A selection of English ESL board game printables

Board game - group or pair work

Pupils have to throw a dice, read and answer the questions. 

Question words

Write all the numbers on the board and divide students into a number of teams. They take turns to pick a number and receive a question. If they can answer the question the number is erased from the board. The team to erase the last number is the winner!

Erase Erase Erase!

Many of my students forget that adjectives ending in ~ed can only be used to describe an emotion and those ending in ~ing describe how a person or thing is.  This game gives practice asking and answering questions with these adjectives.

ED and ING Adjectives

It's a boardgame about the environment issue, you can use it as part of your lesson plan or just for fun, hope you like it!

Environment boardgame

It´s a game in which the task of the students is to ask at least 3 question about given topic. If, for instance, a student lands on a card - a ghost, he/she must ask their partners questions concerning this topic e.g., ´Have you ever seen a ghost? When did you see it? what did you do?' etc. If they can´t make such questions, they must go back 6 spaces.

Present Perfect - a boardgame

This is PART 2 of a typical snakes and ladders boardgame with vocabulary about daily routine, household chores and free time activities.

Students have to make a sentence with the vocabulary on the square they land on. I'm uploading the board in parts because of the size of the file. But you have to join the 4 boards and laminate altogether to form only one board.

If you want to make the game more challenging you will also find:

- a subject pronoun dice. Students have to make a sentence not only with the vocabulary provided but also with the pronoun they get.

- A dice that tells them whether they have to make an affirmative sentence, negative, yes/no question or information question.

I hope you find it useful to practise Simple Present Grammar and Daily Routine vocabulary.



DAILY ROUTINE SNAKES AND LADDERS PART 2

A gameboard to practise "obligation", "prohibition" and safety signs.

Safety signs gameboard

This boardgame is aimed for students studying conditional sentences. It's easily adaptable and can be used to practice any of the conditionals. The idea is that the students play in pairs or groups and they have to form a conditional sentence. E.g. "You can have any animal as a pet" -> "If I could have any animal as a pet, I would have a chimpanzee". The teacher can also tell them to form the sentences in the past (If I could have had any animal as a pet when I was a kid...). 





Obviously the board can be used to practice other things as well, such as verb tenses or vocabulary (e.g. "You can travel to any country" -> pairs list countries and choose the one they'd travel to) or the sentences can even be used as as conversation topics. 

Boardgame with Conditionals

a boardgame in which students have to make questions to given answers, tell the time or translate a word chosen by a teacher (I usually use an envelope with cut-out words and let my students draw one piece of paper)

Boardgame - activities and hours

I use these bingo cards with my young learners. I laminate the cards and use whiteboard markers to be able to use them over and over again. First I call out the names to make it easier for them, e.g.: Jasmine and Aladdin are flying.

Then to make it more difficult, I’ll just say: They are flying., She is running., etc.

You can play it as regular bingo or ask them to mark any 5 squares and they win when all 5 have been called out by the teacher.

If you need more cards, I can send you the original file in excel format, which you will be able to edit.



BINGO for young learners - present continuous with Disney

This boardgame is useful for students at intemediate level. With the help of the questions students can revise or practise Christmas-related vocabulary and improve their speaking skills.

Christmas Boardgame

I've made these as a game to practice some of the most used comparatives (cheaper, more difficult, larger, more expensive etc.). You may play however you like. I usually use them along with a Ladders and Snakes board (everytime a student stops at a ladder or snake square, they must answer one of these questions. If they're at a ladder square and the answer is correct, they may go up. If wrong, they stay where they are. However, if they're at a snake square and the answer is correct, they stay where they are, but if it's wrong, they have to go down). Have fun!

Comparative Questions Flash Cards

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>

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1,454 Board game English ESL worksheets pdf & doc