Discover energetic movement games that get pupils moving while practising English. These easy-to-organise activities combine language learning with action, helping children stay active and engaged.
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How to Play
1. Have all the children sit in a circle on the floor.
2. One student (the Picker) walks around the outside of the circle, tapping each player on the head and repeating a target word (e.g., Duck, duck, duck...).
3. When the Picker taps someone and shouts a different word (e.g., Goose!), the chosen student must jump up and chase them around the circle.
4. The Picker tries to run all the way around and sit in the empty space before being tagged.
Tips for Teachers
You can easily adapt this game to drill any vocabulary category by using a repetitive A, A, A... B! pattern. For example, use apple, apple, apple... banana! for food, or red, red, red... blue! to practise colours.
How to Play
1. Have the children sit in a large circle. Choose one student to be Mr. Bear, who sits in the middle, pretends to be asleep, and guards his honeypot.
2. Choose one student to be the thief who slowly creeps up to steal the honey while the rest of the class chants together:
Mr Bear, Mr Bear, sleeping in your cave,
Wake up, Mr Bear!
3. On the word Wake up!, Mr. Bear jumps up and chases the thief around the outside of the circle.
4. If the thief is caught before reaching their empty space in the circle, they become Mr. Bear for the next round.
Tips for Teachers
This classic game requires plenty of space but is fantastic for building anticipation. You can use a real object (like a small box or a cup) as the honeypot to make the game even more engaging for younger learners, or use it to practise target vocabulary by changing the item Mr. Bear is guarding.
How to Play
1. One student is Mr. Wolf and stands at the front with their back to the class, while the others stand in a line at the opposite end.
2. The class calls out together: What's the time, Mr Wolf? and the wolf answers with a time (e.g., It's three o'clock!).
3. The children take that exact number of steps forward (e.g., three steps), counting aloud as they move.
4. When the players get close, Mr Wolf answers: It's dinner time! and chases them back to the start; the first child caught becomes the next wolf.
Tips for Teachers
This is an absolute classic for revising hours. To keep younger learners focused, ensure they only take steps that match the number announced by the wolf, helping them practise both counting and time vocabulary.
How to Play
1. Have the children sit in a circle and establish a steady rhythm by clapping their hands or tapping their knees.
2. The class chants the rhyme together, accusing the teacher in the first round:
Who stole the cookies from the cookie jar?
Teacher stole the cookies from the cookie jar!
3. The accused person responds in rhythm (Who? Me?), the class confirms (Yes! You!), and the accused denies it (Not me!), passing the blame to another student when the class asks Then who?!
4. Repeat the chant for each chosen student until the last player admits to the deed by changing their final line to: Yes, me! And I ate them all!
Tips for Teachers
This is a fantastic, fast-paced chant for building confidence and practicing student names. Keeping a strict, continuous clapping rhythm helps young learners focus on the natural intonation and flow of English speech.
