Outreach Games to Practice:
Animals
Das Tierspiel
The students form a circle. One student stands in the center. S/he points to one student and says the name of an animal: Krokodil, Elefant, oder Ente. The called on student and his/her neighbors to his/her left and right have to act out the animal. Whoever makes a mistake has to get in the middle.
- Der Elefant: hat einen Rüssel und große Ohren.
- Das Krokodil: hat ein großes Maul und kleine Ohren.
- Die Ente: hat einen Schnabel und wackelt mit dem Schwanz.
Parts of the Body
Das ist meine Nase
You touch one body part, but name a different body part. The next person touches (on themselves) the body part that was just named and then names a third body part. The game continues in this manner. For example, I would point to my nose and say der Mund. The next person would point to his/her mouth and say die Augen, and so on.
Tape me
Have the group attach cards with the names of body parts to the corresponding body parts of another student in their group. Consult with your classroom teacher before planning this game.
Simon (Paul) sagt
The German version of Simon says. This is a TPR game. Give students commands while acting them out yourself. For example: “Simon sagt: Zeigt auf den Kopf.” After you have gone through several commands, have them repeat the command as they are acting it out.
Lachende Knochen
Make cards with the words or pictures of two body parts, for example “Hand und Knie.” Students work in teams of two or three. They choose a card, say the words and then place the card between the two named body parts – a student on each side of the card. The team that can hold the most cards wins. You should consult with the classroom teacher before playing this game too.
Monster
Ask students to draw a monster. Give them directions on how to draw each part of the monster. For example, tell them the moster has 6 eyes, 3 feet, etc. After doing this in class, students create an additional monster on their own and label it.
Numbers
Number Challenge Game
Two students go to the board and compete against each other to see who can most quickly write the number you say on the board.
The Clapping Game
Students stand in a circle with both palms up – one hand on top of another student’s hand and the other under another student’s hand. Count around the circle with each student clapping the hand of the student next them him/her. Decide on a number before starting and on this number, the next student will try to remove his/her hand before the student saying the number can clap it.
Pflaumen
Students should stand up and go around the room counting. Choose a number before starting that everyone time a student says either this number, a number that contains this number, or a number divisible by this number, s/he should say Pflaumen. It is better to choose a larger number such as 7 or 8 so that they actually get practice saying the numbers.
Questions and Answers
Ente, Ente, Gans
The students sit in a circle and one student circles around tapping everyone on the head saying, “Ente, Ente, Ente, usw.” When the student calls someone “Gans,” that person stands up and greets the student with “Guten Tag, wie heißt du?” Both must ask and answer this question and then they run in opposite directions around the circle. When they cross paths again, they ask the same question again before continuing around the circle to the empty spot in the circle. Whoever gets to the empty spot first sits and the other person is now “it.”
Geheimagent 007
Have the students stand in a line facing the wall with their eyes closed. Walk behind all the students and tap one or two of the students on the back. The person whose back is tapped is the Geheimagent 007. The students then walk around, shake hands, and greet each other. (Wer bist du? or Wie geht’s?) When the Geheimagent shakes hands, s/he squeezes the other person’s hand twice. After shaking hands with two other people, the victims of the Geheimagent are out of the game. If a student thinks s/he knows who the Geheimagent is before s/he has been touched by the Geheimagent, s/he should call out, “Ich weiss. Er/sie ist der Geheimagent.” If correct, the game is over. If incorrect, the game continues. This game can be played with a variety of questions, not just greetings.
Vocabulary
Fly Swatter Game
Play this game with vocabulary items already introduced. Put pictures of the vocabulary words on the board. Divide the students into two or three teams and line them up single file, facing the board. Hand the first person on each team a fly swatter. Say the German word for one of the pictures on the board. The first person to swat the picture on the board wins a point for his/her team. Variation: Give the students information about the word and write the word instead of drawing the picture on the board. For example: It lives in Australia and jumps.
Go Fish
Using related vocabulary, make pairs of cards (picture/word or picture/picture). Students deal out cards and leftovers go into the “pool.” Each player in turn asks the another player, “Hast du _____?” If yes, then the player has a match, if no, the player must choose a card from the “pool.” The game continues until all pairs are matched. The player with the most pairs wins.
Charades and Pictionary are also good games for practicing vocabulary words.
Colors
Fass blau an
Make a command such as “Fass blau an” or “Zeig auf etwas blaues.” Demonstrate by touching or pointing to something blue. The students should do the same. Quickly change commands by eventually using the rest of the colors. Continue until they can respond without looking for your example. You can also use other vocabulary, such as clothing or body parts.
Ich sehe. . .
This is similar to I Spy. Say “Ich sehe etwas ___________.” Students should then guess to what you are referring. Whoever guesses correctly first gets to ask the next question.
Directions
Die Welle
The students sit in a circle and one student stands up and goes in the middle so that one chair is free. The student in the middle can either say “Welle links,” “Welle rechts,” or “Flut.” With Welle links or rechts, the students move one chair to the left or right. The student in the middle tries to fit into one of the empty chairs. With Flut all the students get up and change chairs. The students in the middle tries to find a chair when everyone gets up. Whoever is left standing calls the next direction.
Mein Rechter . . .
The students sit in a circle with one free chair. The student to the left of the free chair claps on the chair and says, “Mein rechter, rechter Stuhl ist leer, ich wünsche mir die/den (Vorname) her.” The student whose name was called goes to the free chair.