Have you ever used board games for teaching? If you haven’t, you are missing out! Board games are so much fun, they’re easy to organize, and they can help students learn or revise a range of topics. I started using board games for teaching a few years ago and I fell in love with it. Let me tell you why this is the case.
If you are looking for a fun way to revise the topic or to get students to interact with the topic, then board games are your go to way. I use them as centers for small groups and it works really well, because the game keeps students on task. It’s easy for them to keep their focus on the game and on their peers as they play, and there’s an element of competition in there, which makes students want to advance to get to the finish line first.
Wanna try one for free? Check out my Present Simple board game or my Present Perfect board game for free in my store!
What are the best educational games for teaching?
If you know me, then you know that I love using games for teaching English in my lessons! I can’t even decide which one is my favorite. I love dominoes and memory for their matching component, as I love getting students to match words with pictures especially. I also love bingo for the auditory component of me reading out words and students having to find a match on their card. I love Charades and Pictionary, and Taboo for describing vocabulary words. All of these are amazing games for teaching vocabulary.
But what are the best teaching games for understanding grammar, you ask? It’s board games! Since I believe that students should be using the grammar point they’re learning in action, I provide board games that make them do that. Whenever they land on a box, they have to answer a question. The way the question is phrased should prompt them into using the grammar point in a full sentence. For example, my Present Perfect board game asks them: ‘Have you ever eaten an insect?’, and the answer could be: ‘No, I’ve never eaten an insect’ or: ‘Yes, I’ve eaten insects before.’
It’s a super fun way of getting students to interact with questions in the verb tense, or other time of grammar point, such as prepositions, pronouns, or conjunctions, that we’re learning about. Students will also correct each other when they’re using the grammar point incorrectly, because they’re all paying attention to what’s happening. It’s much more fun to revise learning this way then it is to do another worksheet on it, and students will retain the knowledge much easier if they have interacted with it in a meaningful way.
Creating games for teachers to play with students
It is super easy to create English games for teaching, especially board games! All you have to do is create a grid for filling boxes. So what I do is I go into PowerPoint and I create a huge empty table in there. Then I create a path of boxes that sort of winds its way over the page, and I erase all the lines of the boxes in between that are not part of that path. After I’ve done that, I save a spot for Start and Finish, and then I start filling the boxes. I always like to ask questions, so that students will be forced to answer them out loud. Check out my Present Simple board game to see how I did it.
Once you’ve got your board game, all you need is a printout for each small group – possibly laminated as well for durability – and dice and game pieces for students to play. Make sure you explain the rules and set boundaries for the noise level for example, so that students don’t get rowdy. Walk around to make sure they’re doing what they’re supposed to, and off they go. I’m telling you, it’s so much fun.
Don’t wanna make em yourself?
Check out the board games I have up in my store! I’ve got a set of 9 verb tense board games, and a few others that I love very much.
While I’m writing this, I’m already getting excited for the next time I’ll get my students to play! I hope this blog post has helped you realize you should try out board games. Do let me know if you have any questions about it!
Other articles on using games in teaching:
How to combine games with learning in a fun and easy way
Why games with vocabulary words are amazing tools for learning
