A selection of English ESL taboo game cards printables

Taboo type cards for guessing words. Before playing the game review all the words and make sure the students know their meaning. Explain the rules of taboo - that you are unable to say the word that needs to be guessed.

Taboo Cards with Relevant Vocabulary

Tabbo 

This is an example of taboo game cards. I used it with my Business English students in Uruguay, but it can be adapted to other cultures. 

One student picks up a card and has to make the other students guess the word in bold without using the other words and without drawing or pointing at things. It can be played with or without time limit, depending on the level of the students.

Taboo game

This is a game based on a popular game taboo. The aim of the game is to define given words without using the words below. I want to thank a member of eslprintables - the globe - for allowing me to use her taboo template.  

Taboo - people - level C1 - C2

Perfect game to learn vegetables and to be able to describe them.

Also these cards are good for warm-up. 

They are suitable for 10 aged children and older from elementary level.

VEGETABLES TABOO GAME

Taboo game: first complete the different cards with the words in the square down here; after that color and cut them. Then play with your partner the taboo game, remember that you cannot say the words in the card to explain him/her what is happening in the card.

Taboo weather game

funny game to improve the vocabulary. One student says synomys for the Word in bold without saying the rest of the words in the card while the rest of the class should guess the word in bold .

taboo

This is the sixth doc with more cards for the game, based on the famous one "Taboo". By now doc 6 is the last and here you can also find the instructions to play the game. Hugs and have fun!!

"Don´t Say That Word!!" 6. Practising definitions, synonyms and antonyms

A game to practice vocabulary about jobsand professions. Students cannot say the words that are on the cards, which are related to each job. Students usually have fun with this activity.  

Taboo game on jobs

I made these fun Halloween cards to use with my elementary and junior high school students. I initially made these cards from the idea of the game "Taboo," which is where the player who draws the card cannot say the actual card itself or the "taboo word" that is listed at the bottom of the card. To get my students speaking, I divide my class into groups and have one student go for one minute where they draw a card and try to describe their card without saying the "taboo" words. If their teammates can guess the word, that card is given to whoever guessed the word and the same student continues drawing and describing their card before their minute is up.



My students always get riled up playing with the cards this way but I've been able to use these cards in a variety of ways, apart from just the "Taboo" gameplay. With a little creativity, I'm sure you'll be able to find new and unique ways your students can enjoy these cards too!

Halloween Taboo Card Game

Rules:
Divide players into two teams.
One player from the team is the “speaker” for the round.

How to Play:
The speaker picks a card with a secret word at the top and a list of “taboo” words below it.
The speaker’s job is to help their team guess the secret word without saying the secret word or any of the taboo words.
The speaker can use other words, sounds, or gestures but cannot use any taboo words or parts of the secret word.

Time Limit:
Each round lasts for a set time (usually 1 minute). Use a timer to keep track.

Scoring:
The team earns one point for every secret word correctly guessed within the time limit.

Switching Turns:
After the time is up, the other team takes their turn with a new speaker.

Winning the Game:
Play continues until all cards are used or for a set number of rounds.

The team with the most points at the end wins!


Taboo Game (Personality adjectives)

Here is the fifth doc with more cards for the game, based on the famous one "Taboo". There is one more, doc6. In the last doc ( by now doc 6 is the last)you can also find the instructions to play the game. Hugs and have fun!!

Game: "Don´t Say That Word!!" 5. Practising definitions, synonyms and 

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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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

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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

99 Taboo game cards English ESL worksheets pdf & doc