The Snake Game

By Marina Kolar—Croatia
Age: 7+
Times: 10-20 minutes
Materials: board and markers (either magnets or some sort of sticker, such as a sticky note), a dice.
Organization: Whole class.
Aim: To practice or revise vocabulary and structures.
Description: Children in the class are divided into two teams. Individuals from each team must answer questions dictated by a square on the board snake.
Preparation: You will need to prepare a series of questions based on the categories in your snake (see Step 1 below).
Procedures

1. Draw a large snake on the board and divide its body into a number of squares (at least 15). In each square write a letter as a prompt to the category of question. For example, V might be a ‘vocabulary’ question; C might be ‘correct the sentence’, while O might be ‘odd man out.’
2. Divide the class into two teams. Explain the rules of the game. A member from each team comes to the front and shakes a dice. According to the number on the dice, they move forward up the snake’s body. On reaching the number, the child places the marker on the square and has to answer a question, according to the letter. If the child is not sure of the answer, they can ask the rest of the team.  
3. If the child answers correctly, the marker remains on the square. If the question is answered incorrectly, the child moves the marker three squares down the snake. The winning team is the first to reach the snake’s tongue.

Notes
Other categories you might consider are ‘translation’, ‘spelling’ and ‘pronunciation’. Larger classes will need more teams.
Alternatives

1. The children could prepare questions for each other based on the categories.
2. Children from the opposing team could read out the questions in a ‘snakey’ voice. They could also decide if the answer is right or wrong (if they get it wrong, they move down the snake two spaces).

Reference
Crazy animals and other activities for teaching English to young learner book  Download PDF