Are you looking for some of the best ESL weather games and activities, worksheets and lesson plans? Then you’re certainly in the right place. Keep on reading for all the details you need to know for planning your ESL weather lesson.
ESL Weather Games & Activities
Without further ado, let’s get to the weather ESL activities and games!
#1: Weather Charades
If you want to have some fun in your class, then consider playing charades. I’m sure you’ve played before. It’s where someone has to act something out for their teammates to guess. In this case, you’d want to choose weather-related vocabulary. The level of the words depends on the level of the students.
Find out more about how to play charades with your English learners here:
#2: Flashcard Activities for Weather
I LOVE to use flashcards in all my English classes for young learners. They are super versatile and students seem to really enjoy using them. Weather is one of those topics that lends itself really nicely because the words are very concrete and can be easily shown with a simple picture.
To see all the things you can do with them, be sure to check out this article:
Games and activities for ESL weather
#3: ESL Hot Potato
A fun game that you might want to consider playing is hot potato. The way it works is that students have to pass around an object of some kind. Then, when the music stops or timer goes off, the person holding the potato has to do something.
In this case, it may be to identify the kind of weather on a flashcard. Or, choose another student to ask a weather-related question. The task obviously depends on the level of the students. Find out more here:
#4: Postcards ESL Writing Activity
The weather is a common subject that people write about on postcards. That’s what makes this activity a natural fit for the weather unit. Find out more here:
#5: Weather Listening Lesson
I like to include some listening based lessons into all of my conversation classes. After all, listening is half of the conversation but we often neglect dedicated time to this in our classes! The weather fits in nicely with this because you can use things like weather reports or forecasts for the listening passages. Or, a small talk conversation about the weather.
Whatever the case, you’ll want to check out this template which will save you a ton of time when planning this style of lesson:
ESL Listening Lesson Plan Template.
#6: Dialogue Substitution
Have you noticed that weather is often introduced in ESL textbooks through a dialogue of some kind. You may have also noticed that most students just read through them without really taking it in. A nice way to change this up is to remove some of the key words and then have students fill in the blanks while they’re reading.
Want to find out more? Check this out:
Or, have a look here for more ideas: ESL Reading Comprehension Games and Activities.
#7: Category Games and Activities
There are lots of engaging, student-centred and fun activities that can be used for teaching students about general categories of things. For example, animals, jobs, hobbies, and of course, the weather. Here are some of the top picks:
#8: ESL Weather Videos
There are a ton of excellent videos online for teaching about the weather. Have a look on YouTube and you’re sure to find some ESL teaching gold.
#9: Would you Rather?
A quick warm-up for the topic of weather is would you rather. The way it works is that students have to choose between two things and explain why. For example:
- Would you rather be hot or cold?
- Would you rather face a tornado or earthquake?
Want to find out more? Check this out:
#10: Task-Based Weather Activities
There are a number of reasons why you might consider having students do some task-based activities in your classes. Here are just a few of them:
- It can be a nice change of pace from the usual
- Students can have a large degree of freedom to learn what they want or need to learn
- It encourages teamwork
- They’re extremely student-centred
With regard to weather, there are a ton of these kinds of activities to choose from. Here are just a few ideas:
Task-Based ESL Activity Ideas.
#11: Weather Reports
I definitely like to use weather reports with my students because they replicate real life. If the students are at a high enough level, consider using authentic material (real news reports), but if they’re not, then using a simpler one that you can easily find somewhere like YouTube.
#12: Picture Prompt ESL Weather Activity
Unless your students are absolute beginners, it’s likely that they’ve learned about the weather already. In this case, you may want to consider using this quick warmer activity.
Find a picture(s) with lots of weather-related things going on. Then, depending on the level, you can elicit words or sentences from the students about what they see. Or, you may even have students talk together about the picture. Find out more about this warmer here:
#13: ESL Taboo
I’m sure you know that party game Taboo. You have to describe a word but can’t use another set of related words. I’ve modified this game to make it easier for English learners where they just have to describe a word using any vocabulary they want. Want to try it out? Learn how to play it here:
#14: Conversation Starters
Weather is kind of the ultimate small talk topic! If your students want to get some practice with speaking and are into “free-talking,” consider giving them a list of conversation starters related to weather. Here are more details about how to do this:
#15: Include Weather in your Classroom Routine
When I teach kids, I love to use a routine to start the class off with. What I include depends on the level and age of the students, but I’ll often talk about:
- Feelings
- Days of the week
- Time
- Weather
- Etc.
I’ll always get the students to tell me the weather outside that day. It’s a fun way to review this important vocabulary and keep it fresh for my students. Find out more about routines here:
Routines for the ESL Classroom.
#16: Dictation Practice
#17: Memory Circle
For absolute beginners who are learning words like rain, snow, wind, sun for the first time, memory circle can be a nice way to get them hearing and saying these words multiple times. Plus, it’s a fun memory challenge as well. Find out more about it here:
#18: Agony Aunt Problem/Advice
Giving advice is a very common part of the English language and I sometimes like to combine it with the topic of the weather. To do this, I think of a problem related to weather, specifically someone who gets a little bit down in the wintertime. Then, I put students into groups and get them to prepare a short presentation of the advice that they’d give that person.
Find out more here about this ESL weather activity:
#19: Current Events Presentations
Weather-related disasters are often in the news and so they can make a nice presentation topic for our students. For all kinds of advice and information about how to set this up in your class, check this out:
ESL Currents Events Presentations.
Weather ESL activities
#20: ESL Speaking Bingo
Who doesn’t love Bingo, right? However, it’s not that educational unless you do it this way: by describing the words instead of just saying them out loud. Want to try out this fun variation? You can find out all the information here:
#21: Running Dictation
Running dictation is basically the holy grail of ESL games because it covers all four skills in a single activity. Plus, it’s fun and engaging as well as student-centred to the max. In this case, you’d want to find a dialogue of two people talking about the weather. Try out this fun ESL weather game today:
#22: Telephone ESL Speaking Game
A fun way to review weather vocabulary is to play telephone. I’m sure you know this game already? In teams, students have to pass a phrase or sentence along from person to person and then see how close they were to the original one. Want to find out how to play? More details here:
Telephone Speaking and Listening Activity for ESL.
ESL weather games
#23: What Am I?
This is a quick warm-up activity that works well with teaching weather, seasons, and things like umbrella, rain jacket, mitts, sunglasses, etc. Students have to ask their classmates questions to find out what their secret word is.
Sounds like fun? Find out all the details about one of the best weather games:
#24: Weather ESL Lesson Discussion Time
Weather is one of those topics that everyone has an opinion or thought about. That’s what makes it a nice unit to have some small group discussions in.
However, if you tell students to just talk about the weather for five minutes with their group, the results aren’t often that great! It’s better to have a lot more structure to it. Here are some tips and ideas for doing that:
ESL Small Group Discussion Tips.
#25: Dictogloss
Try out this activity in your next ESL weather lesson plan. It’s challenging and best for intermediate or advanced level students. Find, or write a passage of someone talking about the weather.
Then, put students into pairs and read it out at a faster than normal pace for the level of the students. They can take notes and then compare with their partner to try to recreate what they heard. Read it again and students repeat the process. In the end, students can compare what they came up with to the original version.
Try it out today:
#26: Word Association
#27: Winter Season Clothes
Check out this list, with pictures to help your students remember the names of the things that we wear when it’s cold outside.
ESL Weather Worksheets
If you want to save a ton of time and have some great English classes, then consider using some of these weather ESL worksheets. Seriously, there’s no need to create your own from scratch when there are these excellent resources out there. Here are some of our top picks:
Weather ESL Lesson Plans
If you’re looking for some ESL weather lesson plans that you can just print off and take to class with you, then you’ll want to check out our top picks:
Did you like these ESL Weather Games and Activities?
- Amazon Kindle Edition
- Bolen, Jackie (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 71 Pages - 10/26/2015 (Publication Date)
Yes? Thought so. Then you’re going to love this book over on Amazon: 39 ESL Vocabulary Activities for Teenagers and Adults. The key to better English classes is a wide variety of interesting, engaging and student centred activities and this book will help you achieve that.
Keep a copy on the bookshelf in your office to use as a handy reference guide when making lesson plans. Or, take the digital version with you to your favourite coffee shop on your phone, tablet, or laptop or some lesson planning on the go.
Yes, it really is that easy to have better English classes. Check out the book for yourself, but only if you want to get a serious dose of ESL teaching awesome in your life:
Have your say about these Weather ESL Activities
Did you like these weather ESL lesson ideas? Do you have another activity, game or resource that you’d like to recommend? Please leave a comment below and let us know what you think. We’d love to hear from you.
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Last update on 2025-04-09 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
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