ESL Kids

The Magic Word Game

Intro: 
I’ve heard it said that repetition is the mother of learning. I can certainly agree with that, at least as it applies to me learning Japanese. Well repetition is boring especially when your attention span lasts about 5 seconds. That’s why I like games for practicing English. Anyways, the Magic Word Game is like musical chairs but without the music. 

Ages: 6 and up

Category: ESL Classroom Games

Who should play? 
Students who are being introduced to the lesson’s vocabulary for the first time and there are between 8 and 40 (or more) students.

Equipment:
Chairs, vocabulary cards, magic word indicator, tambourine, chalk/white board

The magic word indicator is just any method you want to use to make it obvious which word is the magic word. You could just draw a star on your chalk board and put the magic word inside of that. I use the tambourineto control the pace (and tension) of the game. 

Object:
To sit down when you hear the magic word.

How to Play:
To play the Magic Word Game, the students make a large circle with their chairs and one student chooses a word to be the magic word. The teacher or ALT is the Game Master. On the command of Let’s Go! the students start marching in a big circle nextto the chairs. Here is an example of the dialog between the Game Master and the students.

Target vocabulary: Fruit
Teacher: Let’s play the Magic Word Game. Who wants to pick the magic word?
Students: I do, I do.
Teacher: Ok, what fruit do you like?
Student: I like kiwis.
Teacher: The magic word is KIWI.
Teacher: ARE YOU READY?
Students: Yes!
Teacher: Ok LET’S GO!

Teacher: What’s this ready go…
Students: What’s this ****clap clap****
Teacher: banana
Students: banana
Teacher: What’s this ready go…
Students: What’s this ****clap clap****
Teacher: apple
Students: apple
Teacher: What’s this ready go…
Students: What’s this ****clap clap****
Teacher: kiwi
Students: kiwi


After all the students are seated, have them stand back up and remove some of the chairs. Also choose a new student to pick a new magic word.

Magic Word Game tip #1: Think Tension!

Game Play:
Like I’ve mentioned in other articles, tension is the spice of gaming. During round 1, there is 1 chair per student and like the example, I go three times with the third time being the magic word. Everyone sits down; no surprises. But when everyone stands back up and chairs start to disappear, the tension starts. And how about this. Let’s say the magic word is “apple.” And using the tambourine, you start the rhythm very slow and then just a little bit quicker until everything is going very fast but always in rhythm with the tambourine. Then, the Game Master breaks the rhythm with a huge pause. Everyone is waiting because they KNOW that you about to yell out the magic word. Suddenly, the Game Master yells out “APRICOT.” You could also use the magic word first. It makes for a short round but you’ll certainly find out who was listening.

Magic Word Game tip #2: got lots of time take the chairs away slowly; short on time, take away lots of chairs.

As far as taking away chairs go it depends on the size of the group. Most of my classes are 40 students per class. So generally we take away 6-9 chairs the first time. By taking away 9 chairs at a time, there are a lot of people who are “out,” which I think is better than just one person being “out,” out of 40. You can also let a student who is “out” pick the next magic word so that they are still involved in the game. After that it really depends on how much time is left. If you’re running out of time, take away lots of chairs and if you have a lot of time, take away less. 

Being “Out”
So what happens to all of the students who are “out?” They can sit in the middle of the circle. They can also choose the new magic word. They could march in the opposite direction of the students who are still “in.” Whatever you do, the Game Master should encourage them to participate in some way.
Magic Word Game tip #3: Lots of people “out” at the same time = fair game.
Winning:
If you have been trying to be democratic about the way you remove the chairs, you should have small groups of chairs (about 12 total (for a class of 40)) equally spaced all around the room and you could simply announce that the few who still have seats are the champions. But because this is mostly a game of luck rather than skill, I like to say that the students with the chairs are the “nabe” (cooking pot) and the students in the middle of the room are the “champon” or noodles.