Ever tried to play games with kids in English?
It can be a fun treat!
But what about when the child doesn’t even know how to say hello?
In this case, trying to play games or sing songs can be just plain frustrating.
It can’t be denied—teaching English to children is nothing like teaching adults!
Attention
spans are shorter, and the child’s vocabulary is much more limited—even
in his or her native language—
meaning that the topics you can discuss
are limited as well.
Luckily, where there’s a will, there’s a way! Here are five activities for children to get beginner children excited about learning their first words of English.
These activities work particularly well with beginners, as the child doesn’t need to have an extensive English vocabulary
to participate, but once you’ve integrated these methods into your
teaching style, you may find yourself using them again and again, even
with more advanced students
Attention spans in beginner classes, no matter the age group, tend to
be reduced. After all, it’s hard to ask someone who barely understands
what you’re talking about to follow an in-depth discussion about
anything, even if it is of interest to them!
But for children,
this is even more true. A child has a reduced attention span even in his
or her own language; teaching children English, therefore, must be done
with attention to this fact.
Children should generally not be
asked to do an activity for any longer than 20 minutes, so if we imagine
that a class lasts between 45 and 60 minutes, each activity would be
about a third or up to half of a class period. Often, however, an
activity will take up much less time than this.
Be sure that you
are organized in your lesson in order to make the most of your time when
doing these activities, and never expect an activity to take up an entire class.
Ways to Teach Children Through Fun Activities
1. Art Projects
Art
is a fantastic way to get your young students excited and interested in
a variety of lessons to reinforce different vocabulary.
The art
project that goes with this lesson should either come at the end of the
class or at the beginning of the following class after a brief review of
the vocabulary. Students can draw pictures independently, but you
should walk around the room and encourage them to talk to you about
their work.
Let’s say you’re using an art lesson to follow up
acquisition of different color words; you could ask students what color
they’re using with the phrase “What color is this?”
The same sort
of lesson can be used once students become more advanced with other
sorts of vocabulary, from fruits to careers to animals, by having
students draw pictures using the vocabulary that was introduced in class
and then helping them to label their drawings using the words they
learned.
Get some ideas for more art projects to reinforce vocabulary from Art Projects for Kids, a teacher-approved site filled with resources and ideas. We also love these fun ideas from the Artful Parent, craft ideas from Enchanted Learning and the themed crafts from Fun-logy.
2. Active Games
You’ve probably already witnessed the awesome
power of learning in the classroom, and active games can be
a great way to get beginners up and moving.
This can be a
very useful way to reinforce new vocabulary while also upping the
energy. That’s why it’s a great choice either at the beginning or in the
middle of a class.
It is to
reinforce a vocabulary lesson involving body parts. But what you might
not think of is using To reinforce the use of action words,
like
“dance,” “jump” or “clap.”
Always be sure to introduce the
words you plan to use in lesson format before introducing the game.
Students can always assume they understand what you’re saying,
particularly if they’re following the rest of the group. That’s why it’s
important to use at the end of a lesson and to make sure
that you’re not giving them any hints with your own body language as to
what they’re supposed to do;
3. Singing Songs
Songs are a fantastic mnemonic device for
new vocabulary, and the Internet is a wealth of different song ideas.
The best time to use a song is once the vocabulary has already been
introduced. Some songs are simpler, ideal for using the same day or the
same week that the vocabulary is introduced:
- “7 Days A Week” — for learning the days of the week
- “If You’re Happy” (simplified) — for learning emotions
- “Put on Your Shoes” — for learning clothing words
- “Rainbow Song” — for learning colors
Other
songs are more complicated, making them better for students that
already know some vocabulary in English. They’re great for reviewing!
- “Let’s Go to the Zoo” — for reviewing animal words
- “I See Something Pink” — for reviewing colors
- “One Little Finger” — for reviewing body parts
- “Colors Song” — for reviewing colors
But don’t limit yourself to simply singing the songs. Use them as a way to get kids participating—even your shyest students—by coming up with ways for the class to respond to the song.
For
example, when using songs to reinforce vocabulary, once the song has
been acquired, you can call on an individual student to fill in a
“blank” with the appropriate word. This is great for songs like “Old
MacDonald,” where the verse is the same each time with a slight modification—in this case, the animal’s name and sound it makes.
Here are a few other ideas to keep your students engaged while singing:
- Have students make up hand gestures or a dance to go along with the song.
- Ask students to illustrate the song as an art project.
- Have students make up their own verses (when appropriate to level).
- Have students make their own musical instruments so they can play along as they sing!
4. Labeling
Labeling can be a great way to
remember new vocabulary. We already discussed a bit how labeling can be used
during an art project, but you can also use labeling in a classroom or
with photographs.
If you’re trying to teach the names of different
things in the classroom, tasking your students with creating labels for
them can be a great way to get them up and moving—and speaking! Once
the labels are created, be sure to laminate them. You can use them with
all sorts of games, from treasure hunts to interactive matching or
memory games.
You can also use labeling with photographs,
particularly if you can project them on the wall. Find photographs or
images of different scenes containing vocabulary that you have covered
in class. Make the labels yourself or have your students make them, and
then allow students to come up and affix them on the projected image,
either using magnets or putty, depending on what’s appropriate for your
classroom.
Labeling of this kind is great when used in tandem with
an art project, as students first identify items as a group and are
then encouraged to label things on their own.
5. Educative Play
Particularly
when your students are very young, educative play is a useful technique
for teaching them without ever letting on! Students can be encouraged
to play with one another in a variety of ways, either with board games
or in a playroom or space, depending on the way your school is laid out.
The idea with educative play is for teachers and assistants to
participate in the play in
English, asking questions that students can
answer.
Examples of such questions include:
- What are you doing?
- What are you playing?
- Can I play?
- What’s that?
- Would you like this (block, ball, doll)?
The
key to making educative play fun and useful is to make sure that you
engage students without frustrating them. Asking them repetitive
questions or simply asking too many questions can be frustrating and
counterproductive. Ask about one question every minute or so.
Encourage
students to answer you in English, but don’t force them to speak to one
another in English. As things progress, they may speak to one another
in English of their own accord—which is proof that your efforts are
paying off!
There are lots of different ways that these five types
of activities can be integrated into classroom with children.
Try adapting some of these ideas into your own lessons today!
