This is a Christmas card game I based off the official Ready Set EiGO game. You can find info on that game here: https://www.rse-cardgame.com
It's a simple game that can be changed to fit any vocabulary you're reviewing, and for any skill level, though the number of students per set of cards should probably stay around 3-5 and the prep time can take a bit long.
CLASS:
I've played a few times with a maximum of 5 players (3 students, JTE, ALT). My students had a very low English level, but you could play with high level students too, especially if you make the description cards more difficult. I've attached both a PDF and a Word Doc for editing.
MATERIALS (assuming 5 players. If more, make more copies/cards):
- 60 Picture Cards
- 72 Instruction Cards (I labelled them "Instruction Cards," but they are actually descriptions)
- Some kind of reward e.g. stickers
STANDARD DESCRIPTION:
1. Using a PowerPoint Presentation, or any other kind of support, review Christmas vocabulary with students. Try to incorporate all the more uncommon/difficult vocabulary that will come up on the cards (I'm Australian, so there were a few Aussie words/things included in the picture cards). You could also review simple sentences such as It is ____ or I can ____.
2. Once vocabulary has been reviewed, give each player 5 Picture Cards.
3. Play janken to decide the first player.
4. Player 1 chooses an Instruction Card from the stack, reads it aloud, and places it on the table.
5. All players then race to choose a Picture Card from their hand that matches the description/instruction. The fastest player must read the sentence again using their Picture Card. (For example, if the Instruction Card said "It is alive" and a player played the Santa Picture Card, the player should say "Santa is alive.")
- If more than one player plays a card, the best card wins. The losing player must take back their Picture Card and draw a new Picture Card (this was a house rule, and you don't have to make them draw another card as a punishment, but I did because it was funny).
- If both cards are equally good, either the actually fastest player wins or you get them to play janken to decide.
- If no one has a match for the Instruction Card, nothing happens and you just move on.
6. Discard the Picture and Instruction Cards and play then passes to the left with the next player choosing an Instruction Card.
The aim of the game is to get rid of all your Picture Cards. I also included some Special Instruction Cards, with things like "swap hands" or "everyone picks up two Picture Cards" to make things more interesting. All the instructions are written on the cards.
GAME NOTES:
- This activity does take a bit to set up as you need to make all the cards yourself!
- I found you quickly run out of Picture Cards (and sometimes Instruction Cards), so I would shuffle them and reuse. This actually helped students learn the vocabulary more, and it was amusing when one student finally managed to get rid of a card, and then drew it again a few rounds later.
BONUS GAME:
If you finish too quickly i.e. someone wins, you can play Dradnats! ("Standard" backwards.) Basically, instead of giving out Picture Cards, give out the Instruction Cards (remove the special cards) and play again so that players draw a Picture Card and then have to choose an Instruction Card from their hand that matches.
If you are confused about any of the instructions, I recommend checking out the official Ready Set EiGO site for theirs. Happy playing!