Teaching can be a daunting task, especially when most of my students face literacy difficulties and experience many challenges in school. Integrating fun and interactive games into lessons can make a significant difference. Still, it can be very taxing for the busy teacher to think and prepare for fun activities on top of their lesson content. In this post, we will explore 8 easy activities which are not only quick and easy to set up but also engaging for students who may be hesitant about learning.

1. Guess Who? 

The first game is one of my class favourites! Using animated slides, students try to guess one another’s mystery character by only asking ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ questions. These templates can be easily found online, or teachers can prepare their own templates too! As students try to narrow down the possibilities, they must learn to construct clear and concise questions, thus enhancing their abilities to express their ideas clearly.

For instance, some of my students may ask, “Teacher, is it boy or girl?” I would then take the opportunity to help them reword their questions (e.g. Is the person male or female?) Through formulating questions, students also need to use descriptive words, and get to learn some vocabulary (e.g. ribbon, bald, mohawk, shades, curly hair). 

Guess Who animated slides from Twinkl.com

2. Wordle 

Wordle, a word guessing game, shot to fame some time ago! This game takes no preparation time, and teachers can simply go online (e.g. https://wordlegame.org/ ) to generate multiple Wordle games. Students are tasked to guess a secret word through recognising and analysing the letters in the word. This helps to reinforce word recognition skills, including identifying common letter patterns and combinations. In addition, they will also have to use deductive reasoning and critical thinking skills to narrow down possibilities and make informed guesses.

Note: Wordle may drive your class crazy! 

3. Spelling Bee 

In the same vein, The New York Times Spelling Bee is a fantastic and engaging game that can be a valuable tool for building literacy skills in students. With its combination of word puzzles and challenges, the game encourages vocabulary expansion, spelling practice, and word recognition in a fun, interactive way. As students tackle the daily puzzles, they are exposed to a wide range of words, many of which may be unfamiliar to them, promoting learning through exploration and context. The game’s unique scoring system, where players can create words from a set of letters and earn points for discovering different combinations, makes it both challenging and rewarding. This can help improve students’ spelling, their understanding of word structure, and even their critical thinking skills as they figure out how to unlock all possible words.

The compulsory letter to be included makes it more challenging! Find this awesome game here.

3. Describe the ________

In this activity, teachers can prepare a short series of pictures beforehand. They can be of simple nouns such as food (e.g. ice-cream) or different experiences (e.g. picnic). Students are tasked to generate as many descriptive adjectives using their five senses.

Picture from Handle the Heat 

For instance, when shown the picture above, students can brainstorm for a variety of adjectives such as cold, creamy, fudgy, sweet, vanilla, crispy or fragrant. By encouraging students to use their observational skills to generate relevant vocabulary, this can enhance their productive vocabulary and writing skills.

4. Vocabulary Charades 

This game should be familiar to most! It involves acting out or pantomiming words to help others guess the intended vocabulary word. Students are exposed to a variety of words, especially when the game incorporates a broad range of terms (e.g. verbs, nouns, idiomatic phrases). Vocabulary charades help to provide a physically engaging way to interact with language, as physical movement and gestures associated with word representation help to create a multisensory learning experience. Students must recall and retrieve specific words from their vocabulary to effectively convey them through actions, and learn how to communicate them

Note: If students are shy, try encouraging them to use other words to describe and give context to the intended word, or come up with sentences in which the intended word can be used!

5. Story Cubes Adventure 

This is a creative and engaging storytelling game which involves rolling dice with different images on each side and using the resulting images as prompts. Students are encouraged to think imaginatively and create stories on the spot, and must organise these images in a logical sequence to create a coherent story. This helps students understand basic story structures, such as the introduction or characters, setting, plot development and resolution.

An example of a commercial story cubes game, but teachers can make their own as well!
Picture credits: https://www.storycubes.com/en/ 

6. Word Chain 

Word chain has been a trusty energiser in my classroom, and it takes zero preparation! Teachers start with a word, and students have to take turns saying a word that begins with the last letter of the previous word. (e.g. egg → girl → lamp → posh → hand) Teachers can use a timer, and challenge students to generate as many words as they can within that minute. This game encourages students to think quickly and improves their rapid naming skills. To make it more challenging, you can set rules such as no repeating of a said word!

7. Story Chain

Teachers start a story with a sentence, and each student adds a sentence to continue the narrative. Story Chain provides an informal setting for reinforcing grammar rules, and students must also listen attentively to the preceding sentences to maintain coherence in the story. Students can learn to introduce characters, set the scene, build tension and bring the story to a resolution. An example is shown below: 

Teacher: Once upon a time, there was a witch who lived in the woods. 

Student 1: She had green eyes and her black hair flowed like a river. 

Student 2: Many villagers claimed that she could communicate with animals, and could predict the future. 

Student 3: One day, a brave young girl went into the forest, drawn by the tales of the mysterious witch.

and it continues…

8. Sentence Scramble 

This simple game involves rearranging a set of words to form a coherent and grammatically correct sentence. Teachers can print out sentences and cut them into separate words, or type them out for students to attempt unscrambling the sentence. Through this game, students learn to understand and apply basic grammatical rules, including word order, subject verb agreement, and punctuation. The game requires some comprehension skills, and this may positively impact a student’s ability to compose well-structured written sentences.

9. Listen and Draw

This is especially effective for young students who have difficulty listening to and following instructions! Teachers provide students with verbal instructions on what to draw. This activity helps students develop listening skills and their ability to interpret spoken information. It can also introduce important vocabulary (e.g. prepositions) to young students too. Gradually, teachers can progress to multi-step instructions to help hone students’ executive functions. An example is shown below.

Teachers’ instructions: 

1. First, draw a circle. 
2. Draw a square inside the circle. 
3. Under the circle, spell the word ‘duck’ AND underline the word.

Students’ drawing:

Teaching is no walk in the park, especially with our students facing literacy challenges. Juggling lesson content and fun activities can be exhausting, but hopefully these activities are here to ease the load! Here’s to making every lesson a joyous journey and turning these challenging moments into chances for growth!

Article written by:
Lim Jia Hui
Senior Educational Therapist
Curriculum Developer
RETA Member