The classic version: Students sit in a circle (on the floor or on chairs) and throw a beach ball (or other soft ball) to each other while shouting out the target vocabulary or grammar.
This game is good for: Any vocabulary that comes in a sequence, e.g. numbers, days of the week, months, times, and alphabet. It is also good for questions and answers, e.g. ‘What’s your name?’ and ‘How old are you?’ Almost any spelling or maths games can also be made more lively and physical with the use of a beach ball, e.g. adding numbers that the last person to get the ball must say the total of.
As those uses cover almost half of all the language that might be in a book for seven year olds (and even playgroup can do some of these if they roll the ball rather than throw it), you are going to need a few variations to make sure the game stays interesting for as long as it stays useful:
Variation A: Throw and run AND touch
The problem with drilling with a beach ball can be that the students just end up producing the necessary words without paying any attention to their meaning, in the same way that many students know the alphabet song without being able to identify or use any of the letters. One way of coping with this is to have them respond to the sentences they produce by running and slapping something. For example, as the ball is thrown the students say the sentence ‘What..colour..is..it?’ (one word per student) ‘It.. is……’ The next (= seventh) student then says the name of a colour, and all the students rush to slap something that colour and sit back down on their chairs. The first student is rewarded with the beach ball to start the next round. This also works with names of classroom objects, names of flashcards that have put scattered around the room, or numbers of things they must touch before they can sit down.
To add more excitement, ask them to also throw away the ball with the last word, so that the students have to run and touch, fetch the ball and then sit down to win. Be careful though, as this game has produced some impressive examples of rugby-style play with the whole class trying to drag the ball to their chair! Another alternative is for the student naming the colour/ classroom object etc. to try to throw the ball at that thing, and all the other students to try to block it and catch the ball themselves.
Variation B: On and off your chairs
Especially with very young learner classes, bringing out a beach ball can be a recipe for chaos (and even fights). Getting students to stand on their chairs (maybe with shoes off) adds a bit more order. This can also be used to add a competitive element. Any student who makes a mistake, throws the ball badly or fails to catch has to come down off their chairs to stand on the floor. They then have various other punishments for further mistakes: ‘Sit on the floor’, ‘Lie on the floor’ and ‘You’re Out’ (and the game restarts). To add incidental language, get the other students to give these commands to the student who is being penalised.
Variation C: One leg two legs one hand two hands
This is basically the same as variation B, but students have to kneel on one knee, kneel on two knees, put one hand behind their back, put two behind their back (so they can only head the ball) and then, if they head unsuccessfully, they are out. Restart the game when the first student is out.
Variation D: Don’t catch
For classes that never fail to catch the ball, or who take forever to say something once they have the ball and so make the game boring, make them bounce the ball up and down while they are thinking (like a one-man volleyball team).
Variation E: Real Tennis
When throwing the ball back and forth is getting a bit dull, especially in a small room, the best thing to do is to start bouncing off the walls! This is good for activities when students might want the ball to bounce back at themselves for another go, e.g. maths puzzles (‘Seventy… plus… twelve… minus… thirteen… equals…’), and works well in 1 to 1 classes. There are more variations for that latter situation below:
One to one variations
As someone who is far too competitive to ever deliberately lose a game, even to a 2-year-old, I’ve had to think of some variations to let the kids win occasionally.
Variation F: Co-operation
Rather than competing against each other, the teacher and student see how far they can get without dropping the ball, e.g. how high they can count while throwing the ball backwards and forwards without pausing, dropping the ball, or making a mistake. To make it more challenging, try hitting the ball volleyball style (no catching), kicking or heading it, or throwing it with you both standing on chairs.
Variation G: Individual challenge
Alternatively, the teacher just acts as timekeeper, score keeper and/ or cheerleader as the student tries it on their own. The student can be trying to reach a certain number, e.g. the twelve months in order, or beating their own record, e.g. naming things in the classroom. This can also be used when you have a small class split into two teams.
An earlier version of this article was first published in the Shane Japan teachers’ newsletter. Republished with the permission of the publisher and author.
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