How to Make Your Own Clothes Game

Teach ESL students clothing terms in a game.

Children learn when they play games. That's why teachers use them to help their students. ESL writer Judie Hayes says that it is important to teach to a child's style of learning. She states that most new ESL learners are visual or kinethetic learners.

Teach your English as a second language (ESL) students how to identify articles of clothing by name with a simple memory game, excellent for visual and tactile learners. Easy to construct, the clothing memory game adds fun to an otherwise dull lesson. Make your clothing game tonight, and try it with your students in the morning.

Things You'll Need

• Markers
• Plain paper
• Thin cardboard
• Solid-colored contact paper
• Clothing pictures from magazines

Instructions

1. Cut out 24, 3-by-3-inch cardboard squares. Cover both sides of each square with a piece of solid-colored contact paper. Smooth out any bubbles that may appear. If necessary, cut a thin slice to allow air to escape and smooth the contact paper down.

2. Divide your cards into two stacks with 12 cards in each stack. Turn all the cards so the smooth side is on the bottom; the side where all four corners of the contact paper meet will be visible. Glue a photograph from a different article of clothing on each card in the first stack. On the second stack, glue a 2-by-2-inch piece of paper on the top of each card. Once the glue has completely dried, write the name of each different article of clothing on the individual cards forming 12 pairs.

3. Shuffle the cards and lay them out in rows. Form four rows with six cards in each row. Each student takes a turn. A turn consists of turning two cards over. If they match, the student says the name of the article of clothing and keeps the pair. If they don't match, the cards are turned back over in their original spot and the next player goes. When a student makes a match, he takes another turn. The player finding and identifying the most pairs wins the game.

4. Increase the difficulty of the game as students learn; do not require students to identify the item correctly until they play the game at least twice.

Tips & Warnings

• Make several copies of the game and play in small groups.

• Remind students to watch the cards when the other players take a turn.

• Create variations of the game to teach other nouns to ESL students.

References

• Everything ESL: Teach to Students' Learning Style
• Eduplace: Rules for Memory
• "Getting Started with English Language Learners"; Judie Hayes; 2007