Christmas “What’s missing?” card games

During the summer we had the Baby Monkey’s Clothes “What’s missing?” card game which proved a huge success.

It was particular useful for mixed groups as kids who might be weak in English had a chance win if they could quickly see what was missing.

Even adults had a fun challenge with them.

Over on the VIP forum Gumby just made a request for Christmas versions.  So here you go!

The first one is the Let’s make a snowman – do the song first so the kids know all the vocab.

And one for Let’s make a Gingerbread House – this song is particular great for teaching a/some.

You can play any of the standard Mini Card games, just with the extra challenge of finding out what is missing e.g.

Mini Karuta



1.  Put the cards face up on the desk.
2. The kids ask the question for that theme.
3. The teacher ( or a kid! ),  says one of the answers.
4.  The quickest person to touch that card gets to keep it!
5. Continue from step 2 until all the cards are gone.


Matching Pairs
1.  Prepare 2 copies of each card.
2. Place them face down on the table.
3.  One kid flips over one card.
4.  Everyone shouts out what’s on the card 3 times.
5.  The next kid flips over a card.
6.  Everyone shouts this one out 3 times.
7.  If it’s a match the kid who flipped the match can keep the card!


Mini Island Hopping



1.  Each kid has a set of cards in a pile.
2.  The teacher says “Go!”
3.  Each kid slaps down their first card and says it out loud.
4.  They slap down their next card next to the last .
5. They shout it out.
6.  Keep going, gradually moving across the desk.
7.  The first person to shout out all their cards  is the winner!


Leapfrog Game

1.  Lay out the cards for one theme, face up in a row.

2.  One kid starts at one end saying what’s on each card.

3.  At the same time another kid starts saying what’s on each card, but they start at the other end!

4.  When they meet they “Rock, Paper, Scissors”

5. The winner starts from where they stopped.

6.  The next person in the loser’s team  starts from the beginning of the row.

7.  The first team to reach the far end is the winner.

And here’s a very cool way to put mini cards back in the correct order!

And both songs/animations you can of course find in the Teacher’s Set.

What do you think?  Anything else you’d like?

P.S. If you’re on email, click here to see the videos

Richard Graham

I'm on a mission to make education Genki—fun, exciting, and full of life! Genki English has now been researched by Harvard University and licensed by the British Council around the world. The results have been magical! Now I'm here to help you teach amazing lessons, with all the materials prepared for you, and to double your teaching income so you can sustainably help many more students in the future!

2 Responses to “Christmas “What’s missing?” card games”

  1. Julia

    Hi Richard!

    Thank you very much for the good examples of using cards.

    I think pairwork is very important. But sometimes students weak in English are cheating speaking their native language while working in pairs on their own. How do you check whether they do what you ask to do all the time that you give them for this activity. Or is this not necessary?

  2. Nena

    Hello,

    I just love watching these games in videos!
    It makes it so much easier for me ( I hate reading instructions)!!!!!
    Thanks!
    Nena

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