TEACHING IDEAS

GAMES AND ACTIVITIES TO USE WITH

PICTURE CARDS
Many children’s coursebooks include cut-out picture cards in the Activity
Book. These usually comprise between 6-8 pictures of vocabulary from the
same lexical set. Picture cards provide a visual and kinesthetic focus for
learning and are helpful in getting young children to take turns and interact in
English in pairs. When children make the cards, it is a good idea to ask them
to write their initials in small letters each card. This helps to ensure that they
don’t lose their cards. Here are 20 ideas to try!

1 Guess where!
Children play in pairs. Child A turns all their cards face down and asks e.g.
Where’s the car? Child B points to a card and guesses Here! Child A turns
the card over and says Yes, you’re right! if it is the car, or No, this isn’t the car!
As soon as Child B guesses correctly and the car is found, they have the next
turn.

2 Arrange the cards

Play with the whole class with you giving instructions and/or children play in
pairs with a screen e.g. an open book between them. Child A lays their cards
in a row and then gives instructions e.g. cheese, biscuit, chicken etc. to their
partner to order their cards in the same way. At the end children check that
their cards are in the same order and then change roles.

3 Hurray!
Children play in pairs. Each child puts their cards face down in a pile. They
turn over their cards at the same time and say e.g. I can see the ... mouse!
As soon as they have a picture the same, they say Hurray! and take that pair
of cards out of the game. The game ends when there are no more cards left.

4 I can see ...!

Play with the whole class and/or children play in pairs. Child A holds up a
book with one of the picture cards behind it. Child A says Look! and gradually
moves the card up. As soon as Child B recognises the picture, they say e.g. I
can see the ... robot! After three turns, the children change roles.

5 Can I have ...?

Children play in pairs. They each choose three cards from a set of picture
cards and hold them in a fan so their partner can’t see the pictures. Child A
asks e.g. Can I have the lion, please? If Child B doesn’t have the card of the
lion, they say No. Sorry. If they do have the card of the lion, they say Here you
GAMES AND ACTIVITES TO USE WITH PICTURE CARDS CAROL READ

are! and give it to Child A, who says Thank you. Child B then has the next turn
asking a question. The game ends when the children have discovered all
each other’s cards.

6 Happy sets
Children play in groups of four. The aim of the game is to collect a set of four
cards which are the same. Child A shuffles and deals four sets of cards which
are the same. Children take turns to say Can I have a ..., please? to any
member of the group who respond either Here you are or No, sorry depending
on whether or not they have the card asked for. The child asked then has the
next turn. As soon as any child has a set of four cards, they name the set e.g.
I’ve got the tomatoes! and put it on the table. The child with most sets at the
end of the game is the winner.

7 Pass the card

Play with the whole class. Children stand or sit with you in a circle. Show the
first card to the child on your left who names what’s in the picture e.g. T-shirt!
This child then shows the card to the child next to them, who names what’s on
the card and passes it on round the circle in the same way. Once the card has
passed to three or four children, start the process again with another card.
Continue the game in the same way with all the picture cards.

8 Musical cards
Play with the whole class. Children stand or sit in a circle. Give out the picture
cards from one set to different children in the circle. Play any music and
children pass the cards clockwise round the circle. Pause the music. Children
with the picture cards hold them up and name what’s on their card in turn.
Everyone claps and says e.g. Fantastic!

9 First one to touch ...!

Play with the whole class with you giving instructions and/or children play in
groups of four. Children lay out their set of cards face up on their desks.
Child A says e.g. (First one to touch the) ... strawberry! Demonstrate that the
children should touch the correct card as fast as they can and say Me! After
three turns another child has a turn at being the leader.

10 Snap!
Children play pairs. Each child puts their cards face down in a pile. They turn
over their cards one at a time at the same time and say the words e.g. Giraffe!
If they have the same picture, the child who says the word followed by Snap!
first keeps the cards. The child with most cards at the end of the game is the
winner.

11 Do you want ...?

Play with the whole class. Children sit or stand in a circle. Play any music on
the CD. Children pass a vocabulary card clock-wise round the circle. Pause
the music. The child with the card should choose another child and ask e.g.
Do you want the bike? If the child they ask says Yes, please, they give them
the card and the game starts again. If the child they ask says No, thank you,

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 GAMES AND ACTIVITES TO USE WITH PICTURE CARDS CAROL READ

they continue asking different children until someone says Yes, please and
the game starts again. Change the picture card every few turns.

12 Abracadabra!

Children play in pairs. Each child lays their cards face down in a row on their
desks. Child A points to Child B’s first card, pretends to wave a wand and
says e.g. Abracadabra! It’s the butterfly! Child B turns over the card. If it’s the
butterfly, they say Yes! and leave the card face up. If it isn’t the butterfly, they
should say No! and leave the card face down. Child B then has the next turn.

13 Find your partner

Play with the whole class. Children choose a picture card secretly and hold it
to their chest so no-one else can see. They then walk round the class asking
other children e.g. Have you got an apple? / No, I haven’t / Have you got a
plum? / Yes, I have until they find a partner with the same card as
themselves.

14 Find your group

Play with the whole class. Give one picture card to each child and children
keep it secret. Children walk round the class saying e.g. (I’m a ...) lion. / Yes.
Me too! or No, (I’m a) parrot and organise themselves into groups with the
same card.

15 Guessing game
Play with the whole class and/or children play in pairs. Child A secretly
chooses a card. Child B ask up to three questions e.g. Do you like eggs? and
Child A responds Yes, I do or No, I don’t depending what’s on the card. If
child B guesses correctly, they keep the card. Child B then has the next turn.
The child with most cards at the end of the game is the winner.

16 Memory
Children play in pairs. Children lay out two sets of picture cards in random
order face down on the desk. Child A turns over one of the cards and names
what’s in the picture e.g. Ball! or says a sentence e.g. I like cheese! They then
turn over another card and repeat the procedure. If the two cards are the
same, Child A keeps them. If they are not the same, Child A puts them back
face down exactly where they were. Child B then has the next turn. The child
with most cards at the end of the game is the winner.

17 Noughts and crosses

Play with the whole class. Draw a noughts and crosses grid on the board.
Stick a picture card face down in each space. Divide the class into two teams,
one to play with noughts and one with crosses. Children in each team take
turns to choose a card. If they can identify what’s in the picture, turn over the
card and write a nought or cross in the square. The first team to complete a
row of three wins the game.

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GAMES AND ACTIVITES TO USE WITH PICTURE CARDS CAROL READ

18 Yes or No
Play with the whole class and/or children play in pairs. Children place the
vocabulary cards face down in a pile in front of them. Child A turns over the
first card, holds it up to child B and says e.g. Is it the scooter? Child B says
Yes, it is or e.g. No, it isn’t. It’s the bike depending on the picture. If Child B
responds correctly, they keep the card. Child B then has the next turn. The
child with most cards at the end of the game wins.

19 Find the card

Play with the whole class. Ask two children to wait outside the classroom
door for a moment. While they are outside the door, stick one of the
vocabulary cards somewhere in the classroom, where it is ‘hidden’ but
nevertheless visible without moving anything. Involve the rest of the class in
helping you to do this. Ask the two children back into the classroom and
everyone asks e.g. Where’s the lion? The two children look for the vocabulary
card of the lion and the rest of the class helps by saying Hot! Hot! Hot! if the
children move near to where the card is hidden and Cold! Cold Cold! if they
move away. When they find the card, the two children say e.g. Here’s the lion!
and everyone claps and says Hurray! Repeat several times with different
children.

20 Card swop
Play with the whole class. Give each child a picture card (from a mixture of
different sets). Check the children know how to say the word on their card.
Children walk around the classroom. They take turns to show another child
their card. If both children can identify what is on each other’s cards, they
swop cards and the game continues in the same way. If a child can’t identify
what’s on a card, the other child ‘teaches’ them the word. They then swop
cards and the game continues in the same way. At the end, children report
back on how many times they swopped cards and identify the pictures on all
the cards.

Note: The above games and activities are compiled and adapted from Read
C. & Soberón A. Little Bugs 1 & 2 Teachers’ Books, Macmillan Education.

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