Introduction

The drama game I chose to play with the children is called ‘word association‘. It is very simple to set up and to play, as the players just have to think of words at the top of their head. The children stand in a circle and are given a small object, I used a ball, to throw to each other. The person who holds the ball, quickly has to say a word  related to the overall given topic, for example family, animals, food & drinks. Repititions are allowed, as it is important to be quick and keep the game going.

Target group and Time

It's a great game for children/people who are still early on in their English learning process. They need some knowledge of connected vocabulary, but will also get the chance to hear some new words from others. The groups shouldn't be too big - I'd say around ten people maximum so every participant will get a chance to say a word. The time it takes for this game is roughly 10 minutes - you can cover a lot of topics during that time, depending on the children's knowledge.

Learning objectives

The children get to practise their pronunciation and also learn new vocabulary if some know different ones than others.

Instructions to set up the activity

Setting up the game isn't hard at all - the children/players should stand in a circle and be given a ball or something small to throw - then the game may begin!

Letting it run

As the teacher it is important to watch the game and pay attention to when the students run out of words to say. In the beginning it went really well, as the kids just shot off what they knew. But the longer they stayed with one topic, the harder it got for them to think of new words. That's when the topic needed to be changed. Otherwise just let the children play until you feel a change is needed.