A minute to win it Fun games for

A minute to win it Fun games for your Young Learner classes Alana Sirett, Oxford House Teacher

A minute to win it What are `a minute to win it´ games? The idea for these games comes from an American TV show called Minute to Win It, where contestants had to complete a task using household items in less than a minute to move on to the next challenge and ultimately win money. Of course I´m not going to give my students money – but these games are great for revising grammar/vocabulary. They are perfect for all ages – challenging enough for older kids, but still simple enough that younger children can play as well. They’re fun, simple to play, inexpensive, and typically hilarious – you will see!

A minute to win it How to play the games: STYLE #1: STUDENT VS. CLOCK • One student will try to beat the clock for each game. So for instance, they will have to try and complete the game within a minute (hence the minute to win it name). If not, let someone else have a shot. If you go with this style, I recommend choosing a different student for each game.

A minute to win it STYLE #2: HEAD TO HEAD • In this style, you’ll pick two students for each game who will go head to head against each other playing a game rather than trying to beat the clock. So you’ll give each student the game supplies and see who can finish the grammar/vocabulary activity first. Again, rotate the pairs for each game, repeating students as necessary, but this works well when you have smaller groups so everyone can participate in a variety of games.

A minute to win it STYLE #3: TEAM COMPETITION • In this style, you’ll split your class into two (or 3/4 depending on the number of students) teams. For each game, teams must choose one student to compete head to head in the game with the other teams. So for instance, one student from each team will be given the supplies and game instructions. When you say go, everyone competes to be the first to complete the game. Once the game has been completed – give each team the grammar/vocabulary task to complete together. • First team to finish gets 5 points, second team gets 3, third team gets 1, and everyone else gets none. This works best if you have quite a few students and it´s a good way to get everyone involved cheering for their team.

A minute to win it How to score the games: The only time you really need to score minute to win it games is if you’re playing in teams/groups. It would look something like this For each game, 1 st team to finish receives five points, 2 nd team gets 3, 3 rd team gets 1, and the other teams don’t get any points that round.

A minute to win it How to make the games: Most minute to win it games can be played with items that you have around the house, but there a few key supplies that you’ll most likely want to purchase and have on hand if you’re going to play often. I have a box with these things in and it´s my go to box when I play these games. Some great items to have are: • • Ping pong balls Plastic cups Chopsticks Lollipop sticks Plastic buckets/boxes Balloons Empty 2 -litre soda bottles

A minute to win it Now let´s play

A minute to win it Game 1 – Tilt a cup What you will need: • 12 ping pong balls (6 in a different color) • 12 plastic cups (6 for each player) • A box to hold the ping pong balls • Two envelopes with challanges inside In this game the challenge is to bounce ping pong balls on the floor and catch it in a cup and then put another cup on top of that one and so on. Once all the ping pong balls have been caught in a cup, the student we then collect an envelope with a grammar/vocabulary activity inside.

A minute to win it Game 1 – Challenge 1. The teacher cries every time she sees her students. 2. The child screams and shouts, so the teacher drinks and moans. 3. My dog eats my homework. 4. She hates going to work and always tries to escape. 5. He loves listening to children´s songs and sings them on his way home. Change into past tense

A minute to win it Game 2 – Movin on up What you will need: • 20 plastic cups x 2 (ideally one a different colour) • A sentence cut up into individually pieces In this game the challenge is to move the coloured cup (or one with a sticker on) from the bottom to the top. Students stacks the cups on top of each other while checking each one for a piece of paper. Once the coloured cup is back at the bottom, the student (or team) can then solve the sentence.

A minute to win it Game 2 – Challenge Put the sentence in order: kitchen a eating I kitten saw the in chicken I saw a kitten eating chicken in the kitchen

A minute to win it Game 3 – This blows What you will need: • 20 plastic cups (10 for each player) • 2 balloons In this game you place 10 plastic cups on a table and each student has to blow the cups off the table using the balloon. Once all the cups are on the floor, the students will then collect an envelope and complete the task/activity.

A minute to win it Game 3 – Challenge Unscramble the anagrams: • • • listen admirer inapt below bedroom • • • silent married paint elbow boredom

A minute to win it Top 10 minute to win it games 1. Defying Gravity – Give each student three balloons. They have to keep all three balloons up in the air for a minute. 2. Jumping Frogs – Give each student 4/5 frogs. The frogs have to be flicked onto a plate until all the frogs have jumped and are on the plate. 3. Sticky sticks – Write a sentence or words onto lollipop sticks and students have to put them in the correct order to read what it says. 4. Elephant March – Four 2 -litre bottles per team (fill bottles a third of the way up). A pair of tights with a tennis ball inside per team. Students have to put the tights on their heads and with the ball knock over the bottles. 5. Junk in the trunk – Attach an empty tissue box to a belt (or ribbon), fill with ping pong balls. Students have to shake until all the balls fall out. 6. Wrap It Up – A two player game where one student has to wrap the other student in streamers, toilet paper, or something else.

A minute to win it 6. Traffic Yam – Push a sweet potato across the floor from one side of the room to another with just your nose (you can also do this with cabbages for St. Patrick’s Day) 7. Stack it up – Using 20 plastic cups per student. They have to stack them up into a pyramid. 8. Iron Man – Use a chopstick to stack iron nuts on top of each other. 9. New Year’s Eve Countdown – Fill boxes with different numbers of bells (1 -5). Students must shake them and put them in order of the number of bells that are inside. 10. Choosing Cups – Set out like 25 cups, filling all of them part way with water. Put a sticker on the bottom of some of the cups. Students have to pick one cup up at a time, trying to find a sticker.

A minute to win it Holiday ideas for a minute to win it games • • Valentine Games St. Patrick’s Day Games Easter Games Halloween Party Games Thanksgiving Games Christmas Games New Year’s Eve Games

A minute to win it Useful websites: • www. pinterest. com • https: //www. youtube. com/results? s earch_query=a+minute+to+win+it+ games+kids

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