This is a super fun game I originally played with my middle schoolers in Korea, but I’ve modified it for Japanese elementary school students!
Pro Tip: Save this game for a day when kids can be loud and energetic—it gets wild! (Learn from my mistake: don’t play it on a test day. 😅)
🎯 Goal of the Game:
In teams, students draw the most accurate version of a famous character based on a PowerPoint description. They’ll earn points for creativity, accuracy, and cuteness! The twist? They only have 1 minute to draw and color after hearing the description.
📝 How to Play:
Split the Class into Teams
Teams of 3-5 students work best.Prepare the Board
Set up magnets or tape so each team can display their artwork.Start the PowerPoint
- Each character slide has 5 hints (bullet points).
- The answer will appear after the 5th hint—so don’t accidentally reveal it early!
- Each character slide has 5 hints (bullet points).
Read the 5 Hints
After reading all the hints, start a 1-minute timer for teams to draw and color their character.Display the Drawings
Once time is up, teams place their artwork on the board.Review the Hints
Compare the drawings to the 5 bullet points, discussing with the class if the artwork matches the hints.Reveal the Character
Show the answer on the PowerPoint, award points, and move to the next slide!
🏅 Point Distribution:
Basic Points
- 1 point if the drawing includes ALL 5 bullet points.
- 1 point for writing the character’s name on the drawing.
Bonus Points
Each teacher (ALT, JTE, HRT) awards a bonus point for their chosen category:
- JTE: Most accurate drawing (matches the answer photo closely).
- HRT: Most cute drawing (awarded to adorably creative attempts).
- ALT (me): Most creative drawing (hilarious and out-of-the-box ideas).
This system encourages everyone to participate, even if they aren’t confident artists!
📋 Materials:
- PowerPoint
- TV or projection device
- Timer (1 minute)
- Board to keep score
- Magnets or tape for displaying drawings
- Scrap paper (recycle A4 sheets from the teacher’s room—just ensure no sensitive info)
- Colored pencils/markers (ask students to bring their own)
📚 Grammar Points Covered:
- He is / She is
- His / Her
- He is good at / She is good at
- Likes / Hates
This game is always a hit, and the bonus point system makes it super fun for students and teachers alike. If you have any questions, feel free to ask!
Happy teaching,
CarpenterBee
This looks like an absolute blast! I need to find a time when to do this. New JTE who teaches 5th and 6th grades with me is a bit more serious and not so into games.. so I am wondering if I can even try with 3rd graders with some changes, since it uses a lot of colours, shapes, sports etc. I think it could be really fun and funny haha. Thank you so much.
This looks like a fun activity. I'm just curious about one thing. On the Shin-chan slide, one of the hints is, "He is good at dancing with no pants." Does that not encourage the kids to draw something inappropriate? In your experience of carrying out this activity, have responses always been relatively innocent?
@biscuitface TBH I usually only get to round 5 AT MOST in a 45 min lesson with 25+ kids. So maybe if I had a small class I'd get to Shin-chan's slide...? I guess it depends how long it takes you and your CT to judge all the arts and go over each sentence for accuracy. I would expect them to only get as graphic as the TV show or manga get where he kindda moon's the audience.
i do have a question, does each student draw on the one sheet for a number of seconds and pass it along to the next persion to draw, or de everyone draw their own and then hang them up on the board?
@yellowbird I have 3-5 kids in one group. That one group shares one piece of paper and draws the one character as a group within one minute. So while someone is drawing the outline, I've seen other teammates adding color or details mentioned in the hint section.
Because they only have 1 minute to draw everything, taking turns/passing the page might not be the best move. It's really up to the groups on how they want to distribute the workload. They could pass the paper, but they would probably waste too much time between passes and deciding how the next person will add to the drawing.
Alternatively, if the kids all did their own individual art, I feel like some of my lower-level English kids would loose interest or get picked on for poor art skills. Let me know how you end up modifying the game cause I like playing this game in JHS too with my 1st years~