Hands on Games for Spanish

Learning a new language is always a tough process. As teacher, it is your responsibility to ensure that your students have every opportunity to master the language. As much of the process deals with the memorization of vocabulary words, fun and interactive games can be a great help to the student. Instead of lecturing and having the student repeat words over and over again, try the following games every now and again.

The Flyswatter Game

For this activity, you will need to divide the class into at least two teams. Write a variety of vocabulary words on the board. Give each team a flyswatter. One player from each team should walk to the board. You then tell call out a word in English and the students must try to locate the Spanish translation of that word and tap it with the flyswatter. After the first round, two more players will have their turn.
Alternatively, you can write English vocabulary words on the board and call out the Spanish translation; the process is the same either way.

The Body Part Game

This next activity is best suited for older students or adults, as they are more likely to be more mature about touching another player. For high school age students, however, it is best to pair a students with someone of their gender, so as to avoid any sexual harassment issues.
The objective of the body part game is to learn the Spanish words for various parts of the body. Select a pair of students to be your first victims. Call out a random body part in Spanish and the students must work together to decide what part of the body you are referring to. Once they reach a decision, they should touch those body parts together. For example, if you call out "rodilla" (the Spanish word for "knee"), your students must touch their knees together.
To avoid potential awkwardness, some teachers place a sheet of paper between the students' bodies before they touch. This can come in handy at times, especially with body parts such as "los labios" (the lips).

Simon Says

Simon Says is a classic game used in high school Spanish classes across the country. The premise is very similar to the game you may have played as a child, only it is done completely in Spanish. The rules are simple: the students must do anything you instruct them to do, so long as you say "Simon says" before the command. In this case, you may want to change the command to "Simon dice" (the Spanish translation for "Simon says"). Any student who moves when you have not said "Simon dice" before you command must sit down. The last student standing becomes the winner of the game. This is a great opportunity to teach your students the verbs, as you can instruct your students to take actions.

References

• The Flyswatter Game

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