pre primary and primary games

it’s all children’s gamesplaying with pre-primary and primary learners

Masha Andrievich

Trendy English Games, April 2o17

What are we talking about today?

- how play in general reflects child development

- implications for teaching

- generic game types to offer to various age groups

- games for pre-schoolers and primary children

- resources

Why do children play at all?

👑 main child play researchers - J. Piaget, E. Eriksson, L .Vygotsky, F. Buytendijk, K. Gross 👑

play is an exercise

human beings play games because they are young

play is an essential vehicle for development

younger children (3.5 – 5 y.o)

– learn holistically

– have limited motor skills

– enjoy exploring the world of objects around

– more self-centred rather than interested in communication with peers

– in most cases, no literacy skills or just the beginning

how do we respond to these age needs?

– use movement

– ensure we offer games where speaking, listening and movement are all involved

– build up on the interest to objects

– help young students build social interaction skills

so, what are the games, then?

1 – Realia/ Single-object games

–> the idea is to create together an object to expose the language you’ve chosen

1. provide a model

2. help create an object

3. model the language (2-3-4 phrases)

4. practice!

2 – Movement games – Good old TPR

- Robots

- Animal party

- Yes/No Borderline

- Games with Picture Flashcards

*clear and short instructions

don’t forget to change roles!

3 – early stage Board games

– Memory (start with less pairs)

– Big Dice games

– Spinner games

– Domino

– Snap

*teach Classroom language for the game – “it’s your turn”, “no, sorry”, “I’m first!” etc

primary learners (7-9 y.o)

1a – Anything with pretty cards is game-ish

– matching

– grouping

– moving

– finding

– guessing

– describing

– hiding

1b – enhancing Resource pack games

1b – enhancing Resource pack games

2 more stages: language focus (pre) and recall (post)

1 choose an area to focus on before going into the Activity (potentially difficult/add more for vocab development)

2 set the task (“We’re going to play a game. But before let’s look at..”) and go through the language

3 Model the Activity + allow time

4 Feedback

5 Recap (learners use the language from the Activity and your language focus)

2 – Board games

– choose games that are rich in language

– chose games for skills development

- Happy families type

- BrainBox

- Guess who?

- DK games – Very Silly Sentences, etc

- Scholastic Games pack

- Djeco games

3 – Drama games

– Charades

– Statues

– Do the opposite

– Simon says

Recap?

– 3 types of games for younger children?

Realia gameBeginner board gamesMovement games

– 3+ types of games for older children?

Pretty cards activitiesResource pack games enhancedBoard gamesDrama games

Resources

Resources

+Carold Read’s list of flashcard “games”http://www.carolread.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/flashcards.pdf

Thank you for coming!

andmasha@gmail.com

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