If you’re looking for a fun word association game or activity, then you’re certainly in the right place. Keep on reading for everything you need to know about fun word association games.
Word Association Activity
This ESL word association activity is an ideal way to help students activate prior knowledge that they might have about a topic. Or, you can use it at the end of a unit to show students how much they have learned!
The key to having a happy ESL classroom is to mix things up in your classes. After all, nobody likes doing the same thing over and over again. Try out some new activities today…here’s a simple vocabulary one you can start with.
Skills: Reading/writing/speaking
Age: 7+ (must be able to read + write)
Materials Required: Workbook or butcher paper and pens
Word Association is an ESL vocabulary activity that can be used to introduce a new topic, lesson, theme, etc. You have to write a single relevant word in the middle of the board or paper and have students take turns adding as many words or images related to that word as possible.
For example…the centre word could be “school.” Some of the other branches could be subjects (Math, English, History, Gym, etc) while another branch could be school supplies (pen, paper, ruler, etc.) Finally, you might have one about recess or break time (play games, tag, climb, jump, swing set). And keep going with more associations from there.
The subject or topic can be whatever you’re teaching that day. Another topic it works well for is body parts. Check out some more parts of the body activities here.
For large classes, have students work in groups with separate pieces of paper taped to the wall or the top of the table/ grouped desks. After a given amount of time (3-5 minutes, or when you see no one is adding anything new), discuss their answers.
It’s also a nice activity for teaching English online so give it a try today!
Teaching Tips for This ESL Vocabulary Activity
For large classes, butcher paper works best, so more students can write at one time. If that isn’t possible, have 5-6 board markers available.
If using butcher paper, prepare in advance, including taping to the wall, unless students will be working at their desks. Finally, if students will be working at their desks, write the word on each table’s page in advance, but don’t hand them out until you have given your instructions.
This activity is often quite a fun way to start off a holiday themed class. For even more ideas, check out: ESL Christmas Activities and Games.
Procedure for Word Association Game
1. Write a single word relevant to your new topic, lesson, or theme on the white board or butcher paper.
2. Have students take turns adding as many words or images related to that word as possible. My rule is that each student has to add at least one word, no matter how small.
3. After 3-5 minutes (or less, if no one is adding anything new), discuss their answers.
4. For larger classes, put students into groups of 4-6 and let them work together on this. You can choose the most well-organized one to show as an example to the rest of the class. And these papers can act as resources for the rest of the class.
Word Associations Activity for ESL
Follow-Up to this Word Association Activity
You may wish to spend quite a bit of time teaching your students how to do mind-mapping, or brainstorming the first time they do it. This is because it can be a very useful skill that they can take with them to all of their classes. It’s often a great first step before doing almost any kind of writing task or project.
Remember to teach your students that they’re not to edit their ideas at this point. Just to write down anything that comes to mind. And that they should also be doing this very quickly.
Word Associations Worksheets
Do you want to give your students some extra practice with this kind of thing? The good news is that there are a ton of great word association exercises online that you can just print off and use in your classes. If that’s not some ESL teaching gold then I’m not sure what it! Here are some of the best options:
ISL Collective
ESL Printables
ESL Galaxy
Did you Like this Word Associations Game?
Do you love this English vocabulary Activity? Then you’re going to love this book over on Amazon: 39 ESL Warm-Ups for Kids. There are almost 40 top-quality ESL warm-ups and icebreakers to help you get your classes started off in style. Help ease your students into using English and get them ready for the main part of the lesson ahead.
English warm-up activities and games are the perfect way to review ESL Vocabulary from previous classes. Do it the tricky way—without students even realizing what you’re doing!
The authors of the book have decades of experience teaching kids, teenagers, university students and adults. Learn from their experience about how to help your students actually learn English.
39 ESL Warm-Ups is available in both print and digital formats. The (cheaper!) digital copy can be ready on any device by downloading the free Kindle reading app. It’s super easy to have fun, engaging ESL warm-ups at your fingertips anywhere you might plan your lessons.
You can check out the book for yourself over on Amazon:
—>39 ESL Warm-Ups: For Kids (7+)<—
Word Association ESL Vocabulary Activity: Join the Conversation
Do you like this activity, or do you have some other favourite word association games? Leave a comment below and let us know your thoughts. We’d love to hear from you about anything word association game!
Also be sure to give this article a share on Twitter, Facebook, or Pinterest. It’ll help other busy teachers, like yourself find this useful resource.
Word association game
Last update on 2022-07-17 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
A word association game is a game in which a word is given to a student and then that student must say an associated word or phrase. Word association games are a fantastic way to help students practice using their existing vocabulary and to learn new English words.
While playing word association games, students are likely to encounter words that they have not heard before. These words are associated with the vocabulary they already know, and so it is very easy for students to guess the meanings of these new words. This makes word association games fantastic for learning new words.
Let’s look at some different ways in which you can play word association games with your students.
Simple Word Association
The simplest way to play word association games in class is to simply give one student a word and ask that student to say the first thing that comes to mind. For example, if you say the word “drink” a student might say the word “juice”. Then, the next student should say the first word which comes to their mind, for example, “orange”.
If you’re playing this game with kids, then to make it even more fun you could get them to pass a ball as they play. When a student has the ball it is their turn, and once they have said their word they should pass the ball to the next player.
However, if you are playing word association games while social distancing in the classroom, then it is probably best not to pass a ball around. Instead, you could ask your students to stand up from their desks when it is their turn.
Word Association Topics
Another fun way to play word association games in class is to choose a particular topic and ask students to say words associated with that topic. Usually, when playing word association games, students would start at one word, and after a few turns, the words might become completely unrelated to the original topic.
But when playing a word association game with a particular topic, all words must be related to the main topic. For example, if you choose the topic ‘food’ then every word must be a kind of food. If a student says ‘milk’ for example, then that student would be out as it is a drink and not a food.
Here are some topics you could use for your next word association game:
- Types Of Food
- Types Of Drinks
- Countries
- Hobbies
- Sports
- Superheroes
- Colors
- Furniture in a house
- School Subjects
- Types Of Weather
Guess The Secret Word
A really fun way to get your students thinking while playing a word association game is to have them try and guess a secret word. Rather than have students say any associated word that comes to mind, instead think of a secret word and tell them some words associated with that.
Then students should try to guess what the secret word is. To make it more fun you could even ask students to guess other words which might be associated to the secret word.
For example, if the secret word was ‘yellow’ you could say the word “banana” to your students. Then they might guess something like “apple” and you can tell them it is not related. But when they say something like “lemon” you can tell them that it is associated with it.
After some time students will be able to guess the secret word. This way of playing a word association game is a fantastic way to get students to practice their thinking skills while learning new vocabulary.
Ryhming Words
This way of playing word association games can lead to some hilarious answers. Simply give students a word and ask them to come up with a word which rhymes. In this game, the words don’t necessarily have to be related. They just need to rhyme.
For example, you might say the word “cold” and students might say “old”, “mold”, “bold”, “told”, etc. The first student who can’t come up with a rhyming word is out.
Chain Game
This last word association style game is one you have probably played at some point in your life. In this game a student would say one word and then the next student must say a word which starts with the last letter of the previous word.
For example, if the word was ‘pizza’ then the next student must say a word beginning with ‘a’. Then, the next student might say “apple” and so the next student must say a word beginning with ‘e’. And so, on. The first student who cannot say a word is out.
Thanks for reading. I hope you found some inspiration for your next word association game.
Before you go, don’t forget to check out our free lesson materials, including ESL Games, PowerPoint Games, ESL Worksheets, ESL PowerPoints, and ESL Printables.
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Всем привет! Сегодня у нас пятнадцатый набор английских слов в виде карточек-ассоциаций с дополнением.
Всем известно, что всё яркое и необычное запоминается быстрее и лучше. Эта-то особенность и лежит в основе наших карточек.
Итак. Давайте, вкратце напомню, о чём это.
Английские слова с ассоциациями
Мы учим английские слова методом ассоциаций. Этот метод, сразу скажу, не для тех, кто любит зубрить, а – совсем наоборот.
Если же у вас или вашего чада отлично получается учить английские слова многократными повторениями, то – и ладно! Зачем вам что-то ещё.
Ну а вот если вы поучили-поучили, да пока до школы шли всё из головы порастеряли, или же всё поперепутали, вот тогда – айда к нам!
Моя старшая дочка из последних, пожалуй (да и я, если честно). Карточку ей покажешь – всё запомнила. Нет – в голове жуткая каша.
В чём суть ассоциативной методики? К каждому слову придумываем стишок-ассоциацию(не всегда стишок, бывает и просто – ассоциация) посмешней и рисуем картинку. Так и запоминаем. Можно распечатать карточки в бумажном виде, а можно и прямо здесь поучить.
В моих планах сделать он-лайн тренажёр и возможность собирать набор карточек для распечатывания. Как вам такая идея?
Ну а подробное описание нашего метода изучения английских слов вы можете найти здесь, а это – список всех слов, которые мы прошли с возможностью скачать и распечатать карточки.
Теперь давайте перейдём к сегодняшним словам-ассоциациям.
Скачать же и распечатать карточки можно будет в конце статьи.
Page 15 Clown, climb, circus, shelf, our, friend, teddy bear, swing, soldier, lovely, under, toy + magician, funny, can, your
clown
клоун
Говорит ребятам Клава:
«Главный в цирке это –CLOWN!»
[klaʊn]
Клава в эту историю попала неспроста. А потому, что начало её имени звучит также, как и у clown. Это помогает быстро вспомнить слово.
climb
забираться, залезать, карабкаться
Клава очень любит лайм
И за ним по веткам CLIMB!
[klaɪm]
Тут про Клаву – всё тоже самое
circus
цирк
Показали классный фокус
Сёме в цирке, то есть в CIRCUS
[ˈsɜːkəs]
И тут у нас именно СЁма – для таких же целей
shelf
полка
Шапки складывает эльф
Все на полку, то есть SHELF
[ʃelf]
Тут у нас подсказкой служит первая буква слова Шапки + эльф.
our
наш, наша, наше, наши
Малыши кричат: «УА!
Мама НАША – OUR»!
[ˈaʊə]
friend
друг
Не жалеет Фрося лент –
Аня Фросе лучший FRIEND!
[frend]
Обращаем внимание на Фросю. Она тут из-за своего «Фр».
teddy bear
плюшевый мишка
Я его дарю тебе!
Он – хороший TEDDY BEAR!
[ˈtedɪˈbɛə]
swing
качать, качание
На качелях папа Свин
Целый день КАЧАЛСЯ – SWING
[swɪŋ]
soldier
солдат, солдатик
Соловей свистел мне гордо, как нашёл СОЛДАТА
SOLDIER
[ˈsəʊlʤə]
Соловей тут ( вы догадались уже? ) неспроста. Тут история такая, что нашёл он в лесу оловянного солдатика и об этом всем рассказывает. На своём, на соловьином.
lovely
прекрасный
Разве человек не прав ли
Тот, что жизнь считает LOVELY
[ˈlʌvlɪ]
Да, это, говорят, весьма выгодная жизненная позиция. От такой жизнь сразу lovely становится.
У меня не всегда получается, но я стараюсь. В чём и вам желаю успехов!
under
под
Бобик выучил команду:
«Лезь ПОД стул скорее! – UNDER!»
[ˈʌndə]
toy
игрушка
Мама! Просто ты не стой,
А купи мне лучше TOY!
[tɔɪ]
Железная ассоциация! Правда? Все дети и мамы сразу запомнили как это слово на инглише будет?
И – дополнение. Пока тут только четыре слова. Возможно, добавлю сюда недостающие попозже.
magician
фокусник, волшебник
Кролик мал наш, симпатичен
И уже большой MAGICIAN!
[məˈʤɪʃn]
funny
смешной, весёлый
Феи плавали в сметане,
Было ВЕСЕЛО им – FUNNY!
[ˈfʌnɪ]
Вот такие ассоциации самый продуктивные мне кажется. Весело когда феи в сметане! Funny… Да! Напоминаю. Феи потому что они на “ф”.
can
мочь, уметь
Что стоишь как манекен?!
Ты же МОЖЕШЬ! То есть – CAN!
[kæn]
You can do it! Ага.
your
твой, твоя, твои, твоё
Сам ты вешай всё бельё!
Не моё оно, а – YOUR!
[jɔː]
Ну… В общем, в какой-то мере она ведь и права… Честно разве? Он напачкал полный таз, а она, значит, вешай ))) . А её, быть может, тем временем, великие дела ждут?!
На этом слова пятнадцатого блока закончились, и остались обещанные ссылки для скачивания и распечатывания. А вот и они:
Скачать и распечатать карточки Page 15 + дополнение
Page 15 (12 карточек) в формате Word 97-2003,
Page 15 (12 карточек) в формате pdf,
Page 15 Дополнение (4 карточки) в формате Word 97-2003,
Page 15 Дополнение (4 карточки) в формате pdf
(качество изображения лучше в Word!)
О том, каким образом можно распечатать карточки читайте здесь
О том, как работать с карточками – здесь!
Да! И, если вам кажется, что вам явно не хватает возможности печати заданного именно вами набора карточек или он-лайн тренажёра на основе этих карточек – пишите мне обязательно! Хотя бы здесь – в комментариях. Для таких решительных действий мне очень не помешает волшебный п… Ваша поддержка. Ага 🙂