ESL Word Association Games

 

Mallet's Mallet

Any Level 20 minutes
Free ESL word association game where students take turns saying words related to a category until someone hesitates or repeats
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ESL Word Association Game - Vocabulary: Revision - Group Work

This amusing word association game has been adapted from an English TV game show. One player from each team comes and sits on a chair at the front of the class. Give the two players a category, e.g. sports. The two players then take it in turns to say a word as... read more

ESL Word Association Game - Vocabulary: Revision - Group Work This amusing word association game has been adapted from an English TV game show. One player from each team comes and sits on a chair at the front of the class. Give the two players a category, e.g. sports. The two players then take it in turns to say a word associated with the category. If a player can't think of a word, hesitates or repeats a word, they get hit with an inflatable hammer or toy and are out of the game. A new player from their team then comes and sits in the chair and the two players are given a new category. When a student beats three opposing team members, they step down and let someone else play. The first team to run out of players loses. show less

Password

Any Level 20 minutes
Free ESL word association guessing game where teams guess a password from associated words given by their teammates
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ESL Word Association Game - Vocabulary: Guessing - Group Work

Here is an imaginative ESL word association game to play in class with your students. One player from each team comes to the front of the class. Show the two players a word you wish to revise on a slip of paper. This is the 'Password'. The aim of the game is fo... read more

ESL Word Association Game - Vocabulary: Guessing - Group Work Here is an imaginative ESL word association game to play in class with your students. One player from each team comes to the front of the class. Show the two players a word you wish to revise on a slip of paper. This is the 'Password'. The aim of the game is for the teams to guess the password. To do this, the two players take it in turns to tell their team a word associated with the password. For example, if the password is 'flower', a player might say 'roses'. The player's teammates then consult with each other and try to guess the password by associating the word given with another word. If a team guesses correctly the first time, they score five points. On the second try, they score four points and so on. If both teams are unable to guess correctly after five tries, change the players and give a new password. When a password is correctly identified, two new players come to the front and start over with a new password. The team with the most points at the end of the game is the winner. show less

Think of a Word

Any level 20 minutes
Free ESL word association game where teams practice vocabulary relationships including comparatives, collocations, and word patterns
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ESL Word Association Game - Vocabulary: Revision - Group Work

This engaging word association game helps students practice vocabulary relationships including comparatives, collocations, and word patterns in a team-based competition. Write a noun on the board, e.g. piano. Teams then race to write down something bigger and s... read more

ESL Word Association Game - Vocabulary: Revision - Group Work This engaging word association game helps students practice vocabulary relationships including comparatives, collocations, and word patterns in a team-based competition. Write a noun on the board, e.g. piano. Teams then race to write down something bigger and smaller than the noun, a verb that goes with it, a word that comes earlier in the dictionary, a longer and a shorter word beginning with the same letter as the noun, an adjective to describe the noun and the opposite of that adjective. When a team has completed all the items, stop the game and check their answers. If the answers are appropriate, the team scores a point. The game continues with a different noun being used each round. The team with the most points at the end of the game wins. show less

What's the Topic?

Pre-intermediate (A2-B1) 25 minutes
Free ESL word association game where teams guess topics from associated words written by their opponents
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ESL Word Association Game - Vocabulary: Guessing - Pair Work

This enjoyable word association game helps students practice vocabulary relating to a topic. Write a list of ten topics you want the students to practice on the board, e.g. holidays, happiness, technology, etc. Teams copy the topics from the board and then writ... read more

ESL Word Association Game - Vocabulary: Guessing - Pair Work This enjoyable word association game helps students practice vocabulary relating to a topic. Write a list of ten topics you want the students to practice on the board, e.g. holidays, happiness, technology, etc. Teams copy the topics from the board and then write three words they associate with each topic. You can specify whether the three words should be general or personal associations. When the students have finished, each team joins with another team. Teams then take it in turns to say one of their associated words to the other team. The other team has three chances to guess which topic the word refers to. If the team guesses the correct topic on their first try, they score three points. On their second try, they score two points. On their last try, they get one point. This process continues until all the words have been used. The team with the most points at the end of the game wins. You can make the game longer or shorter by changing the number of topics and words the students write. show less

Word Association Game

Any Level 15 minutes
Free ESL word association game where students stand in a circle and say associated words in sequence until someone is eliminated
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ESL Word Association Game - Vocabulary: Revision

This useful word association game is easy to set up and play. All the students stand up. Give the students a word. The first student says a word that they associate with the chosen word. The second student then associates a word with the first student's word. T... read more

ESL Word Association Game - Vocabulary: Revision This useful word association game is easy to set up and play. All the students stand up. Give the students a word. The first student says a word that they associate with the chosen word. The second student then associates a word with the first student's word. This continues from student to student, e.g. ocean, blue, green, field, flower, valentine, love, heart, etc. If a student can't think of a word, repeats a word or is too slow to answer, they are out of the game and sit down. The last student left standing wins the game. Alternatively, students only associate words with your chosen word. show less

Word Disassociation Game

Any Level 15 minutes
Free ESL word game where students call out unassociated words in sequence with challenges allowed for connected words
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ESL Word Game - Vocabulary: Revision

Here is a fun game to play with any level. This game is the opposite of word association. Have the students stand in a circle. Tell the students that they are going to play a game where they call out words that are unassociated with each other. Choose a word at... read more

ESL Word Game - Vocabulary: Revision Here is a fun game to play with any level. This game is the opposite of word association. Have the students stand in a circle. Tell the students that they are going to play a game where they call out words that are unassociated with each other. Choose a word at random. The first student says a word that is unassociated with the chosen word. The second student then says a word that is unassociated with the first student's word and so on. If a student says a word that is connected with the previous word, takes too long to answer or repeats a word, they are out of the game and sit down. Anyone can challenge a student if they think there is a connection. If the connection is agreed upon, that student is out of the game. The last student left standing wins. show less