7 fun games you can make yourself

It's difficult for me to choose just 7 games. Therefore, I've decided to explain the games I play most often at my English school.

1. My absolute favorite game: Salad Bowl, also called Fish Bowl.

   1. Preparation: you need 3 identical slips of paper per player (index card size)

   2. Distribute the slips of paper to the players

   3. All players write a term on each of the 3 slips of paper.

   4. Then they are all folded and placed in a bowl or similar container.

   5. The players form 2 groups.

   6. Group 1 plays against Group 2. Each player tries to explain the drawn term to the other group members. The roles are reversed in each round. If a term isn't guessed, it goes back into the bowl. Each round is timed (usually 3-5 minutes). When the time is up, it's the second group's turn.

   7. In the first round, the drawn term is described without mentioning the word itself, either in whole or in part. (For example, with "Sowman," neither "snow" nor "man" may be mentioned.) Once all the terms have been guessed, they are returned to the bowl. Keep track of how many terms your group has guessed correctly.

   8. In the second round, the concepts are described with only one word.

   9. In the 3rd round, only pantomime will be used.

   10. The group that guessed the most terms won.

       
       

2. Conman (Learning focus: Argumentation, Speaking, Deduction)

   1. Player A searches the internet for a difficult English word that the other players have to explain, e.g., inevitable.

   2. Each player gives their explanation, trying to be as convincing as possible.

   3. Then a vote is taken to determine whose explanation is the most convincing and hopefully the correct one.

   4. Then player A solves the puzzle.

   5. Points are awarded to the players who give the correct answer and to the player who gives the most convincing explanation and thus deceives the others. That player is the Conman.

      
      

3. 21 Questions (Learning focus: asking questions, descriptions, adjectives, negation)

   1. Player A thinks of a word.

   2. All other players try to find out what player A has come up with by asking 21 questions.

   3. The players take turns asking questions. They must be yes/no questions.

   4. A player may ask questions until they receive a "no" to their question.

   5. The others have to pay close attention so as not to ask the same question.

   6. The player who solved the puzzle with 21 questions or fewer is next in line to think of a word.

      
      

4. Chinese Whispers (Learning focus: vocabulary, sentence structure)

   1. Preparation: Glue a DIN A4 sheet to a second sheet along its short side.

   2. The first person writes down a short, absurd sentence: e.g., The dog wraps a present in his blanket.

   3. The second person now draws a picture underneath to match the sentence and folds the sentence back before passing the sheet to the next person. That person writes a sentence to match the picture and folds the picture back before passing it on.

   4. This is repeated until everyone has had a turn.

   5. Finally, the first sentence is compared with the last one.

   6. The longer the chain of people, the funnier the result.

      
      

5. On a roll (well suited for an introductory session. Learning focus: speaking, sentence structure)

   1. Preparation: A roll of toilet paper is passed around with the request that everyone tear off as many sheets as they deem necessary. No information is given as to what the paper is for.

   2. Then, each person takes a turn revealing as many facts about themselves as the number of leaves they have drawn. One of these statements must be a lie. Anyone who has torn off more than three leaves must tell two lies without being caught. Anyone with only one leaf is safe and doesn't need to tell a lie.

   3. The others are trying to uncover the lie.

   4. If you get caught, you lose.

      
      

6. ABC Story (this requires ingenuity. Learning focus: conjunctions such as however, nevertheless, despite, furthermore...)

   1. Each player must contribute a sentence to a continuing story. The catch: The sentences must begin with a letter of the alphabet, in the correct order. Except for X.

   2. Anyone who can't contribute a sentence when it's their turn is eliminated. If the group is smaller, then only negative points are awarded.

      
      

7. Never have I ever (Learning focus: past)

   1. All players stand or raise their hands. One player is chosen to start. This player says, for example: "Never have I ever stolen candy in a store."

   2. All players to whom this applies should sit down or lower their hand.

   3. The next player takes their turn and says something like, "Never have I ever made a fool of myself." Again, everyone who claims to have ever embarrassed themselves is eliminated.

   4. This continues until only one person remains.

   5. Cheating is allowed and often encouraged in this game. But it's always fun.

Let me know what you liked best. If you have any ideas for other games, please share them.