Wanna know what some fun games for grammar are? I’ve got all the juice! I love using games in my lessons, and not only because it makes my students so happy. It is my belief that having students interact with the grammar point through play really helps them connect with what they are learning. And in turn that helps them solidify that learning much better than completing a worksheet could.
When I first started teaching, I was often disappointed with how little my students would remember rules and use grammar correctly after I taught them. It just didn’t stick! Two things then dawned on me. 1. I had students complete fill in exercises to practice grammar, which was a very unnatural way of learning something that should be a communicative tool. And 2. I didn’t make it fun for them, and they didn’t connect with what they were learning. So I started introducing games, and that helped so much! Let me tell you what I use and how I use fun games for grammar.
Wanna know some other fun games for learning a language? Grab my free Whiteboard Marker Games PDF in which I explain 7 fun games to play on a whiteboard by clicking here!
Fun games for teaching grammar
So my list of favorite games to use when reviewing grammar with kids are these:
- Board games
- Dominoes
- Memory
- Puzzles
- Match the picture
- Happy Families / Go Fish / Kwartet
- PPT Review game
- Escape rooms
Board games: In these games, I get students to answer a question that is posed in the box they land on when they roll the dice. The question prompts them to use the grammar point they’ve just learned in the correct way. The other players must check whether the answer given is phrased correctly.
Dominoes: This game requires students to match the words on the tiles with a picture on another tile. The game is finished when all the tiles are connected, word to picture, and the tiles are in a circle of square shape.
Memory: Is similar to dominoes in that it asks students to find matches between words and pictures by turning 2 tiles over at a time and checking if they are a match. If they’re not, the player must turn the tiles back over and the next player goes. If they are a match, the player may keep the two tiles, and they may play again. Whoever has the most tiles at the end, wins.
Puzzles: Another match finding game in which two or more puzzle pieces must match. Puzzle pieces can be somewhat bigger than dominoes or memory tiles, so I like to include sentences on these to give students a bit more language to work with.
But also…
Match the picture: By contrast, this game does not contain any language given, and it’s expected of students to give output. They must find the match between two cards – their own top card, and the open card on the table. There is always one match, magically, and students must call it out loud to be able to put their card on top of the stack. Then with the new open card on the table, a new match must be found by players. Whoever finds the most matches and loses all their cards first, is the winner.
Happy Families / Go Fish / Kwartet: This game asks students to gather complete sets of categories by asking the other players for cards they need. If one player asks for a card and the person that was asked indeed has it, they must give it. The player may then continue asking for other cards, until the card that they ask for is not available. The next player may then try to hunt for cards. The player that collected the most categories at the end, wins the game.
PPT review game: I love printable games, but occasionally I like an interactive game that I can play on the smartboard and that will give feedback immediately. PowerPointTM games do exactly that. A question pops up and students must answer it. If you click the correct answer for them, a success message is displayed and the next question may be played. If the answer is incorrect, players must try to find the correct answer again to advance to the next question.
Or a real challenge..
Escape rooms: I’ve recently started creating some escape rooms to play in the classroom. They are a ton of work to create, and they are over before you know it, but students really enjoy the challenge. Give them some problems to solve by answering grammar questions in order to get out of the room!
When to play games for grammar?
There are four possible moments I like to play during a lesson. Do decide when to do it beforehand, and prepare students accordingly, to get the best results.
- At the start of the lesson as in introductory activity, or to activate prior knowledge.
- After a grammar point was taught, to review learning.
- In the middle of the lesson, as a brain break, before another activity.
- At the end of a lesson, to end in a fun, but useful way.
Examples of games for grammar
Some fun grammar games for 3rd grade that I’ve made are my parts of speech games. I found my students struggled with understanding them, so I created a board game, puzzle pieces that worked three ways, dominoes and memory games. I also created a variety of board games to practice the simple verb tenses, as well as one for comparatives and superlatives. Fun grammar games for 4th graders I made are my progressive verb tenses board games, and my frequently confused words escape room.
I hope you give these fun games for grammar a try some time! My students really enjoy them, and it really helps them learn the rules of the English language better!
Related articles:
What are some good icebreaker games for fun and easy classroom use
How to make the teaching of grammar fun and engaging for students
