Word games to play with a group

FAQ: Word games

Here are some frequently asked questions about fun word games.

What are some fun word games for adults in English?

Some fun word games for adults in English include The Alliteration Game, Random Word Game, and The Word Spell.

How do you play word games as an adult?

To play word games as an adult, choose fun verbal games that test and challenge your spelling, vocabulary, and language skills. Choose a group of friends or teammates to play with and ensure that you have a fair point system to select winners easily. It is also essential to have plenty of paper and pens handy to play these games. You can play these games in person or online using the screen sharing feature, whiteboard feature or have responses sent via the chat box on your video conferencing software.

Word Games with a difference. Play them with friends or in teams. Increase your Vocabulary. Build team spirit. Spin funny stories

Play these
Word Games — Antakshari, Rigmarole, Memory, Dud, Atlas — with kids and have fun with vocabulary and spellings.

If you need more information about games other than the ones found on this page please use the
Contact Us Page.

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If you would like to check out other kinds of games to play with kids, go to

• Paper-pencil games
• Acting games
• Board games
• Self-esteem Games

Word Games 1 : Antakshari. Antakshari is an Indian word which means the last letter. That is what the game is all about.

How many players are needed? The more the merrier. If there are eight players or more you can divide the group into two teams for the game.

How is it played? The non-team version.

1. Everybody sits in a circle.

2. Pick the denner (the player who will start the game): Recite a rhyme — one word per player. The person at which the rhyme ends will start the game.

Possible rhymes: You could choose any of the nursery rhymes that you remember. If not, you can use one of the following. The first one is an Indian rhyme usually used to find the denner. You can use it if you can get your tongue around the words. The second is an English rhyme.

Akkad bakkad bambe bo,
Assi nabbe poore sau,
Sau me laga dhaga,
Chor nikalke bhaga.

Inky pinky ponky,
Daddy had a donkey;
Donkey died, Daddy cried,
Inky pinky ponky.

3. Once the denner has been identified, she starts with any word. (You can decide in the beginning whether you want to use random words in the game or categories of words. The categories could be names of places, things, five-letter or bigger words)

4. You can decide to continue the game clockwise or anti-clockwise.

5. The next person in the circle has to say a word which begins with the last letter of the first word.

6. Like this the game goes on around the circle until the kids decide to stop

7. In the team version, the team thinks up the word. If a team is taking time to think up a word, the other team can use a countdown like the one in the game
Name, Place, Animal, Thing.

8. This game can also be used with songs (my children prefer to use peppy songs and have rip-roaring fun with the game). The players should think up songs which begin with the last letter of the previous song.

Word Games 2: Decode the Concept and Define (NEW)

Play it with any topic. Say you want to practice a set of concepts in Physics like:

• speed
• velocity
• mass
• acceleration etc

Instructions: Give students time, say 1 minute, to encode a concept of their choice. Following are some ways to encode the word ‘mass’

• Nbtt — Every letter in the code appears before the needed letter in the Alphabet
• Matter acts subtly substantial (beginning letter of every word)
• Emeralds say astute psychology  (second letter of every word)
• 1311919 (ordinal number of every letter in the Alphabet)

The student will choose one such code or make up something entirely their own. Then in turns, each will present their code to the class. The class has to guess the word and then define the concept. 

A student can choose any of the concepts that are being practiced in the class.

Word Games 3: Rigmarole: This is another example for ‘word games’ which is played in group setting. In this game the group spins a story. The more ludicrous the story more the fun.

1. The group sits in a circle and selects a denner using a rhyme (see Antakshari above for sample rhymes)

2. The denner begins to spin the story. The rule is everybody says a couple of sentences at a time and should end their spin with a conjunction.

3. The next person picks up the story and adds her spin. Again the norm is a couple of sentences ending with a conjunction.

Remember this is a word game and the aim of the game is to escape completing a word and becoming a ‘DUD’. If you complete the word three times in a row you are a ‘dud’.

The first time you complete a word you become a ‘d’. The second time you complete a word you become a ‘u’. The third time you complete a word, you become a ‘d’ and so as a ‘dud’ you are out of the game.

How is this word game played? Let’s imagine that a group of five is playing this word game.

A player begins with a letter (any letter) say ‘A’. The next person can add another letter to this say ‘l’. The third person starts to guess the number of words that could begin with ‘Al’, so she might add ‘t’ as her bit.

Suppose the fourth person says ‘a’, the fifth person has no option but to say ‘r’ and complete the word ‘altar’. As she has completed the word she is penalised by being assigned first ‘D’ of ‘DUD’. As she completes the word ‘altar’ she also calls out ‘D’.

A twist in the game: Suppose the fifth person says ‘i’ instead of ‘r’. The next person in the group might get suspicious that she is trying to bluff her way out of completing the word.

So the first person (remember we are using a group of five people and the person next to the fifth person is the first one) calls out ‘challenge’ to the fifth person.

Now the fifth person is obliged to complete the word or accept the first ‘D’ of the ‘Dud’. So if she knows that there is such a word as ‘altaic’ she can say it and escape being a ‘dud’, or if she was bluffing then she has to call out ‘D’.

After one word is complete the game starts again with another random letter. Whoever gets ‘d’, ‘u’ and ‘d’ first becomes the ‘dud’ and is out of the game. This way the game goes on and whoever remains finally is the winner.

Generally children have fun by bluffing their way through the game and avoiding the completion of a word. There is a lot of laughter when somebody’s bluff is called and she is challenged.

For younger children, have wordcharts displayed in the room, so that they will be encouraged to play. A sample word chart is shown above.

You can use it with any class of facts. You can use it for places, rivers, concepts etc.

A group of 8-10 kids is an ideal number to play this word game. If you have many more kids in your class you can make two to three teams.

The game begins by the group of kids spelling out the word ‘ATLAS’, one letter per kid. Whoever gets to say ‘s’ of Atlas begins the game.

The beginner picks a letter of the Alphabet say ‘A’ and names a place that begins with ‘A’. The next person also names another place beginning with ‘A’. Like this the rest of the group does the same, until the group feels it has exhausted all the places beginning with ‘A’.

Then the group starts the next round with another letter say ‘D’. In this manner the game goes on with the other letters of the Alphabet. Of course, if there are two or three teams, the teacher or the adult decides the letters of the Alphabet that the teams will play with.

The teacher or the adult keeps track of the number of places that each group has been able to recall from each alphabet. The group which is able to recall the most number of places is the winner.

The rules of the game:

1. The sequence in which the game will be played is decided in advance, i.e., group 2 follows group 1, which is followed by group 3 and then group 4, until all the groups have taken turns.

2. Each group gets only 30 seconds to answer. The group that does not answer does not get a mark/score. The next group gets the score, if they get the answer.

3. The facilitator initiates the game by a word, say, ‘dictionary’

4. The first group in the sequence has to look in the dictionary for the next word, but which begins with ‘dj’. Suppose the word is ‘djellaba’.

5. The next group has to look up a word which has ‘djf’ or the next possible third letter after ‘dj’

6. The third group looks up a word that is in dictionary sequence upto the 4th letter. The 5th letter is the last in that sequence of dictionary word list. If after the 5th letter there are still groups left, they should start with the next word.

7. The game continues until all the groups in the sequence complete 1 round. Scores are taken stock of at the end of the round. Two to three rounds are played in this manner. The winning group gets an applause.

I played this game for the first time in an English Language Teaching training in Nasik last week. The teachers went overboard over it. I hope you have fun.

Another kind of word game is to use ‘cross and dots’ grid. Here’s a video of this kind of game. Go to the following link on Youtube.

Also get a monthly e-zine ‘Stories for EL’ free for stories that you can use to emphasise experiential learning. Stories and their lessons are easily remembered.

They can also be used to communicate a concept effectively. They add the ‘aha’ or ‘Eureka’ or ‘got it’ factor to presentations and lectures. They are great tools to use in debriefs of games, to drive home a crucial point.

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Word games are an important way of helping children to develop their communication skills in a relaxed, enjoyable way. Moreover, most word games will also force kids to rely heavily on memory, logic and vocabulary in a fast-paced environment completely unlike the often dull classroom at school. What’s more, they usually do not require any set-up or equipment, meaning they can be played at any time and for any length of time. This article will discuss some of the word games available to youth group leaders which have proved particularly popular with children of all ages.

Twenty Questions

This game of logic and memory is one of the most popular word games. A simple question and answer game, it involves one volunteer choosing a person, an object or (if your youth group is particularly intelligent) a plant or even a place. The object of the game for the group is simple: figure out what the volunteer is thinking of in twenty questions. For the volunteer, the object is to keep the answer from the group for as long as possible.

It sounds easy, but the group can only ask closed questions that can be answered with a straight ‘Yes’ or ‘No’. The children will quickly cotton on to the fact that the game is made substantially easier if you ask questions which tell you as much information as possible.

Ghost

This is a word game which rewards patience, creativity and a large vocabulary. It works best in small groups of no more than five people, but you could also play it as a team game where each team can confer before making their play. The object of the game is to avoid completing a word. The game is played by each person or team naming a letter.

They must have a word in mind when they do so, however, as other players can challenge if they think that the letter named makes it impossible to create a word. For example, if one player started with ‘Z’ and the next player said ‘X’, it would be very unlikely that they had a genuine word in mind. Of course, sometimes it is worth making up a plausible move, rather than simply accepting that you have lost the round — and often people do not challenge dubious moves!

Superghost

This works exactly the same as Ghost, but rather than simply adding letters to the end of the word that is being created, you can also add letters to the beginning of it. This makes the game a lot more subtle, as well as more difficult, so you may want to start off by playing the normal Ghost and see how your youth group responds to the intellectual demands of the game. It is great fun to play with language, however, and you may find that the children are very positive about this game once they have played it a couple of times.

Other Word Games

There are so many word games available that it really depends on your youth group’s age and intellectual ability to choose the right one for them. Here is a small list of other word games that they may enjoy playing.

• Cheddar Gorge — this functions like Ghost, but instead of adding letters to avoid forming a complete word, each player adds a word and tries to avoid making a complete sentence.
• Teapot — this involves one player or team replacing homophones with the word ‘teapot’ to create bizarre-sounding sentences. The object of the game for the other players is to guess the word that has been replaced. For example, if a player said «Tom ate some teapot chocolate biscuits on the teapot» the word might be ‘plane’.
• The Green Glass Door is a word game where a player already familiar with the ‘trick’ gives clues to other players about what belongs behind the ‘green glass door’. Words that have exactly 2 duplicate letters belong inside the green glass door, so a typical clue might be that ‘Behind the Green Glass Door, you can go to classes at school, but not courses at a university’. This is a great word game to play as it often completely foxes the kids, and teaches them the value of lateral thinking.

Hopefully these word games will stimulate the mind as well as being great fun for all who play them. Enjoy playing word games with your youth group!

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The acquisition of new vocabulary is essential in terms of overall language advancement. However, there is always a need to review active words from time to time in order to use them fluently in speech. Here, we will present a couple of great vocabulary revision games which will perk up every classroom. Through these games the learners will feel how fun, entertaining and effective the learning process can be.

1. Charades

Charades is a fun and cool revision game. Students need to practice their acting skills to explain the words. This game is extremely easy to organize with minimal advance preparation. The only thing to be ready for is to keep a collection of vocabulary cards for the words you have studied.

The class is divided into two teams. Each team member takes turns acting out one of the words from the vocabulary set and explains it by acting out the word. If his or her own team can’t guess the word, the opposite team gets the chance to guess it. Each right answer equals one point.

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2. Pictionary

Pictionary is also an  entertaining game to play for vocabulary review. The rules are similar to those of charades except that instead of acting out the word, it is drawn on the board.

3. Bingo

Bingo can serve as a good revision game. From my experience, most of the groups/students like playing bingo because it gives them the chance to  reflect on the words they have digested.

Students are given a blank bingo board and are asked to put the review words into the squares randomly. The teacher puts the active words in a hat or a box, takes them out one by one and defines them. If the student has a word corresponding to the definition, he crosses it out on his bingo board. When someone gets five squares in a row, they should shout, “Bingo!”

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4. A memory style

A memory style card game can be another effective way for reviewing vocabulary. It requires some preparation before the game starts. For each word to be reviewed, one card should have the target vocabulary word and another card should have the definition of the word. You also need to have a big playing grid where you put the words and their definitions face down.

Each person turns over two cards each turn trying to find a match. If the cards do not match, he turns them over again and the next person tries to find a match. If he succeeds, he keeps the cards and gets an additional turn. The player with the highest number of cards at the end of the game wins.

The game can be modified even further. If you have accumulated enough synonyms or antonyms to the target vocabulary, you can practice matching target words to their antonyms or synonyms.

5. Categories

Categories is another awesome revision game which will make students energized and empowered. What they need for the game is to draw 4-6 columns on their paper and write a category at the top of each column. Categories fit the topics covered during the course. For example, if you have covered the business topics of Marketing, Work and Leisure, Ethics, Human Resources, Travel, you write these topics as categories.

You time the students and ask them to write as many words as possible under each category. As a further modification, choose a random letter and write it on the board. Give students enough time to write down a word for each category that starts with that letter.

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6. Letter scramble

Letter scramble will make students really competitive and super fast. What you need is to take a list of words that your students have recently learned and write a scrambled version of each on the board. Students need to unscramble the words on their paper. The first one to finish deciphering all the words wins.

7. Stop the bus

Stop the bus is a cool game my students adore.  I usually divide the class into 2-3 teams. One student from each team. This student sits on a chair facing his peers. Then from behind the student in the hot seat, show the other students a word from the lesson. The other students must try to describe what the word is without saying the actual word. And the student in the hot seat must guess.

The student who guesses the word shouts out “stop the bus” and checks the word with the teacher. If correct, the team gets a point. If wrong, other teams have the chance to guess the word by writing their versions on a piece of paper and passing the papers to the teacher.

8. Puzzles

Puzzles  is another cool and easy tool to review the material in an effective way. What I like about this way of vocabulary revision is that students can work in pairs or groups while trying to find words matching the definition in the crosswords. They learn by listening to each other, cooperating to find the right answer. In this way, they both review the material and improve their teamwork skills.

Follow this link to get templates of different types of puzzles.

We also recommend watching a video with Alexei Konobeev. The speaker shared games to help your students remember new vocabulary. These games do not require special training and you can adapt them to any age and level.

We hope that all these games would serve their best to liven your vocabulary revision sessions and make them more meaningful and effective.

Which of these games have you tried? Which ones have you picked up for your next revision slot?