ESL Drawing Games

Here is a fun drawing game for teaching parts of the body. Write the following on the board: 1 = body, 2 = head, 3 = eyes, 4 = legs, 5 = antennae, 6 = wings. Tell the students that they are going to each draw a picture of a beetle by rolling a dice and then drawing the part of the beetle associated with the number rolled. The aim of the game is to be the first team to complete a drawing of a beetle. The catch is that the body must be drawn first, so students can't start drawing until they roll a one. Students must also draw a head (two) before they can draw the eyes and antennae. The first team to have one of their students complete the drawing wins the game. You can make the game easier by giving each team a piece of paper and having them complete the drawing as a group. You can also make the game harder by giving each team two dice and having the students draw a different animal or a human. In this version of the game, students would draw more parts of the body and the numbers would go from 2 to 12.

This is a useful drawing game for revising vocabulary or grammar. Write 12 words or sentences you want the students to revise on the numbered cards and make one copy of the cards for each group of three or four. Next, give each group the first card. One student in the group picks up the card and has 60 seconds to draw the word or sentence for the other students to guess. The student drawing is not allowed to speak or write anything. While the student is drawing, the other members of the group try to guess the word or sentence. When the time limit has been reached, shout 'stop'. Ask each group if they were able to guess the word or sentence. Award one point to each group that guessed correctly. Then, place the second card face-down on each group's table, and it's the next student's turn to draw. The team with the most points at the end of the game is the winner.

Here is an imaginative ESL drawing game for practicing the present continuous tense. To begin, students write down three present continuous sentences, starting with: He, She and They, e.g. 'He is playing football'. The students do this without showing or telling anyone their sentences. One student from Team A comes up to the board with their three sentences. Team A then has one minute to guess as many of the student's sentences as possible. The student begins drawing one of their sentences on the board. The student is not allowed to speak or write anything. If Team A guess the sentence before one minute is up, the student draws their next sentence for Team A to guess. Team A scores one point for each sentence they guess correctly within the one-minute time frame. A student from Team B then comes up to the board and so on. The team with the most points at the end of the game wins.

This ESL drawing game is ideal for revising vocabulary. There are two versions of this game, one is for young learners and the other is for older students. For young learners, divide the students into two teams. Have each team sit in a circle. Put a plastic hammer in the centre of each circle. Draw a picture on the board. If a student knows what the picture is, they hit the floor with the plastic hammer and call out the answer. The first team to answer correctly scores one point. Play until all the vocabulary has been reviewed. The team with the most points wins the game. For older students, you can use this version of the game. Put the students into two teams. A student from each team comes up to the board. Show the two students a picture of the target vocabulary. Each student then draws the picture on the board. The two students are not allowed to speak or write anything. The first team to guess the word scores a point. Two new students then come up to the board and so on. The team with the most points at the end of the game wins.

Here is a fun drawing game to help students revise vocabulary you have been teaching in class. Invite a student from one team to come up to the board and take a word card. The student then has 15 seconds to draw the word on the card, without speaking or writing anything. The student's team then has three chances to guess the word. If the team guesses correctly on their first try, they score three points. On their second attempt, they get two points. On their last try, they score one point. If the team fails to guess the word, the other teams race to answer. The other teams are allowed one guess each. If another team manages to guess the word, they score one point. A student from the next team then comes up to the board and takes a word card and so on. The team with the most points at the end of the game wins.

In this engaging drawing game, students guess the names of famous films, TV shows, books or people from drawings. Take one student from each team out of the classroom. Tell the two students the name of a famous film, TV show, book or person. The two students then go back into the classroom and start drawing clues to the famous film, TV show, book or person on the board. The first team to correctly guess what's being drawn scores a point. Two new students are then taken out of the classroom and so on. The team with the most points at the end of the game wins.

In this drawing game, students have to accurately describe a picture for a partner to draw. In pairs, one student is the 'speaker' and the other is the 'drawer'. Give each speaker a copy of the chosen picture. Give each drawer a piece of paper. Set a time limit, depending on the kind of picture the students are drawing. The speaker then describes the picture to the drawer. The drawer cannot look at the picture, but they can use English to ask questions to help them draw a more accurate picture. When the time limit has been reached, students stop drawing. The drawers then show their pictures to the class. The student with the most accurate picture wins the game. Afterwards, students swap roles and repeat the game with another picture.