Interactive Grammar Games and Activities

If you’re looking for some of the best interactive grammar games and activities, then you’re certainly in the right place. Keep on reading for some of the top student-centred and engaging ESOL grammar games for students.

Interactive Grammar Games to Try Out Today

Let’s get to the best interactive ESL grammar games, including grammar games for adults to try out with your students!

#1: Vocabulary Auction Interactive Grammar Game

This is one of the best grammar games that I know! It’s fun, engaging, interactive and students love doing it. Best of all, it’s ideal for helping students build better sentences. Although it does take a bit of preparation time, it’s totally worth it if you can recycle the activity for more than one class.

In terms, students have to bid on words that they think will help them form grammatically correct sentences. Then, they engage in a trading round with other teams. Finally, they put their sentences together and the team with the most correct ones is the winner.

Sounds fun? It is! Find out more:

Vocabulary Auction Game.

#2: Dictogloss Interactive Grammar Activity

This is a fun ESL grammar activity that’s ideal for higher-level students. It focuses mostly on listening but students have to either write or speak in order to respond. It can be tailored to just about any grammatical point that you’re teaching which makes it quite versatile.

Sounds like something to try out with your students? Have a look here:

ESL Dictogloss Activity.

#3: Memory Circle ESOL Grammar Game

This is an interactive grammar game that challenges students’ memories. It’s a nice review for any sort of English grammar and can be used by any age or level of students. Check it out for yourself:

Memory Circle Game.

#4: SOS Interactive Grammar Game

Do you remember playing SOS as a kid? You have to get three in a row in order to get a point. I’ve adapted it into an interactive grammar game. In order to make the square, students have to answer an English grammar question. The kind of question of course depends on the level of students.

Learn more about it:

SOS Review Game.

#5: Hot Potato Game

Try out this fun and interactive ESL grammar game with your students! It’s ideal for creating a bit of excitement in the classroom.

Students have to pass around a potato (or another object) until the timer stops or music goes off. Then, they have to do a task of some kind. In this case, it should be something related to the target grammar. For example, students could answer a question with a grammatically correct sentence. Check it out:

ESL Hot Potato Game.

#6: Information Gap Activities

#7: Sentence Building Interactive Grammar Games

Time spent building better sentences in class will never be a waste of time! They are the foundation of the English language and that’s why it’s vital that students know the basic building blocks of them.

These interactive grammar games focus on building good sentences. Have a look at all the ideas here:

Sentence Building Games and Activities.

#8: Puzzle Finder

This is a versatile activity that’s ideal for reviewing English grammar. It’s interactive and engaging as well! Write down the beginning of a sentence on a puzzle piece and the second half of the sentence on another one that matches. Or, beginners may have a subject (he) plus verb (goes).

Then, students have to mingle around the class to find their match. Sounds fun? It is! Learn more about it:

Puzzle Finder Activity.

#9: Board Games

It’s super easy to make your own interactive board games to cover just about any grammar point. The board can be filled with any of the following:

• Fill in the blanks
• A question (students have to answer them)
• A statement that the students have to come up with a question for
• Etc.

Find out how to make your own board games here:

ESL Board Games.

#10: Verb Activities

All English sentences have a verb which is why it’s ideal to spend some dedicated time focusing on them in class. Check out these interactive grammar games that focus on verbs:

ESL Verb Games and Activities.

#11: Interactive TEFL Grammar Games

#12: Subject-Verb Agreement Activities

In English sentences, the verb form changes with the subject. For example:

• I play soccer.
• He plays soccer.

It’s important for our students to master this important skill if they want to make grammatically correct sentences. Here are some of the best interactive game and activity ideas:

Subject-Verb Agreement Games and Activities.

#13: Dialogue Substitution

New grammar is often introduced in ESL textbooks through a dialogue of some kind. However, maybe your students are kind of like mine and just breeze through them mindlessly? It’s not the students’ fault, it’s just that they don’t have a reason to read.

To combat this, I sometimes remove some of the key words, particularly for more advanced students. This turns it from a simple reading activity, into one focused on meaning. In this case, it can be used as an interactive grammar activity. Find out all the details:

Dialogue Substition Activity.

#14: Adjective Games and Activities

Adjectives are what makes the English language rich and vibrant. Help students use them correctly in sentences with these adjective games. They’ll help students learn English grammar in an interactive and fun way. Have a look at all the ideas here:

ESL Adjective Activities and Games.

#15: Comparative Adjective Quiz

#16: Typhoon Review Game

If you’re looking for a fun, interactive game to review English grammar, then Typhoon should be at the top of your list. Every time I use it in class, students talk about it for weeks afterwards and keep asking if we can play it again. Find out all the details here:

ESL Typhoon Game.

#17: Picture Prompt

This activity is a nice way to introduce some different grammar concepts. For example, the present continuous.

Find a picture with people doing lots of activities, maybe in a park. Then, ask students what people are doing. Elicit some answers and then restate them with the correct grammatical construction:

• picnic (The family is having a picnic.)
• jogging (The man is jogging.)
• using a phone (The woman is using her phone.)

Find out more about it here:

ESL Picture Prompt.

#18: Running Dictation

If you’re looking for one of the best grammar games for adults, then you’ll certainly need to consider running dictation. It’s interactive, engaging and student-centred and it’s also just a lot of fun!

Students have to work together to dictate a conversation (choose one with lots of the target grammar). Once they’re done that, they have to put the utterances into the correct order to make a coherent conversation. Find out more:

ESL Running Dictation Game.

#19: Just One Question

I sometimes use this activity as a warm-up, but in this case, I use it as an interactive English grammar activity at the end of the lesson. In pairs, students have to choose one interesting question using the target grammar.

Then, they have to interview at least five other groups and record their results. After that, they summarize the results and can report them quickly to the class. Check out this grammar learning activity:

Just One Question.

#20: Conversation Starters

Maybe you’ve had a similar experience to me? When I told my students to ask each other some questions using a certain vocabulary set or grammatical point, I was met with total silence! Of course, it wasn’t their fault. I didn’t give them enough direction or guidance.

A better way is to give students some conversation starter questions using the target grammar. Find out more:

TEFL Conversation Starters.

#21: ESL Basketball Game

This is a fun game that is interactive and can be used with any simple grammatical structure. It’s best for kids but I also use this activity with teenagers or university students who are beginners. It’s ideal if you have a big classroom or access to a gym of some kind. Check it out:

ESL Basketball Game.

#22: There Is There Are ESL Activities

If you’re looking for some interactive grammar games and activities for beginners, then definitely check out these ones for there is there are. This grammar seems easy but it can get a little bit tricky with negative forms, quantifiers and countable/uncountable nouns.

The good news is that there are lots of interactive grammar games to practice them! Have a look here:

ESL There Is There Are Games.

#23: Grammar Relay Race

Divide the class into teams. Students run to a board, complete a sentence with the correct grammar, and race back to tag the next player.

#24: Grammar Pictionary

Assign grammar rules or sentence structures to students. They draw pictures representing the rules while classmates guess what they are.

#25: Grammar Match-Up

Prepare sentence strips with one part of a sentence on each strip. Students must match the strips to form coherent sentences.

#26: Grammar Card Swap

Give students cards with different sentence parts. They mingle, exchanging cards to create complete sentences with correct grammar.

#27: Grammar Detectives

Provide a passage with intentional grammar mistakes. Students work in pairs to find and correct the errors.

#28: Grammar Story Chain

Begin a story using a specific grammar rule. Students take turns adding sentences, incorporating the same grammar concept.

#29: Grammar Scavenger Hunt

Hide sentences or passages around the classroom. Students find them and identify the grammar rules used.

#30: Grammar Story Cubes

Create dice with different sentence elements (subject, verb, adjective, etc.). Students roll the dice and use the elements to construct sentences.

Did you like these Grammar Practice Games and Activities? 

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You can find the book in both digital and e-versions. Pick up a copy to keep on your bookshelf to use as a handy reference guide. Or, take the digital version with you to our favourite coffee shop for some lesson planning on the go. Either way, get ready for some grammar teaching awesome in your life.

Head over to Amazon to find out more about it now:

ESOL Grammar Games FAQs

There are a number of common questions that people about using English grammar games for adults in their classes. Here are the answer to some of the most popular ones.

How do you make an ESL grammar class fun?

It’s possible to make English class fun by using a variety of interactive and engaging ESOL grammar games and activities. Mix things up and use some games like running dictation, typhoon, board games, puzzle finders and more to teach and review English grammar.

What are grammar activities?

Grammar activities are things done in a TEFL class that are designed to help students improve their English grammar skills. These activities can range from worksheets to task-based activities to fun games like running dictation.

How do I make an ESOL grammar game?

If you want to make an ESOL grammar game, here’s what I recommend:

• Be clear on the target language you want to review.
• Select a game that you want to use such as running dictation, dictogloss, or a board game.
• Fit the target language into the game’s framework.
• Introduce the grammar game to the students with lots of examples.
• Play the game in class and offer lots of feedback.

How do I make English grammar lessons more interactive?

To make English grammar lessons more interactive, do everything you can to make them more student-centred. This will involve a lot of pair or small group work and then some ESL grammar games and activities to reinforce concepts.

Have your Say about Interactive Grammar Games

What’s your top pick for a fun grammar game or activity for your students? Is it one of the options from this list or do you have another one that you’d like to recommend? Leave a comment below and let us know what you think. We’d love to hear from you.

Also, be sure to give this article a share on Facebook, Pinterest, or Twitter. It’ll help other busy teachers, like yourself find these interactive grammar games.

Last update on 2023-09-30 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API