Basketball
Arrange the class in two teams. Show a child from one team a flashcard or realia. If he/she can correctly identify it, allow that child to throw a ball into a basket (instead you can use a wastepaper bin, a box or even your own arms). If he/she scores the team gets 2 points if not – only 1 point. Continue until all the kids have played.
Pass the ball
Ask the children to sit in a circle. Take a soft ball. Choose a category and let the children pass the ball around. Explain that the children must say a word from that category when they get the ball and that a child leaves a circle if he/she can’t. Alternatively, play the music while the children pass the ball. Then music stops and a child who holds a ball should say the word.
Choose Your Victim
This is a great way to make a Q &A session more “active”. Students stand in a circle. Give them a grammar point to practice through questions, for example, “Is it a ball?” – “Yes, it is/ No it isn’t”. Those who make a mistake must leave the circle.
Freeze!
This game is ideal for practicing the vocabulary with flashcards. First, teach students the meaning of “Freeze!” as stop. Students sit in a wide circle with a set of flashcards in the center. Students pass the ball around the circle (add some music). Tell them they can’t hold the ball for more than a second. Cover your eyes while they do this and say, “Freeze!” The student who has the ball must stop and take a flashcard from the pile.
It’s a bomb!
This is a great way for students to introduce themselves and learn their classmates’ names in a first lesson. Also a fun way to practice or review possessive pronouns! Have students sit in a circle. Give one of them the ball, and say, “It’s a bomb! The timer is ticking (use an egg timer!)” Tell them they have to say their name, pass the ball, and say their classmate’s name: My name is Juan. Your name is Maria. The student who has the “bomb” when the timer goes off, leaves the circle. Have students re-arrange themselves in the circle so they’re sitting next to different students, and start again.
Description Dodgeball
Have students line up on one side of the classroom. One student stands in the front next to you holding the ball. Describe one of the students in your class: This girl is wearing red. The student you are describing has to run to avoid being hit by the student with the ball. If the student is hit, he/she becomes the next thrower. You may also have students wear tags with names of cities, animals, or places for you to describe.
Basketball Dare
Practice TPR movements. Set up a “basket” far enough away for it to be a challenge, but not impossible for students to score. Students line up and shoot for the basket. If students score, they get to give you a command you must follow: Dance, jump, etc… Make sure you establish some ground rules, for example, students can’t give you commands that involve shouting, leaving the classroom, etc…
Ball Toss
Have the students stand in a circle. Toss a ball to one student and elicit vocabulary or a structure from that student. They must be able to tap the ball in the air without missing the vocabulary or structure E.g. S1: "My name's Miki. What's your name?" (tap) "My name's Hiro. What's your name?" (tap).
Fly swatter
The teacher puts flashcards in a circle on the floor or sticks them on the walls of the classroom. Then the teacher names one of the words on the cards. Students have to run to the word or card and slam it with the ball. To get the point a student has to hit the word with the ball and repeat the word.
Volleyball game
Pick out 2 students, bring them to the front of the class and make them team captains. Tell the students they are going to play a volleyball game. The captains will take turns choosing students to join their teams until everyone is chosen. Define a playground and use a skip rope to divide the playground into two equal parts. Every time a student hits the ball she/he must say a word or sentence under a chosen category.
Football game
Divide your class into 2 teams and have them line up single file. Place a ball in the center of the game board. Show a flashcard. The first person from each team races to say the word/phrase and the fastest person gets a chance to hit the ball in some improvised gates. If he scores, the team gets 2 points, if not – only 1.
Silly ball
Prepare very small pictures of target vocabulary and stick it on the ball facedown. Toss the ball to the first child who is to unstick the picture and name the word.