SESSION ABSTRACT

Teachers are aware of the importance of play and how children learn life-long skills through it. Research on this area has identified and proved that playing games is key to the development of language abilities (Holmes, 2017). Games in the classroom are fun, spark creativity, add an element of excitement and give us the chance to help our students develop speaking skills in an engaging situation (Hursen, 2016, Dewi, 2017, Łodzikowski, 2019).

Using hands-on games in the classroom provides teachers with an opportunity to revise vocabulary (Hursen, 2016), focus on language function, improve interpersonal and conversational skills, develop critical thinking and increase motivation (Dewi, 2017). Board games, card games, memory games, dice games, guessing games and realia are incredibly versatile and can be adapted to suit any linguistic goal teachers may be pursuing. In a highly digital world using traditional hands-on games can be quite revolutionary and engaging.

The Pandemic is not over and a blended learning scenario seems to be the new teaching-learning model. Teachers’ resourcefulness will continue to be put to the test and the leverage hands-on material offers should not be lost. But it needs to be reinvented. The presenter will share games which are suitable for this new reality. Attendees will leave this session with hands-on games ideas and how to easily adapt vocabulary, spelling, grammar and fluency games to suit the online classroom using the tools that the Web and social media have to offer.