1. How to create and use board and cards
games?

2. Board games can be a useful and ready
asset for the ESL classroom. Most require
little to no preparation, and with a little
patience, your English learners add a new
resource to their language studies. On top
of all that, board games are a fun way to
learn new vocabulary and make a change
from the normal routine.

3. Here are some tried but true board games
that many ESL classes have enjoyed:
-Scrabble
-Upwords
-Bananagrams
-Scrabble Slam
-Scattergories
-Catch Phrase
-Taboo
-Balderdash
-Jenga
-I-Spy Books

4. When to use it?
 To review after a
unit
 To review for a test
 To introduce the
element of
competition in class
 To provide
opportunities for
kinesthetic and
tactile learners

5. Instructions
1.-Make up a theme for the game. It could based on adventure,
business, family life or something else. The object could be to
reach a goal before the other players, or to eliminate them in
some fashion.
2.-Create the rules of the game. Write them down for your
players to study.
3.-Design the board on paper first. Decide how many spaces will
appear on the board and what will happen on each space.
Make sure you have an evenly divided number of good and
bad things that happen on the board.
4.-Make the actual board itself. You can use many different
types of materials, from cardboard and paper to finished wood
and cloth.

6. 5.-Add the playing pieces. Small toys, figurines and pieces from other
games can work. Make sure the pieces are noticeably different from
one another.
6.-Add the remaining objects and pieces. This includes dice, tokens,
cards, play money and any other prizes included in the game.
7.-Find a group of friends or family members to test out your new
board game. Above all, make sure they have fun playing it.
(Peruvian children play a life-sized disaster risk reduction board game
in Chincha’s central park during a community fair sponsored by the
American Red Cross.)

7. What to do:
Cut out the cards and laminate for longer hold.
How to play:
1.-Have groups of three to four students play the game.
2.-Give each student eight or six cards.
3.-The one to get the “Starting card” puts his card on the
table. Reads the question aloud.
4.-The student with the card that has the answer puts it down
on the table (like in a Domino game) but the card is placed
below the first card –
5.-The student then reads the new question and the student
with the correct answer places his card on the desk.
6.-And so it goes ……..
PS: Notice that the Starting card has the answer of the
question on the last card to be placed on the table.
Animals CARD GAME

8. Cheer up ! Create your
own board game!
busyteacher.org/7756-

9. Emely Bobadilla Araujo
(emelybobadilla@hotmail.com)
Ivón Gómez
(i_gomezs@hotmail.com)