Online compatible : No.
Age group : Fun for all ages
Materials :
- A marble for each play plus an extra 10 or more marbles
- 1 piece of A4 sized paper with a big circle drawn on it
Preparation time : 1 minute to draw the circle on the paper
Number of players : Works equally well in groups as in private lessons
Objective : To be the player with the most points
Instructions :
Line the students up in the classroom. Place the paper about 2 metres from the students. Give each student one marble and place the remaining marbles in the centre of the circle of the A4 paper. By turn, students roll their marble, attempting to knock marbles out of the circle. For each marble knocked out the student receives one point. The student with the most points wins.
Tabletop Bowling, Shove Ha'Penny, Tabletop Curling and Four Cups are all examples of games that, while not relating specifically to English, are nevertheless a great way to start a class. Before each student rolls their marble have them repeat language studied in their last lesson. Only allow students to roll their marble if they have said the language correctly. The competitive nature of games gives even the least enthusiastic students impetus to produce English that they have learned, even more so if students play in teams, because while one student may not care to study themselves, they will likely submit to repeating with the teacher rather than letting their teammates down.
