Flashcard Hammar Relay

Prep: All flashcards, Whiteboard and Marker pens.

Aim:  For each student on a team to hit each flashcard three times whilst saying the vocab word and return the hammer to the teacher before the other team has finished.

1. Write the names of all your flashcards on the righthand side of the white board and number each one.  If there are 5 flashcards on the whiteboard (WB) number them 1 to 5.  Each number will correspond to a student on each team.   Then scatter the flashcards at random across the whiteboard (flashcards should have magnets on the back to do this.
2. Line up two teams (A/B) (seated) on either side of the room and give the first two players a hammer.  The first student from each team must look at the list of flashcards you've written on the board and find it's corresponding picture.  He/She must then hit the flashcard 3 times whilst saying the vocabulary word before racing their hammers to the next student in the line.  They in turn must hit number 2 in the list three times and so on. 
3. The last students to finish must return his/her hammer to the teacher, then the whole team stands on their chairs and shouts "finished."  First team to do so wins.

Points to remember:  It's important to demo the whole process for the students on both teams so that by the time the teacher has cycled through each vocabulary word in the list on the whiteboard every student in the classroom understands what to do.

If there are more students than their are available flashcards you can always add numbers to the original list such as hit "all" or just repeat vocab words.  Ex.  There are 10 students, 5 on each team and only 4 flashcards.  Your number "5" on the whiteboard can be an "all" label requiring the final student to hit every picture on the whiteboard and say each word three times before giving their hammer to the teacher.

I've found the game a hit with the kids as it's a really fast & fun way to review vocab after drilling.  You may even want to use the game for saying simple structures once per flashcard.

Where are all the games?

As an English teacher in Taiwan, I'm continuously amazed by the wealth of games online.  Such games are great for teachers who have time to prepare particular lessons or who need to teach a particular grammar point.

However as many a cram school teacher knows, we rarely have more than a few hours to prepare multiple classes of differing English levels each day.  Cram schools typically plan there classes just a few days in advance, and while working with homeroom teachers can mitigate this to some degree, we're continually challenged to produce games on the spot that both inspire and maintain our students' interest.

This blog is a collection of easily adaptable flashcard, whiteboard and simple classroom games that I've built up over the last couple of years - and which can be used in any classroom (with a bit of tinkering!).   Many of the games here are old favorites (ex. hot potato, hotseat), whilst others I've often come up with on the spur of the moment. (Disclaimer - I accept out right that many of the games I claim to as 'my own' have probably been thought of elsewhere and to their 'creators,' I gladly take my hat off :)).

I'm not trying to reinvent the wheel.  This blog is an online tool I use to keep track of the games I play, to note down new ones and link to useful web resources.  As an online tool I welcome the contributions of others to develop a resource that others may use as well.  If you wish to contribute a game or let me know of an exiciting variation of one you've seen on this site please email and let me know.  English teaching is one of the most rewarding and exciting professions in the world and I hope that through this blog I can help add to that in whatever way I can.

Stephen McCutcheon