Are you looking for new and exciting ESL grammar activities to engage your students? If so, you’re in the right place. It’s essential to involve English language learners in a variety of activities. By allowing children to explore different scenarios and play fun games, they’ll put their English grammar skills into practice. Learners benefit from communicative activities based on real-world experiences. The more we can make core grammar concepts relatable, the more engaged students will be.
1. Blackboard Race
Blackboard race is one of the activity ideas that involve the whole class. First, split the class into teams. Have them come up with a team name to level up the competition. Use a theme such as “nouns” or “adjectives” and see which team can come up with appropriate words the fastest.
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2. Shootin’ Hoops
You don’t need a basketball court to play this game. You can use a hula hoop or basket and any ball. Students will earn points by correctly answering grammar questions and shooting the ball into the hoop.
Learn More: FluentU
3. Green Glass Door Game
The teacher will come up with a secret rule that allows words to enter the green glass door. For example, a student may guess the word “cat”. If the secret rule is nouns, then a cat is allowed to enter. Students will guess words to figure out the secret rule.
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4. Crazy Categories
Students will race to come up with a list of items that align with each category that begins with a specific letter. You can edit the file to customize the content for repetitive use.
Learn More: Teachers Pay Teachers
5. Noun Game
Students will take turns rolling dice to move about the game board. When a student lands on a picture, they will say what it is and whether it’s a person, place, object, or animal. This is an awesome activity for small groups or learning centers.
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6. Crown Jewels Escape Room
Escape games are scenario-based activities. These activities prompt students to solve a set of problems to accomplish a goal. For this game, students will solve word puzzles and practice grammar and vocabulary while doing so.
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7. Preposition Bingo
Students will each have a bingo board to mark off prepositions. You can provide sentences that have a missing preposition for students to add the correct one or call them out one by one. The first person to have a full row wins!
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8. Synonym Puzzles
Synonym puzzles are a great way to have students practice matching words with the same meaning. It’s recommended to glue a magnet on the back of each piece and use it with a cookie sheet.
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9. Punctuation Flash Cards
Punctuation flashcards are a great resource for learners to practice punctuation. You can have students work in pairs to quiz one another. I would recommend printing a set for each student to practice independently.
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10. S’more Sentences
Students will build their own s’more sentence. They will start with a capital letter graham cracker and then add a chocolate noun and a marshmallow verb. Then, they will end with a punctuation graham cracker.
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11. End Sound Rhyming Game
English grammar games such as this are perfect for activity centers. Students can work in small groups of 3 or 4 players. They will use a spinner to navigate the picture-based game board. They will spin a word ending sound and then find the matching picture.
Learn More: 123 Homeschool 4 Me
12. Pronouns and Antecedent Interactive Video
Understanding pronouns and antecedents can be tricky for students. This video is both entertaining and educational. The video can be paused periodically to check for understanding.
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13. English Vocabulary Auction
For this activity, students will work in teams. Each team will receive the same amount of play money. The teacher will act as an auctioneer and students will purchase words that they will use to form complete sentences.
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14. Funny Flips
Funny flips is an engaging grammar game. A template is provided for easy preparation. Students will come up with a word for each part of speech to produce a silly sentence that truly makes learning fun.
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15. Grammar Simon Says
This fun activity gets students moving. The leader will demonstrate a specific movement for each part of the speech. For example, if the leader calls out a noun, students will jump. The goal is for students to complete the correct moves as words are called.
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16. Grammar Truth or Dare
Students will complete grammar challenges that are fun and silly. You can personalize the truth or dare playing cards to fit the interests of your students. This resource includes directions and guidance on keeping score.
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17. Spot the Mistakes
Can your students spot all the grammar mistakes in this fun grammar game? Exposing students to English sentences that are incorrect can help them identify common mistakes and avoid making them.
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18. Parts of Speech Sorting Activity
Students will sort nouns, verbs, adjectives, prepositions, and conjunctions. Pair them up and prompt them to be the first group to correctly sort all their words.
Learn More: Teachers Pay Teachers
23 Creative Activities To Use A Cardboard Box 