The Hammer Game!This game is based on the English TV game
"Mallet's Mallet". It basically involves you
hitting the students over the head with a hammer. The big
point being that it's an INFLATABLE hammer!! Very fun
game (and much requested)
You teach today's set of words and maybe review some
previous lessons and then......
1. Split the class down the middle into two groups, the
kids on the left are the left group and the kids on the
right are the right group!
2. The left group form a single file line down the left
hand side of the room.
3. The right group form a single line file down the right
hand side of the room.
4. The front person from each group come and stand facing
each other in front of the teacher.
5. One student says an English word (any word is OK, for example "banana")
6. The other student says another English word.
7. You keep going backwards and forwards like this
until.....
8. ...if they repeat a word (i.e. one of the pair have
already said it) then the person who said the repeated
word gets a hit on the head and sits down in their seat.
The other person, the winner, rejoins the back of their
queue and will eventually get another go.
9. Similarly if they speak Japanese, or pause or hesitate
then they get a bash on the head and have to sit down,
and their opponent gets back in line.
10. The next two people come to the front
11. Repeat from 5 ......
12. ....until all the members from one of the teams is
sat down. This team is the loser and the other team is
the winner!
This is a really good game as all the kids get to have a
go.
The "musn't repeat" thing is only for that
pair, they can say words that were used by previous
pairs.
If you run out of time then count the number of people
still stood up. The team with the most people stood up is
the winner (obviously make sure the teams are equal at
the start!)
Inflatable hammers can be obtained in Japan from 100 Yen
stores.
I used to have a hammer that squeaked when I squeezed it, so first the
kids got a "squeak" and then a bash on the head. It really adds
to the atmosphere!!!!!!
Here's the game in video from the original 1980's TV show. They actually
start off with a word from the host to get them started, You'll also see
just how shy the kids are, so imagine what's it's like for 2nd language
learners. Hence why confidence building is the biggest part of this job!
Readers' Comments
Very fun for the kids. I used a small hammer that squeaked but just
me sort of hitting the students was funny to all. I also broke the
vocabulary they could use into categories for my san-nensei ( 3rd grade)
kids, like "drinks," "fruits," vegetables," "musical
instruments," etc. By the end of the day the first and second
year students were begging for the Hammer Game.- Emily Hofer
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