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TeachingEnglish Young Learners Activity Book
Activities
Activity 38: The snake game
Marina Kolar – Croatia
Age: 7+
10–20 minutes Large classes? No Mixed level? Yes
Materials: board and markers (either magnets or some sort of sticker,
such as a sticky note), a dice.
Organisation: Whole class.
Aim: To practise or revise vocabulary and structures.
Description: Children in the class are divided into two teams. Individuals from each
team must answer questions dictated by a square on the board snake.
Preparation: You will need to prepare a series of questions based on the categories
in your snake (see Step 1 below).
Procedure
1. Draw a large snake on the board and divide its body into a number of squares (at least 15).
In each square write a letter as a prompt to the category of question. For example, V
might be a ‘vocabulary’ question; C might be ‘correct the sentence’, while O might be
‘odd man out.’
2. Divide the class into two teams. Explain the rules of the game. A member from each team
comes to the front and shakes a dice. According to the number on the dice, they move
forward up the snake’s body. On reaching the number, the child places the marker on the
square and has to answer a question, according to the letter. If the child is not sure of the
answer, they can ask the rest of the team.
3. If the child answers correctly, the marker remains on the square. If the question is answered
incorrectly, the child moves the marker three squares down the snake. The winning team is
the first to reach the snake’s tongue.
Notes
Other categories you might consider are ‘translation’, ‘spelling’ and ‘pronunciation’.
Larger classes will need more teams.
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© British Council 2012