One of the best ways to teach the English language to kids whose first language is not English is through fun games and activities. The key to successful teaching is simplicity!

The simpler the game or activity is the easier it will be for you the teacher to explain it and the easier it will be for your kids to comprehend! Remember the golden rule, kids have a very short concentration span, especially if the instruction is in a language they don’t understand!

One great game I have used in my ESL lessons with tremendous success is the color race! What is the color race?

The color race is a very basic game I have used for teaching kids colors. Firstly I split the game into two parts.

Part 1

I take out a pack of color flash cards. They are quite cheap to buy and look very professional! I then divide students into two teams. For example half the class will be team Fish and the other half could be team cats. It’s really up to you the names you use, although you could quite easily get the kids to choose.

Next I hold up one flash card and get the students to call out the color. The team that calls out the correct color is awarded a point to his or her team. I continue this way until I run out of cards.

Part 2

This is the real fun part for the kids. I then take some blue tac and stick half a dozen of my color flash cards at points all around the classroom. I then get everyone into the middle of the room and shout out GREEN!

The student or students who get to the correct color flash card and shout out the color then get an additional point for there team.

At the end, the points are added up and the team with the most points are the winners! This is a great two part game for kids that works on a number of different levels. Teaching language then reinforcing it and getting them physically active too! Http://esljobs4teachers.com