Spin, spin, spin

Put flashcards in a circle so their edges are touching.  On a coin, use tape to make an arrow.  The first player (or team representative) stands in the center* and spins the coin.  When the coin falls, wherever the arrow is pointing the player must say that card (or make a sentence).  If they are right, the can put their counter on card.  Then the next player tries.  The team or player with the most counters on cards at the end wins.  You can also give them counters to get rid of and the first team to put them all on cards wins.  This version is harder to control time wise, but is more exciting.  You can also have other players' counters removed if the same card comes up.

*it still works on a table if it is a small group.

Snakes and Ladders

Use a normal snakes and ladders board.  The kids take turn to roll the dice and take a card.  You can vary the rules depending on how fast you want them to proceed.  For example

• if they can say/spell/make a sentence from the card they can move double the numbers on the dice
• if they can't say/spell/make a sentence from the card they can't move
• if they can't say/spell/make a sentence from the card they move backwards the number on the dice
  
• use a dice that doesn't just have numbers, but also "I", "you", "he", "she", "we", "they" and they make a sentence
• put numbers and forfeits on some cards and use instead of a dice

All gone!

Put some cards on the table. Assign letters of the alphabet to each student (eg give them each a flashcard, so the dog flashcard has the letter D O G). 

One student asks for a card from the table. The student who finds the card gives it to them.  Then the next student asks for a card (either the finder or in order).  The student can only ask for a card which contains at least one of their letters. So the student looking for D O G can ask for 'goldfish' or 'tiger' but not 'cat' or 'elephant'. The group should try to take all the cards without making any mistakes and without making a student to miss a turn.

Two of a kind

You need a set of flash cards made up of pairs of each item.  Put one of each item on the table and have the students close their eyes.  Then add one of the pair cards to the table.  The students open their eyes and race to find which card there is two of.  If they say it out loud (not touch), they get to put down the next card.  Try making noise in a place you don't put it to confuse them.

What's Gone

A very simple game.  Put the flash cards on the table, then remove one when the students have their eyes closed.  The first person to say what's gone gets to remove the next card.  Try removing two or three for a challenge.

Go Fish

You need a set of flash cards made up of pairs of each item. Take out one card from the pack and deal out five cards to each student.  The students take turns to ask any other student "do you have a ..."  If they have it, they hand it over.  If not, the student asking the question takes a card.

The aim is to get rid of all your cards and avoid ending up with the odd at the end.

Chase the snake

You need a set of flash cards made up of pairs of each item. Take out one card from the pack and deal out the cards and then students take turns at taking a card from the person next to them and discarding any pairs, and saying what it is (here you can include the grammar point you are learning).  The main aim is to get rid of all your cards and avoid ending up with the odd at the end.