Some time ago I started following a great channel on YouTube with instructions how to play different games. I found a party game called Spoons there. When I watched the short video I immediately decided to test the game on my students! I created two variation of the game. The first one for younger students to practice vocabulary and the second one to those older ones to practice grammar. My students like the game a lot and so do I!
Things you will need:
- spoons (there should be one spoon fewer than the number of players)
- cards (the ordinary ones or cards with a given set of vocabulary items)
How to play:
Grammar game
Arrange spoons in a circle in the center of the table. Deal four cards to each player. Each player tries to collect four cards of a kind.
The dealer holds the rest of the cards. The dealer takes one card. If he needs this card he keeps it but passes the other one to the next player so that he holds four cards. He continues to take cards and passes them face down to another player. The rest of the players do the same. The cards are quickly passed around the table from player to player until a player gets four of a kind. When you have four cards of the same kind you are allowed to take a spoon from the center. Once the player grabs the spoon anyone can grab a spoon. The person who doesn't have a spoon is supposed to create a sentence in a given grammar tense or do some other grammar task.
The dealer holds the rest of the cards. The dealer takes one card. If he needs this card he keeps it but passes the other one to the next player so that he holds four cards. He continues to take cards and passes them face down to another player. The rest of the players do the same. The cards are quickly passed around the table from player to player until a player gets four of a kind. When you have four cards of the same kind you are allowed to take a spoon from the center. Once the player grabs the spoon anyone can grab a spoon. The person who doesn't have a spoon is supposed to create a sentence in a given grammar tense or do some other grammar task.
To see how it works watch the videos below:
Vocabulary game
I also use the game with younger students to practice vocabulary. The rules are the same but I use cards with images of particular vocabulary items and at the end of the game we discuss what cards we have. You can also introduce the rule that a student who doesn't grab the spoon gets a letter towards spelling the word SPOON and the game ends when a student called all the letters s-p-o-o-n.
I bought my animal cards at Tiger store but you can prepare your own cards with
vocabulary items that you need.
The game is very fast and exciting!
Have fun!
