Editable vocabulary game

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Looking for a meaningful vocabulary game to help your learners master those words?

Try this editable activity!

Have you seen my series about how to teach vocabulary? It starts with a post about 10 mistakes to avoid. From there, I give ideas for teaching vocabulary to primary and intermediate learners. I also provide free vocabulary journals and more!

Check out the free vocabulary series here if you haven’t seen it yet.

Today I’m sharing a free game that you can use with any vocabulary words. Just type them on the cards, and print!

Here’s how to play:

Type your students’ vocabulary words on the cards in the file. Then print the game and cards.
Give your learners a die and playing pieces.
Students take turns moving around the board using the die. When they land on a picture, they check the key to see what activity they should do. Then they draw a vocabulary card and perform the activity.

Activities include:

Draw the word’s meaning. Can the other players guess the word?
Name a synonym OR give an example of the word.
Give a strong definition of the word.
Give the other players clues (without using the word) to see if they can guess it.
Use the vocabulary word in a thoughtful sentence that’s at least 7 words long.
Act it out! Can the other players guess the word?

Which vocabulary words should you use?

You have lots of options!

If you do a focused vocabulary study, choose the words you’d like to review. You might use the words from the last month.
You might use the week’s spelling words.
Consider using words from a social studies or science unit.
Another option is to use the vocabulary words from a guided reading lesson or novel study.

Teaching tips

For best results, practice doing the game’s activities as a class before asking them to play the game in pairs or small groups. This may feel like a waste of time, but it will save you a lot of headaches down the line.
Use this game to review words that students are quite familiar with rather than to teach new words. If you try this with new words, your students will struggle to complete many of the activities.