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Pin the Tail
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This classic party game can easily be used in the classroom to practice directions and develop listening, coordination and cooperation skills.
- Focus: Listening, Speaking, Vocabulary, Young Learners
- Level: Beginner
- Age: Kindergarden/Primary
- Target Language: Directions (up, down, left, right)
- Time: 5+ minutes
- Preparation: Choose an image and something to attach to it and have something ready to use as a blindfold
Procedure:
PRE: Draw, pin or project a large image onto the whiteboard or classroom wall.
1: Choose a student to go first. Blindfold them and check that they can’t see through the blindfold. You might spin the student on the spot (carefully) in order to disorientate them.
2: Give the student the “tail” or thing to be affixed to the image. Tell students to direct them using up, down, left or right.
3: When students are satisfied, have the student put the “tail” in the final spot. They can then remove their blindfold to see how close it is to the spot it should have been.
Example:
S1: Up, up, up a little… no down… not that far!
S2: Left and up… more, and more. Stop, right there!
Variations:
1: You do not need to use a donkey and a tail. You can use absolutely any image including animals and body parts, but also parts of the face, something on a diagram, places in a town, etc.
2: After doing the activity as a whole class, try to get students doing it in pairs. This means you need to have enough blindfolds for all of the students. Use A4 or A3 drawings instead of the board and give students something to place on the drawing.
3: Give students a time limit to focus them on speed.
4: Turn it into a competition by having 5 items to place and 5 minutes to do them. Award points to the fastest groups and closest for each item.
5: You could have multiple versions of this game going on in different parts of the classroom, with students moving around the room as they complete each one.
