One of my favorite games in kindergarten was the Tower Game:
- You ask the kids either today’s question or a review question or whatever you want to practice.
- The first kid to answer correctly gets to come to the front and puts a brick on the tower!
- They then ask a question to the group and repeat from step 2.
The reason I loved this in kindergarten was because we had those massive huge plastic bricks so the towers literally towered over the smallest kids! (⛑ Safety first disclaimer as usual 🙂 )
Of course the fun bit is waiting for it to fall!
In Junior High School we had to modify it to use smaller domino sized blocks, which was still really popular, especially with the “usually too cool for school” kids!
Now, for socially distanced classes, you can still play the game. This time the kids ask and answer the questions, but you, the teacher, build the tower for them! There’s still lots of tension and excitement. Plus you can also do this online too! You could even assign one of the kids as the tower builder for everyone.
Or indeed have everyone build their own tower!
Just as with all the Genki English games, it’s all a case of “how can I make this work?” Non-Genki teachers shut down and say “But in my ….. town/city/class/school” and make nothing but excuses. Awesome Genki Teachers, on the other hand, are always on the lookout and sharing how they can use great ideas to improve their classes 🙂
Be genki,
Richard
P.S. If you’re in a regular, non socially distanced classroom, also check out the Tumbling Tower Minicard Game! – that is lots of fun too! Or the How to Teach English Online videos are in the VIP Facebook group or if you want to learn more about how I teach and the reasons behind the activities we do, check out my Teacher Training Academy – if you’re reading this before June 30th there’s a 50% discont for you!
