Useful vocabulary
- Roll a/ the dice
- Board (game)
- Counter
- Team
- Winner (= First place)
- Second place (= Runner up)
- The wooden spoon (= Last place)
- (Flip/ Toss a) coin/ Heads or tails?
- Paper scissors stone/ Rock paper scissors
- (Move) clockwise/ anticlockwise (= counter clockwise)
- Bonus question
- Joker
- Pass (to the next player)
- Cheating
- Minus one point/ Take away a point
- Clue/ Hint
- Shuffle/ Mix (up)
- Deal (out)
- (My/ Your/ His/ Her/ This team's) turn
- Points
- Add up (the points)/ The total (score)
- Round one/ The first round
Playing board games
- Throw/ roll the dice (and move around the board)
- You need one counter each (for example, an eraser or a coin)
- Whose turn is it? / Who's next?
- Is it my turn? / Am I next?
- It's your turn. / You're next
- Place your counter on start/ the first square/ Choose a different counter each and place it on "START".
- The player with the highest number goes first
- Play rock, paper, scissors to see who goes first
- If you land on this square go back three squares/ take a card/ do the thing that is written there/ do the challenge that your partners set you
- Take it in turns to throw the dice.
- Move forward three squares.
- If you throw a 6, have another go/ throw again
- You need a board, a dice and a counter each. (Ask me nicely for those things)
- What colour counter do you want/ would you like?
Playing card games
- Face down (on the table)/ So you can't see them
- Face up/ So that you can see them
- In a pack/ Two packs
- Spread across the table/ floor
- Deal out all the cards
- Give (three/ four/ five/ an equal number of) cards to each player (and put the rest in a pack in the middle)
- Shuffle (thoroughly)
- Take a card from the pack (when it is your turn/ if you can't go)
- The person with the most/ least cards is the winner
- Pick a card (from this pack)/ Take a card from the top of the pack
- Take five cards, but don't look at them (yet)
- You can look at the cards, but don't show your partner
Quizzes
- You can only have one guess
- If you guess wrongly play passes to the next team/ you lose one point
- Do you need a hint/ a clue/ more time?
- Twenty seconds to answer
- (Is that your) final answer?
- Choose one question
- You have to agree on an answer in your team/ group
Starting and setting up games
- It's time for a game! / Let's play a game!
- Tell me/ decide on your team names/ What are your team names?/ Write your team names here/ Choose a team name from this list
Clearing space and getting into position
- Clear your desks/ Put your books and pencils away/ Make some room on your desk
- Get into pairs/ groups (of two/ three/ four)/ Find a partner/ Find two/ three/ four partners
- This is group/ team A (and this is group/ team B)
- You (two), work together
- Make/ get into two/ three/ four groups/ teams
- (Make/ get into) a boys' team and a girls' team
- Make/ stand in a circle
- Make two lines/ Stand in two lines (from here to here/ facing the board/ between here and here)
- Turn (all the way) round (and face each other/ face the other way)
- Face this way/ Face the board/ window/ teacher/ back of the room
- Come to the front please/ Come up here
Getting the right bits and pieces
- Take one (worksheet/ dice/ counter) and pass them back/ pass them along
- One (photocopy/ piece of paper/ counter) each
- One (dice/ playing board/ pack of cards) for each group
- Choose something that you can use as a counter (for this game, for example a coin, eraser or pen lid)
- Pass (me/ your partner/ the next person) the ball
- Ask me (nicely/ politely/ in English) for the pack of cards/ dice/ ball
- Here you are! / Here you go!
- Make sure there is/ are... in your set
Giving instructions
- What do (you think) we do with a/ this dice/ coin/ ball/ spinner/ sticky ball/ box of Lego bricks?
- Who would like to demonstrate the game (with me)?
- Does anyone already know this game?
- Play moves clockwise/ anticlockwise (= counter clockwise)
Instruction checking questions
- How long do you have to play the game?
- Who is the winner?
- How do you win the game?
- Can you/ Should you...?
- What are the rules?
- What is this for?
- What does this mean?
- (Are there/ Does anyone have) any (more) questions?
Getting started
- Who'd like to start? / (Are there) any volunteers (to go first)?
- Are you ready?
- Ready, steady, go! / On your marks, get set, go! / Wait for it, wait for it, go!
- Any (more) questions about how to play? No? Okay, start/ play the game!
Making sure the game moves along
- It's your turn/ You're next/ You're up
- Whose turn is it? / Who's next?
- Try (it) again
- Are you (100%) sure? / (Is that your) final answer?
Finishing games
- (Go) back to your seats
- That was fun, wasn't it? / Did you have fun?
- Time's running out! / Only 10 seconds left. Ten, nine...
- Hurry up!
- Time's up/ Three, two, one, zero! / Game over! / The game is over
- (There will be) (just) one more question/ round
- How many points did you get? / Add up your scores/ Count up your points/ cards
- Stop there
The winner
- The person who has most/ least points/ cards is the winner
- This team is the winner!
- It's a draw/ Everyone wins! / Everyone's a winner!
- .. and the prize is...