WORD TENNIS
BASIC DESCRIPTION
Four students sit in chairs in a row at the front. The category is given and they need to name any item that belongs. Eg. FRUIT: they may say apple, the next person must chose a different fruit, and so on. Go along the line of four, then back to first person. Keep repeating until someone is out because they took longer than 5 seconds or repeated one already said by others in the line. Someone fills the out person’s chair and the category changes. The person who filled the place starts off.
HELPFUL HINTS
Often played with two players, firing words one after the other, hence the name tennis, but in a big class we use four so more get a turn. Can pair them off to try all at them same time but does get very noisy. Most times they like being the audience and counting down the time out or being the buzzer sound when someone repeats a choice. Mix up easy and hard categories. We often finish with a championship round with the four people who stayed in the longest in the normal rounds. ( With colours I tend to not allow light and dark of colours) The teacher is the final referee for disputes about answers.
LIST OF IDEAS
Suggestions for the different categories are listed.
Good idea to do some easy ones, then a harder one so some people don’t stay in all game. If you know the new player will struggle a bit, give an easier category so they don’t get out first up. With older groups you can get really creative with topics.