Play & Learn - English vocabulary practice through games

Let's bring fun to the classroom, once again. Today, I have prepared a few English games, good for improving vocabulary and imagination. These games only require paper and pencils, so they can be played everywhere – the classroom, at home, as part of homeschooling lessons or just for fun. At the same time, the word games can be played at parties, sleepovers or camps.

The Alphabet List

This is a game we used to play when I was a kid, with my friends down the street or at school, whenever the teacher had to leave us unsupervised for whatever reason. We played in Romanian, of course, so you can use it for vocabulary practice in English or your native tongue.
On the left column you have to write the letters of the alphabet and you can skip those that might create difficulties for the children – like Q, W or Y. It's up to you.
You can choose as many categories as you want: fruits, vegetables, clothing, countries, names, furniture items, colors and so on.
Depending on the number of categories chosen, give the children 15 to 30 minutes to to fill the paper. The winner is the one who comes up with the most words. (It can also be used as a test paper.)

The Add Game

This game is best played with only two players as sometimes it is difficult to find many words. (Obviously, the game can be played without writing the words down.)
The first player gets to choose a letter to start the game. The second player has to add another letter, so as to create a new word. Then, the first player has to add another letter and this goes on until one of them cannot create another word.
In the classroom, you can have pairs of pupils writing the words on the chalkboard. The winners of each pair can than compete among themselves and so on, until you have a class champion.

The Old Lady's Cat

It's an extremely funny game, especially if the kids are encouraged to use the silliest adjectives they know. For instance, the cat can be cute, but then most cats are cute, so crazy or cranky is more fun.
You can change the sentence, offering the children the chance to practice more words.
Aunt Jenny's house is a ….. house.
Dad's car is a …. car.
Our family is a... family.
The game can be played with two or more kids. You can also choose not to do it in written form. For added fun, it can be played with a timer, each kid having like five seconds to come up with a word. The teacher can pick children at random, thus making sure they're all paying attention.

Have fun!

(All images are my own creation.)