More games in the classroom

The importance of playing in the classroom

The reason why incorporating games in our daily lessons is so important is because during games the control of learning is transfered from the teacher to the students. The protagonist is the student as his or her unique way of learning is the one that is developed.Another reason is that playing and exploration trigger the secretion of brain-derived neurotrophic factor, a substance that is essential for the growth of cells.What's more, imagination and social play support the development of attention, self control and cooperative learning skills.
In a previous post I mention some of the games I use in my classroom. Today, I'd like to share with you more games that can be beneficial to your students' learning and at the same time you can have a lot of fun! 
1. Line up according to....The game involves groups of students lining up in order, depending on the criteria you choose, whether it's their birthday, height or any number of other options. Explain that they must line up in order using only English to communicate with each other, teams caught cheating will be disqualified from that round. When a team finishes, the person at the front of the line puts their hand up and you walk down the line checking that they are  in the right order.Examples of the teacher's instructions: Line up according to.... your age,  the day they were born, the time you woke up this morning, the  number of brothers and sisters, the number of pets, etc.
2. Car Race: Arrange flash cards in a long line with a starting and a finishing point. The first student throws the dice and moves his/her counter. The student must say the word on the flashcard he/she lands on. If the student makes a mistake, he/she goes back to the his/her previuos place. 
3. Charades: the class can be divided into any number of teams depending on the amount of students the teacher has. The teacher whispers a word to the students who are going to mime the word for their teams. The team who first guesses the word is the winner.
4. Do what I say: The teacher  gives commands to the class to revise vocabulary. For instance....touch something blue....or touch your head, sit down, stand up....This typical TPR activity is a great excercise to charge batteries and get students in the right mood.
5. Musical Chairs: Line up the chairs and place a flashcard on each one. Play some music and have the students walk, hop, jump around the chairs. When the music stops, the students should sit down on a chair and shout out their flash cards. You can also remove a chair and make the student without a chair sit out until the next round. 

6. Get the word now!: Divide students into groups. Assign to each member of the group a number. Place in the middle of the classroom flashcards with the linguistic items you want to revise. The teacher says a number and one of the words in the flashcards. The students with the number assigned by the teacher are the ones who are going to run to the flashcards and get the one the teacher said. The first one to get it gets a point for his/her team.