Introduction

This game is equivalent to the German game "Ich packe meinen Koffer und nehme mit ..." which is a word game about packing a suitcase for an imaginary trip. Going along with the theme of being in nature, camping is a natural topic. As camping means living outdoors, there are a few things one needs, so instead of 'packing a suitcase' I let the kids pack their backpacks for their imaginary outdoors experience.

Target group and Time

The target group are 11 year old children in grade 5 and the activity stretches over 12 minutes. I think it is also possible to play the game with younger children. The degree of difficulty of the words used can be adapted to the age and knowledge of the students.

Learning objectives

The objective of the game is to come up with (new) vocabulary words and to practice them.

Instructions to set up the activity

Asked the children to come up with words and write them down to provide them with visual aid. Some words the students named were, for example: "tent, water bottle, sleeping bag, flashlight, lighter, sleeping mat." For the second or third round it might also work to remove  words from the blackboard because by this point players are used to the flow of the game.

Letting it run

The game works as follows: One student starts by saying, "I packed my backpack and I packed ..." and then chooses an item from the list, e.g. "I packed my backpack and I packed a tent." The next person has to repeat the phrase, name the item of the person before and add another item, e.g "I packed my backpack and I packed a tent and a lighter." The game continues following this principle. The challenge is to remember all the items correctly plus adding a new one every time. By playing, students are able to practice and learn vocabulary as they  repeat and remember each of the words.