Can/Can’t ESL Activity
Are you looking for a quick game when you’re teaching can/can’t. Then keep on reading to find out more about this fun one!
Can Can’t ESL Game
This can can’t ESL game is great for practicing speaking, listening and writing. It’s a game for children or adults, but the content is usually covered with children more than adults. Can/Can’t is a very basic grammatical concept.
Don’t teach beginners? Check this out:
Related: ESL Activities for Advanced Level Students
To play this can can’t ESL game, put the students in teams of 2, 3, or 4 depending on how big your classes are. They have to pick 1 animal, and 1 thing, but must keep it a secret from the other teams My 2 examples that I give the students are:
Animal: Giraffe
- It can eat leaves
- In Korea, it can’t live outside of a zoo
- It can see easily over tall things
Thing: Air Conditioner
- I can see it now
- It can be bad for the environment
- It can help me in the summer but it can’t help me in the winter.
The students write their 2 secret words, as well as their 3 hints for each one. Then you collect the papers and use them to play a game.
There are various ways you can do it, but I will go in a circle based on where the teams are sitting. The team whose paper I’m reading has to be quiet and can’t give hints. The first team get the first hint and then they can have a guess. If no answer, the next team gets hint #2 and a guess and so on it goes.
If the three hints don’t do it, I’ll give additional hints so make sure your students write the answers on the paper as well.
Check out this Video for Teaching Kids Can/Can’t
Consider using this in your classes:
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Have your Say about the Can/Can’t ESL Game
What are your thoughts about this ESL activity? Or, do you have any go-to games for when teaching this grammar point? Leave a comment below and let us know your thoughts.
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Need More Ideas for the ESL Classroom?
Then you’re certainly in the right place. You’ll need to check out this book over on Amazon: 101 ESL Activities for Kids. It’s packed with top-quality games and activities to make your classes engaging, interesting, and best of all, help your students learn English.
The key to students who want to learn is a variety of interesting activities. Mix things up and don’t do the same, boring things every single class. There are enough activities in this book for an entire semester.
The good news is that the book is well-organized into various sections: reading, writing, speaking, listening, reviews, warm-up, grammar, etc. This means that you’ll be able to easily and quickly find what you’re looking for in a few minutes before your lesson.
The even better news is that it’s easier than ever to get the book. You can get a physical copy, or you can have a digital copy on any device by downloading the free Kindle reading app.
Check it out today:
Have your Say about this ESL Grammar Activity
What are your thoughts about can/can’t? Would it work with your ESL students? Leave a comment below and let us know what you think.
Also be sure to give this article a share on Twitter, Pinterest, or Facebook. It’ll help other teachers, like yourself find this useful teaching resource.
