ESL board games

Here are 10 fun ESL board games for kids that will help engage them in learning while making the process enjoyable:

1. Word Race
Materials: A board with a path (similar to Chutes and Ladders), dice, and cards with vocabulary words (e.g., animals, food, verbs).

How to Play: Kids roll the dice and move along the path. When they land on a space, they draw a card with a word and must say it out loud. For extra fun, have them use the word in a sentence or act it out!
Goal: The first player to reach the finish line wins!

2. Grammar Detective

Materials: A board with spaces, dice, and cards with different sentences on them.
How to Play: Players roll the dice and move along the board. When they land on a space, they draw a sentence card and must identify if it's grammatically correct or not. If correct, they move forward; if incorrect, they stay in place.
Goal: To teach sentence structure, grammar rules, and problem-solving.

3. Sentence Building Bingo

Materials: Bingo cards with blanks (instead of numbers) and a bag of words (subjects, verbs, objects).
How to Play: Players draw words from the bag and try to complete a sentence. For example, they could pull "cat" and "run" and make a sentence: "The cat runs." If their sentence fits a space on the bingo card, they mark it off.
Goal: The first player to complete a row wins.

4. Pictionary with a Twist

Materials: Whiteboard or drawing paper, dice, and cards with vocabulary words or phrases (e.g., professions, places, animals).
How to Play: Players roll the dice to determine how many words or categories they will have to draw (1–6). Then, they have to draw a picture for their teammates to guess.
Goal: Build vocabulary and encourage creative thinking.

5. Verb Tense Treasure Hunt

Materials: A game board with different locations (pirate island, jungle, etc.), dice, and cards with verbs.
How to Play: Players roll the dice and move to the corresponding location. Then, they draw a card with a verb and must say the correct form of that verb in the present, past, or future tense.
Goal: Help children learn and practice verb tenses.

6. Around the World Vocabulary Challenge

Materials: A world map board, cards with vocabulary words from different countries (food, animals, landmarks).
How to Play: Players take turns drawing cards and identifying which country the word belongs to. They must then say the word in English.
Goal: Encourage vocabulary building while learning about different cultures.

7. Memory Match

Materials: Cards with pictures and corresponding vocabulary words.
How to Play: Lay all the cards face down. Players take turns flipping over two cards at a time, trying to match a word with its picture. If they make a match, they keep the cards.
Goal: Improve vocabulary recognition and memory.

Materials: A board with letters or phonics sounds, a dice, and cards with words (e.g., short vowels, consonants, digraphs).
How to Play: Players roll the dice to move forward. When they land on a space, they must say a word that fits the phonics sound or letter they land on. If correct, they stay in place; if incorrect, they move back.
Goal: Reinforce phonics and letter-sound recognition.

9. Story Spinner

Materials: A spinner (divided into sections for character, setting, problem, and solution), paper, and pens.
How to Play: Players take turns spinning the spinner. After it lands, they draw a card from the corresponding category (e.g., character, setting). They must then make up a story using the elements they drew.
Goal: Encourage creativity, sentence building, and storytelling skills.

10. Animal Charades

Materials: Cards with different animals or animal actions.
How to Play: Players take turns drawing an animal card and acting it out. Their teammates must guess the animal based on their actions.
Goal: Improve vocabulary related to animals and encourage physical activity.
These games encourage communication, creative thinking, and learning new language skills in an enjoyable way.

They’re ideal for kids to practice vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation while keeping them engaged!

More examplesfor ESL games you can find on my instagram page:

https://www.instagram.com/p/C2busKHIVg2/