Students of all ages benefit from frequent, varied practice using oral language. Rather than the drills of yesterday, elementary students learn more readily from integrated, relevant conversations with their peers and close adults. Luckily, speaking and listening are one of the easiest things to incorporate into daily play! From tongue twisters to storytelling tools, to board games, providing multiple opportunities for kids to converse will improve their overall language learning. Now, let’s get them talking!
1. Public speaking
This game is so much fun and can be used to teach public speaking or speaking in a foreign language. Show the students a silly picture and get them to describe it in pairs or in front of a larger crowd. It’s quite funny hearing the descriptions from the children and the things they come up with!
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2. Who Am I?
This is a classic guessing game that teaches communication skills and helps children learn how to ask the right questions. It has been played at many parties and classroom events and it’s always a big hit. Am I an animal? Am I someone from the past? Am I a food item? Kids have to think fast to solve the answer.
Learn More: ESL Kids Game
3. Pictures and Conversation Cards
These are beautiful cards that are designed to help kids start a conversation and keep it going. You can get some good ideas and create your own to fit your unit or lesson plans. They can be used over and over again and are adaptable for a variety of ages. Great for circle time and winding down time.
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4. Crazy Silly Dialogues
Can you imagine a baby talking to a rat? What about a monster having a coffee with a math teacher? Even crazier is a hamburger talking to a french fry. These are all conversations that children can create with the right images. Give them the pictures and a few guidelines and let their imagination go wild.
Learn More: Twinkl
5. Fill in the Gap
There are some amazing resources out there to get kids to speak! One surefire way to get kids talking is missing gap information activities. Your kiddos will love asking each other questions and then fill in the gap with their partner’s answers. Let your learners use this worksheet as a guide for their conversations and sit back as they chat away!
Learn More: ESL Printables
6. Draw and Speak
Get out your crayons and grab a partner. Now it’s time to draw and describe. Draw any picture that comes to mind and then describe it to your partner. You can switch it up and set a theme. This activity is communicative, artsy, and great for learning spatial skills.
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7. Story Construction
Telling stories in small groups can be really amusing. It helps with speaking and communication skills. There is no right or wrong answer, so the children can feel free to invent anything they want. One student just starts it off any way they want before the person next to them continues.
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8. Interview a Partner
Kids love to interview others and ask questions. They just need some guidance and help with inventing the questions. This role-play activity can be acted out in small groups and children can practice and think of their answers ahead of time. These basic interview questions are good for learning social skills and finding common ground. Great for advanced students who can come up with their own questions.
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9. Let’s Go To The Supermarket
Kids will love acting out these role-play activities and pretending that they are going to the supermarket. They include short dialogues for reading, listening, and speaking practice. This activity provides a good opportunity to implement and practice math skills whilst learning new vocabulary.
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10. Elbow to Elbow
This is a take on the classic game “Find someone who….”. Children have to listen to the instructions and follow suit. Examples include “elbow to elbow” with someone who has the same birthday month as you, or “elbow to elbow” with someone who plays soccer. This is a fun and fast-paced game that helps them learn about their classmates.
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11. Decipher The Lie
We have to teach children that it is not good to lie but this is a game, where students have to think about facts about themselves that not many people know. Have them write down the 3 facts on a piece of paper and another student will read them out. Ensure that 2 facts are true and 1 is a lie and have the class decipher which is which.
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12. The “Yes” Game
This game entails that the students will say “Yes” to everything. The students come up with basic questions, such as; Are you a teacher? Are you a good football player? Do you eat snails? The other answer must be YES.
Learn More: TEFL
13. Sentence Hangman
Sentence Hangman is so much fun and can be played in small or large groups. Students have to come up with their sentences and you can even base them on the vocabulary unit you are studying that month. Try to have them incorporate new vocabulary, and check the spelling as they go.
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14. Speech Detective
These activities have been created and tested by a speech pathologist. Kids can be detectives and read the clues in the investigation stories with comprehension questions to ask and answer.
Learn More: Speech Is Beautiful
15. Taboo
Taboo is usually a game played by older kids in middle school. A few students are chosen to guess the word. They will stand with their backs to the board and listen to the clues given to them by other students.
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16. Comic Book Chaos
Get your kids chatting by playing comic book chaos! Give each child a part of a comic strip and challenge them to describe it to their classmates as well as they can. Have your kids move quickly trying to find the person with the comic strip that matches theirs. They’ll love the excitement this game brings as it’s fast-paced and it incorporates reading and speaking. Copy and cut up some popular comic books or you could have a go at creating your own!
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17. Trapped on a Desert Island
Kids love drama, action, and excitement. What would it be like to be trapped on a desert island? How would you live? What kind of things would you build, make or need to survive? Kids can contemplate these questions before sharing their island ideas with the class.
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18. Never have I…
This is a classic game we all know, but this time around it’s for the kiddies. Have children brainstorm some ideas, like “Never have I played a musical instrument” and all the children who agree with that statement would need to raise their hand.
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19. Twenty Questions
This website is jam-packed with ideas and resources to play the classic 20 questions game. Children have to work together as a team and come up with 20 questions to ask one another.
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20. Agree or Disagree?
Have the kids create some “agree and disagree” cards along with “I am not sure” cards. Once you have all the materials needed, children listen to the affirmative sentences read out by another person. Afterward, they could come up with their own list of topics for learners to agree on and disagree with.
Learn More: Teachers Pay Teachers
21. Oral Worksheet
Kids love listening to stories but what about, if this time, we read them a classic simple story and follow it up with an oral worksheet? Students will have to narrate their own stories orally in small groups or in front of the whole class.
Learn More: Teach Simple
22. Think Before You Speak
Kids have a tendency to blurt out whatever comes to mind- often without having thought it through first. This activity reminds learners to reflect on if what they are going to say is helpful or hurtful and to try their best to always be kind!
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23. Chic Chat Jar
Have a plastic jar in class to pass around each day. Have kids take a piece of paper which will provide them with a prompt to get talking. Give the class 5-10 minutes to discuss their prompts in small groups.
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24. Name 10
Some kids feel shy or insecure to join in part of a conversation. This game called Name 5 or Name 10 focuses on listing words quickly and although it might not seem like a conversation, it is the first step to getting students to feel at ease with public speaking.
Learn More: Name Ten
25. My Name is Sally and I Like Spaghetti
In the past we played “The Witch’s Cat” but this is a twist on the game. Go around the class in alphabetical order and have the student say what they like. For example, ” My name is Bobby and I like beans.”
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26. I Spy
This game is great for teaching children how to be observant and to learn how to describe things in a difficult way. Many people don’t think much about this game but it really can help children develop their communication skills.
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27. Fact or Fiction
I love playing this game after every unit as a revision. If you are studying science kids could state ” There are 8 planets” and the remainder of the learners have to state whether it’s fact or fiction. Encourage them to be creative when inventing their questions!
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28. Board Game Time
Who doesn’t love board games? Board games are a great way to relax your kiddos and get them talking! Even the shyest members of your class will come out of their shell as they focus on the game and leave there inhibitions behind! This resource is also great for ESL learners!
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29. Speaking Activities from Linkedin
Linkedin has some game ideas whether you are at home or on the road. Play the “woot” game. Choose simple words that are commonly used such as “It’s, and, or but”. Every time learners are supposed to say that word, they should say “woot” instead. This game is fantastic for working on word recognition.
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30. Play Hopscotch
We all remember playing hopscotch and having a laugh. This time we have incorporated hopscotch into a grammar revision exercise! Sounds a bit crazy, but the kids love it and they really enjoy jumping around whilst they revise.
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31. Tongue Twisters
Get those mouth muscles warmed up with traditional tongue twisters! Students can repeat alliterative phrases in a million silly ways. Invite students to write and share their own as a follow-up activity!
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32. Blank Comics
Comics with blank speech bubbles are great for getting students to infer, predict, and practice the rules of conversation. These provide a chance to practice what children would say before they run into scenarios in reality. Students can read them aloud for even more practice!
Learn More: Allison Fors
33. Describe It!
Using these great visuals as a guide, have students see how many senses they can use to describe an object! Integrating the five senses into vocabulary studies will help your students to more readily internalize the meaning of unfamiliar words.
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34. Giving the Weather Report
Integrate speaking and presentation skills into a weather unit and have children pretend to be meteorologists. Children will have the opportunity to practice related vocabulary and apply it to speak to a realistic scenario. Being able to talk about the weather will always come in handy in the conversation!
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35. Conversation Station
An oral language center you can adapt to any topic! Set up props, photos, books, or artifacts at a table to inspire conversation! Set a timer and have students practice both the skills of speaking and listening with a peer.
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36. Spin & Speak
This printable spinner will give your students the chance to share their important opinions! Sentence frames give even the most timid talkers a place to begin. This activity is great for helping your children to form connections as they discover all the things they have in common!
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37. The Storytelling Jar
A storytelling jar is a wonderful tool to fill those lulls in the day or to find a moment to connect with one another in a joyful way! Simply print or write your own story prompts, choose one from the jar, and let children’s imaginations do the rest!
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38. Hot Potato
The classic game of hot potato has endless variations for encouraging students to practice their English language skills. Whoever ends up with the potato might have to define a vocabulary term, give directions, share an idea, or answer a question. You can even let the kids define the rules!
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39. Storytelling Baskets
Storytelling baskets are full of materials that children can use to retell or create their own stories. This can be used as a whole-class activity or completed with conversation partners as a center. This activity will quickly become a favorite for your little ones especially!
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40. Story Stones
Similar to the storytelling basket, story stones are a fun activity for students that encourages them to create a narrative that they share aloud with classmates. As you create stones, you can target images towards retelling a particular fairytale, or provide a random assortment of characters and “props.”
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41. Paper Bag Puppets
Creating paper bag puppets and putting on a puppet show is a great way to get your students talking as they play! Students will have to prepare scripts and engage in reciprocal conversation as they perform. Talking via a puppet can also reduce students’ anxiety about public speaking!
Learn More: Kids Activities
42. Name Your Fave
Have your students grab a die and play this conversational board game together! This activity is perfect for the beginning of the year as students are getting to know each other. For an additional challenge, have advanced learners generate a new list of topics to fill a game board!
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43. Guessing Games
Guessing games are perfect for practicing using adjectives to describe objects and for looking for shades of meaning across vocabulary terms. This fun activity for children is easily adapted to any topic or theme of study!
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44. Flyswatter
This fun review game can help your children to practice vocabulary terms, parts of speech, verb tenses, or pretty much any language skill! Write terms on the board and allow teams to go head-to-head as they select the correct word by slapping it with their flyswatter!
Learn More: ESL Activities
45. Go Fishing
Use this printable as a classroom icebreaker for your students! Children will go “fishing” for a question to answer with a friend. Once children accomplish this list of questions, challenge intermediate students to create a new set of topics!
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46. Who? What? Where?
This silly game for kids can easily become a part of your daily activities! Have your students choose one card from each of the three stacks: who, what, and where? Then, they will draw a picture depicting their selections. Their fellow students will have to guess what is happening!
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47. Chatterpix Kids
This versatile app provides students with open-ended opportunities to create! They simply take a photo of something, draw a mouth and add accessories to the picture, then record up to 30 seconds of audio. Chatterpix is perfect as an alternative form of assessment!
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48. Do Ink Green Screen
The Do Ink Green Screen app brings presentations to life! Children can record themselves reporting the weather at a meteorology studio, presenting on a planet from its surface, or sharing about a country from its capital! Do Ink can turn the physical classroom into any location!
Learn More: Do Ink
49. Silent Clips
Play scenes from familiar shows and movies for your students, but with no sound. Students can discuss what they saw, predict what might happen next, or create silly new conversations to take the place of the original. Silent clips are also great for practice with reading non-verbal cues.
Learn More: The Speech Bubble SLP
50. Board Games
A simple, low-prep class activity for beginners up to your most advanced students! Classic board games provide myriad opportunities to talk about strategy, rules, and negotiations. Some games, like Guess Who? and Pictionary, even require students to use describing words as part of the gameplay!
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51. Barrier Games
This fun matching game is great for even beginner students! Two children will sit opposite each other with matching backgrounds and a barrier between them. One student will place items on their picture, then give directions to their partner to make theirs match!
Learn More: Allison Fors
52. Simon Says
To target action verbs, teach students how to play Simon Says! “Simon” will have to use action words to give directions, which others will mimic with movement. This simple, multi-sensory activity will help students to integrate meanings for these terms, all while playing a fun game together!
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53. “I Spy” Mats
Adapt the childhood game of “I Spy” to focus on more specific themes using picture mats! This activity is great for helping young learners and ESL students to develop vocabulary and descriptive language skills. Get printable for easy lesson preparation or make your own!
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54. Painter’s Tape Cover-Up
Cover up a puzzle or laminated picture with painter’s tape to elicit learning in this silly activity! Students will have to explicitly tell you how to remove the pieces of tape, which encourages specificity of language, use of vocabulary terms, and problem-solving.
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55. Visual Recipe Cards
Get cooking together with visual recipes! Encourage children to “read” the ingredients and directions using visual supports. Cooking activities help students with sequencing, transition words, and all-around confidence!
Learn More: Live Love Speech
56. All About Me Board Game
Get students chatting with one another in this no-prep/low-prep ESL speaking activity! Your students will roll a die, move to a space, and complete a sentence stem to share about themselves with a peer. This quick and easy activity can be done again and again as an opener!
Learn More: ITTT
57. Would You Rather?
Children will share their opinions on tricky topics during “Would You Rather?” From answering basic questions about likes and dislikes to higher-level questions about complex scenarios, children will learn so much about each other from this discussion activity!
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58. Role Play
As an activity for advanced learners, students can consider how they would handle a given scenario. For instance, prompts might ask students to practice asking for a refund, communicating about a medical issue, or purchasing a meal somewhere.
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