EFL/ESL Alphabet Games

10-25 minutes 41820 Make alphabet shapes on the floor in groups

• Have larger teams spell words as they become more advanced

1. Clear lots of room on the floor
2. Divide class into teams of 3 students
3. After you say a letter kids must lie down on the floor and make the shape of the letter using their bodies
4. The first correct team to finish wins

5-15 Minutes

Groups of 2-3

Learn the alphabet by arranging alphabet cards in order

• Use lower case and upper case card sets
• Give each team a stop watch to time themselves
  • Instead of playing against other teams they can try and beat their own time
• Have them arrange the alphabet backwards

1. Prepare sets of small cards with one letter on each card
2. Divide the class into groups of 2 or 3 (equal ability is desirable)
3. Give each group 2 sets of cards (10 groups = 20 sets of cards)
4. Have the groups scatter their cards face down on the floor or tables put together
5. Students turn over one card at a time to find consecutive letters starting with ‘A’
6. Have them arrange the cards in any way they like, such as spirals or other patters
7. If they turn over the wrong card they put it back face down and select another
8. The first team to arrange all the letters first wins

10-15 Minutes Groups of 2-3 Practice spelling and review/preview vocabulary

• Use lower case cards
• Use upper case cards
• Include punctuation marks and have more advanced students make sentences

1. Prepare sets of alphabet cards with one letter on each card
2. Prepare a list of vocabulary words from class
3. Divide the class into groups of 2 or 3 of roughly equal ability if possible
4. Give each group 2 sets of cards (10 groups = 20 sets of cards)
5. Have students scatter the cards face down in front of them
6. Tell the students a word to spell and write it on the board if necessary
7. Students look for letters to spell the word in order
8. After spelling it correctly, students raise their hand
9. Check their spelling and if its correct, give them the next one