Short games

Any teacher with a TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) qualification will tell you that the best way to start an English class is with a short, light-hearted warm-up activity. Personally, I like to use the warm-up as practice for either phonics or as a review of previous lessons. In either case I usually have a set of flashcards prepared. Here are a few games that I use to get my students in the mood to study. Each of these games should last 5 to 10 minutes, so they’re great for starting a class. They should also all be easy to jump straight into with very little explanation. Eikaiwa classes tend to have up to 5 students on average, but if your classes are BIG you’ll need to make larger or multiple copies of games as necessary.