the words!

The next round, you put all of the words back into the salad bowl. One person from each group acts out a charade to describe the word. They keep acting out the words for 30 seconds. Each word adds another point onto the team's score. You continue to act out all of the words until you finish with the bowl.

On the last round, you have a member from each group say only ONE word to describe the word. They continue this for 30 seconds, and they still get one point per word. You continue to do this until all of the words have been guessed. The group with the most points at the end is the winner!

I thought this game would be perfect when you are returning from a break or a good review game before an exam. I like that the students will hear the words multiple times as well.

Edited to add: Trevor commented on how he plays the game. He has a fourth round where students just make noises to represent the words. However, he cautions that students in the group must turn around because sometimes students make actions with their noises! I love this addition!

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Salad Bowl: A fun vocabulary game for FL classes

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In our advisory, we had students bring games to play today. One of my amazing students brought the game Salad Bowl! It would be PERFECT to shake up your traditional game of charades. First you have everyone in the class write down one or two vocabulary words on a piece of paper.

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Posted by Megan Smith on August 30, 2012 in Games, Learning Stations

I try to always include a game station when I do stations. The "game" may actually be speaking practice or vocabulary review or hands-on action with the language, but if it has some competitive aspect, then it's a game! This station gets students working together and that's a victory in itself sometimes.

I believe that I have to try to reach every kid. We all know that some students are hard to win over. Games are a great way to break the ice. On the other hand, our best students will work hard and still learn even if we asked them to copy the dictionary. The question is... How much more could they learn if they were having fun doing it?

When I choose a game for this station, I think about a few things:

1. - the current unit topic

2. - the students' proficiency level

3. - the personality of the group

Here are some of the games Kara and I use in class. Click on the title to read more about it.
Spoons - a fast paced game to practice unit vocabulary.

30 seconds - A circumlocution game - Here students have to try to get their teammates to guess a word by describing it in the TL.
Akinator Loteria 7 palabritas/7 petit mots Mindsnacks
Don't forget to leave valuable game language posted while they play!

Happy Friday! Learn and have fun too!

Want to read more about stations??

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Posted by Megan Smith on August 30, 2012 in Games, Learning Stations I try to always include a game station when I do stations. The "game" may actually be speaking practice or vocabulary review or hands-on action with the language, but if it has some competitive aspect, then it's a game!

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Spanish game - Mar y tierra - Spanish Playground

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Spanish game - Mar y tierra - Spanish Playground

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Mar y tierra is a traditional Spanish game kids play at recess. It is very simple and it can be played inside if you have enough space. It is a fun brain break that gets kids up and moving.

Traditionally, kids jump between two spaces designated mar and tierra. You can change the vocabulary if you like. For example, for Easter, you can make the kids conejitos and designate the two spaces bosque or campo and jardín. Any logical pair of words works.

To play, kids line up beside a line on the ground so that they can jump sideways over the line. They can also face the line and jump forward and back. One side of the line is mar and the other side is tierra. A person who has been chosen to call first, calls out mar and tierra as the players jump across the line (or in place) to be on the correct side. The child who makes a mistake and jumps in the wrong place is out, or not, depending on how you want to play.

Here is a video of kids playing Mar y tierra. They play without a line and it works fine too.

Here is video of a group of scouts playing. They are jumping on and off a (not so) low wall. It makes the game considerably more aerobic!

You can see an animated explanation of the game here: Spanish game - Mar y tierra

You may also be interested in this post: 1, 2, 3 ¡Calabaza! - A traditional Mexican playground game

Photo Credit: wackybadger via Compfight cc

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Spanish game - Mar y tierra - Spanish Playground

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Mar y tierra is a traditional Spanish game kids play at recess. It is very simple and it can be played inside if you have enough space. It is a fun brain break that gets kids up and moving. Traditionally, kids jump between two spaces designated mar and tierra.

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Create your own jeopardy template online, without PowerPoint. Or browse the pre-made templates created by other people!

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Teampedia - Tools for teams and teamwork

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Teampedia - Tools for teams and teamwork

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Teampedia is a collaborative encyclopedia of free team building activities, free icebreakers, teamwork resources, and tools for teams.
This site is designed for group leaders, trainers, teachers, managers, directors, counselors, youth groups, camps, task forces ... anyone wanting to enhance collaboration and creativity.

Browse for games and activities below or read more about Teampedia

Even if your group consists of members who all share the same race, religion, nation of origin or gender identity, there are many other ways that individuals can be different. We tend to make assumptions based on height, clothing style, mannerisms, etc. So, it is valuable for team members to get to know each other as individuals, and also to be aware of stereotyping in all interactions in life. How do you break down stereotypes and foster inclusion and equity within your team? Activities include: Celebrity/Stereotype Party, Diversity Bingo, Students with Disabilities, Who I Am - by Lineage, and Your Stories.

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Teampedia - Tools for teams and teamwork

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Teampedia is a collaborative encyclopedia of free team building activities, free icebreakers, teamwork resources, and tools for teams. This site is designed for: team leaders, trainers, teachers, managers, camp directors, counselors, youth groups... anyone interested in enhancing collaboration and creativity.

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"Do You Love Your Neighbor?" video - YouTube

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"Do You Love Your Neighbor?" video - YouTube

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6# Numbers and actions Enegizer and team spirit game, to create positive energy in the group - YouTube

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6# Numbers and actions Enegizer and team spirit game, to create positive energy in the group - YouTube

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6# Numbers and actions   Enegizer and team spirit game, to create positive energy in the group

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This educational activity was filmed during the international training course Passion in Action, implemented by Dreams for Life in Romania, between 10-17 October 2014, with the support of the Erasmus+ programme of the European Union.

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18# Apple Banana Orange Energizer to activate the group, laugh and create…confusion - YouTube

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18# Apple Banana Orange Energizer to activate the group, laugh and create…confusion - YouTube

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18# Apple Banana Orange   Energizer to activate the group, laugh and create…confusion

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17# 1 2 3 or Clap Up Touch Energizer, for having fun and developing attention - YouTube

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17# 1 2 3 or Clap Up Touch Energizer, for having fun and developing attention - YouTube

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17# 1 2 3 or Clap Up Touch   Energizer, for having fun and developing attention

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This educational activity was filmed during the international training course Passion in Action, implemented by Dreams for Life in Romania, between 10-17 October 2014, with the support of the Erasmus+ programme of the European Union.