Warm-up Games for ESL Kids

Knock-Knock. This can be used at the beginning of each class.  Teach the students to knock on the door before entering the classroom.  There are 2 variations for the next step: 1.  When the student knocks, teacher says "Who's there?".  The student replies "It's (Koji)" and then the teacher says "Come in (Koji)".  2.  When the student knocks the teacher must guess who it is "Is that (Koji)?".  The student replies yes or no - if no, the teacher continues guessing.  Having your develop their own knocking styles makes this even more fun.

Name Game. Good for a first class.  Sit the students in a circle.  Point to yourself and say your name "I'm Jason".  Then students say their names around the circle. You can use a ball to pass around the circle as each student says his/her name. After going around the circle a few times get each student to throw a ball to another student. The student that catches the ball has to say the name of the student who threw it. This will really test if they were listening!

Name Memorizing Game. Have children sit in a circle. Start by saying "my name is.." and then answer a question about yourself. For example "My name is Jo and I like the color purple." The next person says "This is Jo and he likes the color purple and my name is Rose and I am 8 years old." The next person says "That is Jo he likes purple, this is Rose and she is 8 and I am Jeremy and I like the color blue." It's a chain and the kids have to repeat what the last people have said about themselves. It's really hard to be the last person in the circle! (Submitted by Danielle)

Puppet Conversation. Hand puppets really liven up a classroom, especially for young learners who are shy when talking to the teacher.  You'll probably find that some prefer talking to the puppet than to you!  Fun puppet characters (such as Sesame Street's Cookie Monster) that talk to students can produce unexpected results.  I always use Cookie Monster at the beginning of my young classes.  Here's what I do:

1. Cookie Monster is sleeping in a bag.  Each student has to shout "Wake up Cookie Monster!" into the bag.  Cookie Monster only wakes up when the whole class shout together into the bag.
2. Cookie Monster says hello to each student and asks them questions (their names, how they are, how old they are, etc.).  Students reply and ask Cookie Monster the same questions.
3. Students and Cookie Monster sing the 'Hello Song' together.
4. Cookie Monster says goodbye to each student individually and then goes back to sleep in the bag.  The actual lesson can now start.

Spin the Bottle. Sit in a circle with a bottle in the middle.  Teacher spins the bottle.  When it stops spinning the student it is pointing to has to answer a question.  If the answer is correct then that student can spin the bottle.  This is a good class warm up activity (e.g. What did you do last weekend? Did it rain yesterday? What did you have for breakfast this morning?).