As an ESL teacher, you want to see your students confidently apply what you teach them. It naturally takes practice and repetition in order for children to get vocabulary and question forms down. ESL drama games are an amazing method of engaging your students and sneaking in the practice they need through structured play.

Let’s say they just learned about colours and articles of clothing. Rather than give them a pop quiz, give them a game that gets them popping out of their seats!

Here’s an activity that combines I-Spy and Musical Chairs in a way that gets the kids moving and learning.

1. Have the children sit in a circle of chairs with no desks or other objects in the middle.
2. Have a Call & Repeat Question. In this case, use “What are you wearing?” You can clap and chant this as a way to help the children get comfortable with the question.
3. Call on an article of clothing: blue jeans, white socks, red shirt, etc.
4. The children wearing that article of clothing will get up and quickly go to a different seat.
5. Do this a few times and then step in yourself!
6. One child will now have to be the leader of the activity. After every round, the children take turns asking the question and calling on different articles of clothing.

ESL drama games like this one do a beautiful job in getting students to learn through listening, speech practice, and visual learning. The connections they make between words and visuals will be so much stronger. ESL drama games cater to all kinds of learning styles which is great for most children who have a combination of them rather than just one.

After all, you don’t want your student to see green trousers, think pantalones verdes (or whatever it may be in their native language), translate that to English, and then say, “Trousers green!” You want the connection to be immediate so they don’t have to translate words in their heads. That’s the advantage of using games over drilling activities.

For more ideas on how to teach English through drama, download the free e-book, Teach Children English Through Drama.

Visit the Kids English Theatre Youtube Channel for more drama games, language exercises, puppetting demos, and other fun ideas to make your lessons fun and unforgettable. 

Be Theatrical!

Miranda

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