Topic:

toys or any other topic

Vocabulary:

ball, drum, teddy bear, train or four words from any other topic

Materials:

flashcards of ball, drum, teddy bear, trainor four flashcards from any other topic

Description:

The children sit in a circle. Go round the circle, numbering the children from 1 to 4: ‘1, 2, 3, 4. 1, 2, 3, 4. 1, 2’, etc. Say ‘Number 1’ and the number 1 children put up their hands. Say ‘Number 2’ and the number 2 children put up their hands. Do the same with numbers 3 and 4. Place the four toy flashcards face up on the floor in front of the children, each in a different area of the circle. Say e.g. ‘Number 3. Go to the train.’ The number 3 children run to the train flashcard. Wait until all the number 3s have found the correct flashcard and then encourage the other children to give them a round of applause. The number 3 children then return to their places in the circle. Continue in the same way with the other numbers and toys.

Title: 

Musical chairs (Pre-Junior)

Topic: 

any

Vocabulary: 

any

Materials: 

CD

Description: 

Children sit on chairs facing outward in a circle. Give each child a name, e.g. ‘Wendy, Peter Pan, Lilo, Stitch. Wendy, Peter Pan, Lilo, Stitch’, etc. Play a song from the CD. All the children sing along as much as they can. Call out one of the character names, e.g. ‘Peter Pan’. All the Peter Pans stand up and skip or walk clockwise around the outside of the circle. When you pause the CD, they continue skipping or walking in the same direction back to their seat (they should not run). The last child back to their seat turns their chair to face inward. Continue in the same way until you have just four children still facing outward – one for each character. (The children facing inward can continue to play, skipping or walking inside the circle. Alternatively, if you prefer, they can just join in with the singing.)

Title: 

Swap the pictures (Pre-Junior)

Topic: 

food or any other topic

Vocabulary:

apple, biscuit, banana or three words from any other topic

Materials: 

flashcards of apple, biscuit and banana or three flashcards from any other topic, sticky tack

Description:

Stick a series of three flashcards in a row on the board, e.g. the food flashcards: apple, biscuit and banana. Chant the words from left to right to the class, e.g. ‘Apple, biscuit, banana. Apple, biscuit, banana.’ Then say the chant again, encouraging the children to join in. A child comes up to the board and swaps the position of two of the flashcards. The class chant the words in their new order. Another child comes up and swaps two cards and the class chant again. Repeat the process until all children who wish to have had a chance to swap two cards.

Title: 

Yuck! A crayon! (Pre-Junior)

Topic: 

classroom items

Vocabulary:

crayon, pen, eraser, book, pencil case

Materials: 

Donald puppet, a crayon, a pen, an eraser, a book, a pencil case

Description:

Hold up the Donald puppet. He greets the children, saying ‘Hello’. Then he says ‘I’m hungry!’ Donald goes around the classroom, picking up items and putting them to his mouth, as if to eat them. Each time he tastes an item, he says ‘Yum!’ The teacher then takes the object from Donald, saying e.g. ‘Yuck! A crayon!’ Repeat this phrase, encouraging the class to join in. Continue in the same way, with Donald ‘eating’ and children then taking from him any of the following items around the classroom: a crayon, a pen, an eraser, a book, a pencil case. Each time a child takes an object from Donald, the class call out e.g. ‘Yuck! A pen!’

Title: 

Pass the picture (Pre-Junior)

Topic: 

toys or any other topic

Vocabulary: 

ball, doll, boat, teddy bear, car, train, kite, yo-yo or words from any other topic

Materials: 

flashcards of ball, doll, boat, teddy bear, car, train, kite and yo-yo or flashcards from any other topic

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Description: 

Children sit in a circle. Sit in the circle with them, and hand the child on your left a flashcard of e.g. the ball. As you pass it to the child, say ‘Ball’. Each child passes it to the child on their left, saying the word as they hand it over. Send the next flashcard round in the same way. Continue the process until all of the flashcards are back with you. Next, play the game again, but instead of handing out the flashcards yourself, give them to different children in the circle to start off the game