Taboo is an exciting English-speaking game that kids can participate in at school or home to improve their vocabulary, communication skills, and ability to think deeply. The game’s main objective is for a player to get their teammates to guess a target word without using any of the taboo words. Most times, the game is played with taboo game cards. Below are a few of my favorite taboo activities to engage ESL learners and broaden their vocabulary!
1. Names of Family Members
Teachers can divide their classes into groups for this family version of the game. Family names may be printed on a card as the target word, along with additional words (taboo words) that can easily describe it. For a target word like Father, words like male, husband, and breadwinner can be taboo words.
Learn More: Quizlet
2. Animal Activity
The animal category is broad in that there are many animals to choose from as target words. You may find that kids particularly love playing with this category because of their love for pets. Instructors can make the activity more engaging by involving the kids in the choice of target words.
Learn More: Teachers Pay Teachers
3. Food and Drinks
Kids love tasty snacks and are more likely to be familiar with terms and words that they can easily use to describe what they want. Playing within this category is a great way to introduce kids to the taboo game. Kids can participate by providing names of their favorite meals as choices for target words.
Learn More: Quizlet
4. Nature Activity
A good subject of fascination for many kids is nature! Although the nature taboo activity is not recommended for younger kids, it’s still an exciting activity they can participate in with pictures.
Learn More: ESL Printables
5. Means of Transport
In this taboo activity, different types of vehicles can be listed as target words. Instructors can choose to be more specific with the mode of transport and only focus on air or water transportation, for example. However, if dealing with younger kids, land transport is a better starting point as they’ll most likely be familiar with it.
Learn More: ESL Printables
6. Shape Activity
Shapes may seem a little basic to be a taboo activity, but this is one subject that children know well enough to actively participate in! Instructors can use this activity to expose kids to more shapes.
Learn More: Yumpu
7. Christmas Activity
Christmas is one yearly holiday that kids of all ages love and are familiar with. The feeling of Winter, the sights of snowmen, popular tales, and songs leave kids with a full vocabulary of Christmas words to use during this taboo activity.
Learn More: EFL Ideas
8. Business Activity
This taboo activity is an excellent game for older kids who can reason through more complex concepts. Through it, they get to boost their business vocabulary by trying to guess business-related words.
Learn More: Business English Resources
9. People Activity
The people’s taboo activity is one of the easier categories for many kids to participate in. Kids interact with people every day, and people-related words should, therefore, not be difficult for them to guess.
Learn More: Teachers Pay Teachers
10. School Activity
Many students have attended school for most of their lives and are familiar with school-related words that are needed to play the game. Examples of target words for this activity are teacher, principal, and gym class.
Learn More: Etsy
11. Church Activity
Although not all students have Christian religious beliefs, most know what a Church is and possibly know some related words. Words like a book, read, verse, and chapter, are good taboo words to use if your target word is Bible.
Learn More: FHE Lessons
12. Parts of the House
Most students tend to spend about one-third of their daily lives in different parts of their houses. Target words like toilet, kitchen, and garage are fun words for kids to guess in this activity. The activity can also their minds to understand the certain functions carried out by the different parts of the house.
Learn More: Word Wall
13. Electricity Activity
Electricity is a familiar phenomenon to many advanced students. This taboo activity can be used as a lesson closure for a closely-related tech course.
Learn More: Teach Simple
14. Earth and Space
Humans are still as fascinated by space today as when we first discovered it. Students of all ages, at different levels of complexity, know a few things about space and may find this Earth and space taboo activity a great opportunity to learn more about them.
Learn More: Study Lib
15. Science Activity
This science taboo activity can be a great way to explore some scientific concepts. It can also aid students’ knowledge of scientific terminologies. Bearing in mind that science is a broad field that cuts across various age classes, the choice of target words for this taboo activity is infinite!
Learn More: Nclark
16. Beach Activity
Beaches are fun places where most students go for family events and hangouts with their friends. The beach taboo activity is an excellent party game to play when at these events, or elsewhere with parents and teachers.
Learn More: Word Wall
17. Halloween Activity
Popular phrases like, “trick or treat” or words like happy, orange, and pumpkin, are good taboo words for this activity. This taboo activity can help students recall the thrill and euphoria of the Halloween season!
Learn More: Created Through Inspiration
18. Math Vocabulary
Math can be quite tough for some students to grasp, but this taboo activity is a fantastic way to add some excitement to math classes. If saved for last, students will always have something to look forward to at the end of the lesson.
Learn More: 6th Grade Marks The Spot
19. Summertime Activity
Most kids look forward to the Summer when they can participate in fun outdoor activities, but the fun doesn’t have to stop outside! It can continue indoors and all year round with the Summertime taboo activity. Students can contribute to the target word list by each giving a word that best qualifies for the ultimate Summer experience.
Learn More: TES
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