A selection of English ESL name game printables

This is a simple logic puzzle. The focus is on the present tense.

The Name Game

Students practice talking about themselves and try to remember things about their classmates, by throwing a ball back-and-forth.  



Description 

Everyone stands up 



Say, "My name is ~." Then throw the ball to a student. Students will also say, "My name is ~." 



Students can sit down after they say their name, but they should remember who threw them the ball AND who they threw the ball to them. 



After everyone has sat down, the last person should throw the ball back to the person they got it from, who then has to say their name again. The ball should come all the way back to the ALT. 



Next, the person throwing has to say the name of the person they're throwing to, so "This is ~~." 



Repeat this going all the way to the end and turning around just like before. 



Next, say "I am ~~ years old." Then pass the ball all the way through.  



Next, say how old the person you're throwing the ball to, so "He/She is ~~ years old." Or, "So-and-so is ~~ years old." 



Repeat all this again, but with things like, "I am from ~~." or "I like pizza/dogs/Family Mart." 



This game helps students and teachers get to know each other better and helps students remember how to say basic phrases, like "I am ~~." or He/She likes ~~." 



Variation:  



Once students know each others names a little bit, have everyone stand up again and make a new order. Person throwing must say the name of the person they're throwing to. 



Next, have students always try to throw to a new person. 



Then, while students are trying to throw to new people, have them start saying new things, like "So-and-so is ~~ years old", or "So-and-so likes ~~." 



If students forget, they have to ask someone, "I'm sorry, what was your ~~?" 



Page BreakExample Sentences: 



My name is... 



He / She is... 



Sorry, what is your name? 

 



I like ... and ... 



He / She likes ... and ... 



Sorry, what do you like? 

 



Last weekend, I ... 



Last weekend, he / she ... 



Sorry, what did you do last weekend? 

 



My favorite ... is ... 



His / Her favorite ... is ... 



Sorry, what is your favorite ... ? 



Color / Food / Animal / Singer / etc. 

Ball Name Game

This is a conversation game / roleplay for elementary to lower intermediate students. Practise simple present QUESTIONS and ANSWERS. Set of 30 CHARACTER CARDS. *** Yesterday at 10:00 pm there was a robbery in the Bank in Central Lane. The police was called immediately to investigate the crime scene and found some evidence. It had snowed yesterday there were footprints on the ground in the snow... *** Tell your students to go round the class and ask/answer questions about the personal information and take notes (What’s your name? What’s your job? Where are you from? What are your hobbies? Are you married? Do you have any children? Do you have a pet?) 6 PAGES INCLUDING TEACHER´S NOTES *** I took the pictures from Philip Martin, they are free on his website. HAVE FUN!!!

WHO IS THE BURGLAR? - 30 Conversation Cards - Roleplay - Class and Group Speaking

This is a classic Guess Who boardgame I made using characters that I generated with the WimpyKid character Generator (http://www.wimpykidclub.co.uk/wimp-yourself/)The Guess Who game is this: Students have to guess each other's mystery person before their opponent guesses theirs. They can only answer YES or NO.



You can use this worksheet in your ESL/EFL classes to practise body parts, clothes, (garments and accessories), and asking closed (Yes/No) questions in an entertaining way. Sure to get your students involved.



I recommend using this ESL printable worksheet up till pre-intermediate level, as the game is focused on asking questions and giving short answers in the Present Simple tense using the auxiliary verb 'have', and the Present Continuous tense using the verb "wear".



Sample questions are included on page 2 of this worksheet. 





Here's how to play the Guess Who game in ESL class: 



1. Pair students up and let them choose a 'mystery person' secretly. 



2. Tell them the rules: 



A) The point of the game is: who can find each other's mystery person first? 



B) Students may only ask 'YES' or ‘NO’ questions (and of course, reposnd with a 'YES' or 'NO'). 



C) If some detail is not clearly visible in the picture or is subject to interpretation, your pupils can reply: "I can't tell" or "It's not possible to tell". 



D) In each turn, students narrow down the scope of the possible mystery persons. When they feel certain enough to make a guess, they can, but if they guess wrong, they've lost.



3. Give one copy of the boardgame to every student. 



4. You're advised to hand out one transparent plastic foil with each Guess Who boardgame. Students can place the foil over the boardgame and cross out on it the characters that they have ruled out using an erasable magic marker. 



Here's how this works: for example, one student asks: "Is your person blond?" If the answer is 'Yes', then he/she crossed out all the persons that are NOT blond, leaving only the blondes eligible. If the answer is 'No', they cross out all the characters that are blond, leaving only the non-blondes up.



5. Throughout the game encourage students to respond with auxiliary verbs, not just a simple Yes or No, e.g. "Yes, he or she is/does", "No, he or she isn't/doesn't" (using the form "he or she" until the gender of the mystery character has been revealed in order to keep this info hidden). Once the gender is revealed, they can go on using the specific gender in responses, e.g. "Yes, he is", "Yes, he does", "No, he isn't", No, he doesn't". You could, however, also opt for forbidding questions about the mystery person's gender. This way you'll see longer games and more questions.

Guess Who ESL Boardgame

A boardgame to revise vocabulary within the topic of food. Students must answer questions and name pictures. Do you know the names of the basic foods? Review them with this game.

Food Boardgame For Beginners

Easy food board game. Name the food in the space you land on or answer a simple food question. There is a light blue background not shown here. The pictures are grouped. Ungroup to change. Thanks to PhillipR for the template.

Food Boardgame

This is a fun speaking activity for your pre-intermediate to advanced students. It is a detective story that engages students in conversation and will practice mainly questions and answers in simple present and simple past. **** You were invited to Mr Erringworth’s dinner party in his mansion. You will meet 9 people there, all of whom have some kind of relation with Mr Erringworth. Shortly after midnight, the host is found dead. It will be your task to interview all nine suspects and find the murderer. As the evening progresses you will get more information about the people and more details will be revealed. You will have to find the murderer’s name – his relation to Mr. Erringsworth – his motive – the used weapon – the room where the murder was committed and any additional information that are necessary to solve the case. **** 7 PAGES INCLUDING TEACHER´S NOTES *** Hope you like it. Please contact me with problems of any kind.

Murderous Dinner Party - ROLEPLAY - Conversation Cards - 7 Pages

You can play this game in different ways. 1.	Easy version: Players only have to say the name of the animal. e.g. ItÂs a cow. 2.	More difficult version: Players say the name of the animal and one or more things they know about it. e.g. ItÂs a cow. It gives milk. It eats grass. 3.	Spelling version: Players have to spell the name of the animal correctly (and say something about it) 4.	Writing version: Players write the name of the animal and one or more sentences about it. 5.	Question version: Players ask and answer questions about the animal. You can of course invent five dozen more ways to play it. Have fun!

Board Game - The Animal Kingdom

Read the descriptions. Guess the fruit or vegetable. Pictures are the hints. Practice the name of common fruits and vegetables. Discuss their colors and shapes and how we cook them. Again Thanks to PhilipR for the inspiration.

 Fruit & Vegetable Riddles + KEY 

The series board games should be a funny, playful way to practice vocabulary and grammar orally. The instructions for the teachers are included.

If you like this game, you can find more board games here:

https://en.islcollective.com/mypage/my-creations?search_key=Board+games&type=printables&option=published&id=5163&grammar=&vocabulary=&materials=&levels=&studentTypes=&skills=&languageExams=&dialect=&functions=&page=1&sorting_type=most_newest&filter_type=filter_all&view_type=list&view_length=12



Board game - name 3 things

A board game testing students' knowledge on sports. It is always nice to end a topic with some fun. Can your students name the sports? What do they know about each sport?

Sports Board Game

A boardgame to practise the names of animals. Depending on the level sts can only say the names of animals of make sentences. B&W version included. Have fun!

Animals - boardgame

Culture, intercultural communication, cross-cultural communication

Adjectives to describe feelings, emotions

Adjectives to describe personality and character

Adjectives: Gradable / Non-gradable adjectives

Articles: Definite or indefinite article (a, an or the)

BE + infinitive structures (e.g. he was to become famous)

Clauses of contrast (e.g.  although, while)

Clauses of purpose (e.g. in order to, so that, so as to)

Clauses of reason (e.g. because, because of, due to, as, since)

Cleft sentences (e.g. It's Joey we're looking for)

Comparison: Comparative adjectives and structures

Comparison: Superlative adjectives and structures

Conditional 2 (second conditional) - would

Conditionals: Conditional phrases (e.g. unless, provided that, as long as)

Conjunctions (aka connectives, e.g. and, but, or, so, then)

Contractions (shortened forms, e.g. don't, aren't, etc.)

Determiners (words that can come before nouns)

Formal and informal English (politeness or colloquial language)

Future perfect continuous (progressive) tense

Future perfect simple and continuous (progressive) tense

Future phrases (e.g. be about to, bound to, likely to, due to, set to + INF)

Homonyms (two words with the same pronunciation - homophones and homographs)

It as preparatory subject (e.g. it's raining, it's nice of you to)

Linking verbs (aka copulas, e.g. I am a student)

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how to accuse somebody of something in English

how to apologize, say sorry, forgive and express regret in English

how to ask for information and make inquiries in English

how to ask for something, make requests in English

how to blame somebody for something in English

how to defend yourself from criticism in English

how to deny or admit something in English

how to describe things or people in English

how to emphasize important things in English

how to encourage or discourage people in English

how to evaluate people or progress in English

how to express agreement /disagreement in English

how to express approval and disapproval  in English

how to express cause and effect in English

how to express interest in something in English

how to express likelihood, probability in English

how to express likes and dislikes in English

how to express sequence and chronology in English

how to express shock and disbelief in English

how to express sympathy and condolences in English

how to give permission, authorization in English

how to inform somebody about some news in English

how to interpret what was said in English

how to keep a conversation going in English

how to make guesses about something in English

how to make, accept and refuse offers in English

how to order or make a booking in English

how to persuade, convince people in English

how to praise people and express appreciation in English

how to reassure somebody of something in English

how to refuse and object to something in English

how to remind people of something in English

how to rephrase, paraphrase what was said in English

how to say thank you, express gratitude in English

Nouns: Collective nouns (team, class, family, committee)

Nouns: Proper nouns (names of people, cities, companies)

Oxymorons (phrases with words of contradictory meaning, e.g. living dead)

Participles: Past participle (e.g. HAVING DONE)

Participles: Present participle (e.g. DOING)

Parts of Speech (aka word classes, e.g. nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs)

Past perfect continuous (progressive) tense

Phonetics (pronunciation, IPA, phonetic symbols)

Plural nouns: regular plurals with S ending

Prefixes (e.g. A, UN, IM, DIS, MIS, EN, etc. )

Prepositions vs adverbs (e.g. before me, saw him before.)

Prepositions: Double prepositions (e.g. out of)

Prepositions: Participle prepositions (e.g. pending, concerning)

Prepositions: Phrase prepositions (e.g. by means of)

Present perfect continuous (progressive) tense

Present perfect simple or present continuous tense

Present simple tense: S for third person singular verbs

Present simple vs continuous (progressive) tense

Pronouns: EACH OTHER, ONE ANOTHER (reciprocal pronouns)

Pronouns: Possessive pronouns (e.g. my, mine)

Pronouns: Reflexive pronouns (e.g. myself, yourself))

Pronouns: SOMEBODY, ANYBODY, EVERYBODY, NO ONE, NOTHING, etc.

Pronouns: THIS, THAT, THESE, THOSE (demonstratives)

Pronouns: YOU and THEY to talk about people in general

Quantifiers (e.g. some, many, much, any, few, little)

Questions: WH questions (open-ended questions)

Reported speech: reported questions (indirect questions)

There is / there are / there was / there were / there will be, etc.

Verbs: Transitive or intransitive verbs (words that can or cannot stand with objects)

Working with Paragraphs: ordering, titling

Role play, miming, drama activity or improv game

Pictionary (picture dictionary) or picture matching

Writing an opinion essay (persuasive essay)

Learners who are Pre-A1 have just begun learning English and will first learn how to:<ul><li>Say the letters in the alphabet and numbers</li><li>Say hello, talk about names and age</li><li>Name the colors and dates, express likes and dislikes</li></ul>

Absolute beginners who have begun to learn the letters and numbers

Learners taking the A1 Elementary exam should be able to:<ul><li>Introduce themselves and ask and answer questions about personal details such as where he/she lives, things he/she has, people he/she knows.</li><li>Communicate using very basic phrases as long as the other person talks slowly and clearly and is prepared to help.</li><li>Main grammar points to know: common adjectives & adverbs of frequency, going to, how much/how many, imperatives, I'd like, 's – possessive, common prepositions of place and time, present simple & continuous, there is/are</li></ul>

A very basic tourist level, which is enough for buying food and a bus ticket

Learners taking the A2 Pre-intermediate exam should be able to:<ul><li>Understand sentences and frequently used expressions (e.g. very basic personal and family information, shopping, local geography, employment).</li><li>Complete tasks that are routine and exchange information about familiar matters.</li><li>Describe matters of immediate need in simple terms.</li><li>Main grammar points to know: countable/uncountable nouns, adverbs of frequency, future will/going to, much/many, present perfect, past simple, past continuous, common phrasal verbs, common modals: can/should</li></ul>

A tourist who can do basic conversations about the past, present and future

Learners taking the B1 Intermediate exam should be able to:<ul><li>Understand points regarding family, work, school or leisure-related topics.</li><li>Deal with most travel situations in areas where the language is spoken.</li><li>Create simple texts on topics of personal interest.</li><li>Describe experiences, events, dreams, and ambitions, as well as opinions or plans in brief.</li><li>Main grammar points to know: question tags, intensifiers: too/enough, future tenses, past tenses, modals, conditionals, wh-questions in the past</li></ul>

Learners who can deal with both familiar and routine situations, in friendly and work contexts

Learners taking the B2 Upper-intermediate exam should be able to:<ul><li>Understand the main ideas of complex text on both concrete and abstract topics, including technical discussions in his/her field of specialization.</li><li>Interact with fluency and spontaneity that makes regular interaction with native speakers quite possible without difficulty for either party.</li><li>Produce clear, detailed text on a wide range of subjects and explain an opinion on a topical issue giving the advantages and disadvantages of various options.</li><li>Main grammar points to know: perfect tenses, mixed conditionals, modals in the present, phrasal verbs, reported speech, wish, relative clauses</li></ul>

The level where you can be a tour guide for your foreign friends and talk about a lot of topics, even abstract ones, with ease and fluency

Learners taking the C1 Advanced exam should be able to: Express ideas fluently and spontaneously without much obvious searching for expressions. Use language flexibly and effectively for social, academic and professional purposes. Understand a wide range of demanding, longer texts. Produce clear, well-structured, detailed text on complex subjects, using linking phrases (=words that connect ideas between sentences). Main grammar points to know: inversion, mixed conditionals, modals in the past, all passive forms, phrasal verbs (all patterns), wish/if only for regrets

Learners who can smoothly communicate in every walk of life, read long texts and write well

Learners taking the C2 Proficient exam should be able to:<ul><li>Understand almost everything read or heard with ease.</li><li>Summarize information from a variety of sources into a coherent presentation.</li><li>Express themselves using precise meaning in complex scenarios.</li><li>Can express him/herself spontaneously, very fluently and precisely, differentiating finer shades of meaning even in the most complex situations</li></ul>

Get here and you are ready to study in English at university

395 Name game English ESL worksheets pdf & doc