Collection of games

Level: elementary, intermediate, and advanced

Age: any

Group size: whole class, groups, or pairs

Use: to practice ‘yes-no’ and other questions and to brush up vocabulary

Somebody thinks of an object or person the class knows the name of, and the others ask questions, putting up their hands and waiting to be called on: Is it a green book?, Is it Mary’s desk? Is it my face? Is it the door? Is it John and Peter? Is it the railway station? Is it the man who came here this morning? etc. The first to guess correctly takes the ‘thinker’s’ place.

After the class has successfully played such a game as a whole, it can be played in groups or even in pairs.

Members of another team may question the learner who has thought of something only, and points scored according to the number of questions asked (e.g. one point for a guess after only five questions). There should be a frequent change from one team to another, to keep the whole class active.

The number of yes-no questions may be limited (e.g. to twenty), after which the answer must be given and the game started again.