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TeachingEnglish <strong>Young</strong> <strong>Learners</strong> <strong>Activity</strong> <strong>Book</strong><br />
Activities<br />
<strong>Activity</strong> 40: Toothpick game<br />
Weronika Salandyk – Poland<br />
Age: 8+<br />
Maximum 20 minutes Large classes? Yes Mixed level? Yes<br />
Materials: Toothpicks and pictures of people doing things.<br />
Organisation: Group work.<br />
Aim: To practise making sentences describing the pictures.<br />
Description: Children work in pairs or groups. They take it in turns to make sentences about<br />
the pictures, and use the toothpicks to show which part of the picture they are describing.<br />
Preparation: You will need to find suitable pictures of people doing things. These can be<br />
pictures from your course book, pictures from magazines, a photocopied picture or a flashcard.<br />
The important thing is that there is a lot of activity in the picture. Make sure you have enough<br />
toothpicks to bring to class.<br />
Procedure<br />
1. Divide the class into pairs or groups of no more than four. Give each pair/group a set<br />
of about 12–20 toothpicks.<br />
2. Give each pair or group a picture.<br />
3. Tell the children that they have to take it in turns to make sentences about the pictures.<br />
Elicit some examples using one of the pictures, or a picture you put on the board.<br />
4. Here is the fun part. As the children make a sentence, they must put a toothpick on to<br />
the picture, so that the point of the toothpick touches the part of the picture that the<br />
child is describing. The next child then makes a sentence, following the same procedure.<br />
However, this child’s toothpick must touch the picture and also the previous toothpick,<br />
like in a dominos game.<br />
5. The children get one point for each toothpick they manage to lay down. The child who<br />
places all their toothpicks first is the winner.<br />
Notes<br />
You might need to cut the toothpicks in half if the pictures are small.<br />
86<br />
© British Council 2012