Other Drilling Games

 Other Drilling Games

Of course all of the above drilling games posted here can be manipulated. In the Attack and Defend game, for example, you may wish to swap the students over to give them both a turn at attacking. With the Crazy Bowling game you could always try a version where they are not allowed to defend their cones. For the Ball and Cone game you might want to put the cone in the middle of the classroom with one student at each end competing to knock it over first. Or you could try replacing the cone with a basket which students compete to throw their ball into.

Once you have been teaching for a few weeks you may well start to invent your own drilling games based on the resources you have.

For example, your eyes fall on a pair of chopsticks in the teachers’ room and you get an idea. The students could compete to pick up something with chopsticks and carry it to the other side of the classroom. You might even turn this into a relay. You notice some Lego or building blocks. The students could compete to build something. Or maybe you could build something and the students could race to destroy it. What if they build it and then destroy it? You notice a Jenga set in the corner and you must be able to do something with that. Plus there is that set of dominoes ... and the packet of balloons you found in the cupboard ... they could race up and down the classroom while keeping the balloon in the air; put the balloon between their knees and jump along an obstacle course; or you could even give them a plastic hammer each and see who is the first to pop their balloon (no easy task – but the students do not know this!).

You can also incorporate real sports like dodgeball, football (soccer), baseball, basketball, volleyball, cricket, badminton, ten pin bowling, crazy golf ... and the list goes on.

Such popular sports games can be altered to suit the classroom set-up you have. Often teachers favour 1v1 or 2v2 versions of these; although some prefer to get the whole class to play between drills.

A lot of TEFL teachers survive on drilling games alone.