Fun Classroom Games to Teach Emotions to Elementary ELLs

 This resource can be found here: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Emotions-Unit-for-Elementary-EFL-2023631

Games give students repeated exposure to the target vocabulary (happy, sad, angry, etc.) in a way that feels natural and engaging instead of repetitive drills. Many games require students to talk, listen, and respond. This encourages oral language development and gives them confidence in using English naturally.

Since the board game path has only emotion words, students need to match to emotion cards to stay in their spot.   Students roll the die and move along the path. If they land on “angry,” they must find the matching angry picture card. If correct, they stay; if not, they move back one space.

This Emotions Domino Game is designed to build vocabulary, practice reading, and make connections between words and pictures. Students match emotion words like happy, sad, angry, scared, worried, shocked, and excited with their corresponding *emotion picture cards.

Playing the Guess Who? Emotions Game/ Yes/No Questions.

To play the Guess Who game, teachers should prepare a display for each student. A simple way is to cut the front panel from a cereal box and use the side flaps to staple or tape it so it stands upright. Then, glue the printable part  on the front of the display. Each student will have their own standing display to use during the game.

 One student chooses a card with an emotion. The other students take turns asking yes/no questions:
“Is she happy?” → “No.”
“Is he angry?” → “Yes!”

Build the Emotion Words with letter tiles. Give students a pile of mixed letter tiles. Call out or show a picture of an emotion (e.g., happy) using the wheel. Students race to build the word with their tiles.

Guess the Missing Letter. Teacher shows an emotion word with missing letters (e.g., s___oc___e____). Students use tiles to fill in the blanks and find the small card to match.

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Counting 1–20 Turkeys in the Oven | Numbers and Counting Activities for ELLs

  This resource is part of the House Furniture for Elementary ESL to prepare for your lesson plan , at my store:

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/House-Furniture-unit-for-Elementary-ESL-3420723

ELLs benefit from concrete, colorful visuals. Seeing the turkey food piece in an oven next to a number gives them a clear representation of the math concepts. This resource connects math (counting and numbers), and language (speaking, listening, and writing numbers), making it a well-rounded tool for elementary classrooms.

Place the turkey in the oven flashcards (quantity cards) on the table. Provide students with fun foam numbers and letters. Students will count the chickens and say the number out loud. Then, using fun foam numbers to build the numeral and spell out the number word.

Extend the flashcards into sentence practice, which really helps elementary English language learners connect numbers → vocabulary → full language structures.

Promote Number Recognition using the bingo grid. Students identify numbers from the flashcards displayed on the board and transfer them to their bingo grid, reinforcing numeral recognition. Learners choose 8 numbers from 1 to 20. When numbers are called out during the game, students must listen carefully, understand, and check their grids. Bingo allows multiple exposures to numbers without feeling repetitive or boring.

As students count the turkeys, they can also practice sentence structures like “There are eighteen turkeys in the oven,” promoting speaking and writing skills in context.  

Set up a pretend “kitchen” where students take turns being the cook and customer. The customer says, “I want sixteen turkeys,” and the cook finds the matching flashcard.

Having both quantity cards and numeral small cards helps students make the connection between the symbol (number) and the quantity.

Matching Game.  Students match the numeral card to the turkeys quantity card.

  Memory Game. Lay cards face down and play “Concentration” to find pairs (number + quantity).

Number Sequencing: Strengthens understanding of forward and backward number order.

Worksheets.  Listen and color the turkeys in the oven to reinforce vocabulary recognition. Then, they will complete the color of each turkey on the other worksheet.

Read & Color the instructions on the worksheets.

Completing Number Sequences Worksheets that reinforces the idea of counting forward. Another worksheet is to unscramble the number words where students must use reasoning to put letters in order, building both cognitive flexibility and persistence.

Matching numerals to number words worksheets.

Write the number word by counting the turkeys in the oven.

 

Board game. Players must match their space to the correct small card or cards from the mat (numeral or oven quantity) before they can stay on it.

The matching mats supports number-word association and visual counting.

Play the Missing Piece Challenge. Students can place any piece on the mat wither the numeral or the word.

Students can play the classic match of numeral, words and quantity cards.

They can also order all the cards in a number sequence on the pocket chart if you have one.

There is a coloring the turkeys in the oven according to what the spinner lands on. Assemble the spinner using a butterfly fastener and a clip.

This is a make words game. There is a letter to place on each card to spell the number word and the word to add to simple number such as six to make sixteen.

Find more engaging ways to teach numbers to your English Language Learners.
Check out my Pinterest board for printable materials and creative activities!
 From flashcards to worksheets, you'll find tons of useful resources to make your lessons fun and interactive.
Visit the board here: https://www.pinterest.com/ei98srl/esl-numbers-and-math/numbers-1-to-20/

Used creative fabrica for the numbers! Here is my affliate link:   https://www.creativefabrica.com/product/orange-doodle-letters-and-numbers/ref/2670802/?sharedfrom=pdp

Counting Crayons 1 to 20 | Numbers, Colors, and Math Games for Elementary ELLs

 This resource is also included  at the School Unit for Elementary ELL-Starters, at this link: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/School-Unit-for-Elementary-ELL-Starters-1707072

Counting from 1 to 20 is a key early math skill. This resource helps children practice recognizing numerals, counting objects, and connecting numbers with quantities in an engaging way. This resource connects math (counting and numbers), art (crayons and coloring), and language (speaking, listening, and writing numbers), making it a well-rounded tool for elementary classrooms.

By linking crayons to numbers, students also strengthen their vocabulary for both numbers and colors. Use the crayon flashcards to review the colors. Also, review the school words using the flashcards. Ask: What’s this?
Students: It’s a crayon box.
Teacher: Is this a crayon?
Students: Yes, it is.

Students identify numbers from the flashcards displayed and choosing only 8 of them to their bingo grid, reinforcing numeral recognition. When numbers are called out during the game, students must listen carefully, understand, and check their grids—an excellent listening activity for English language learners.

The finger/hand signals make simple counting an activity with movement. Students learn to count forward using the pointing finger upwards, count backward using the finger down card, and hold a number in mind by repeating it using the thumbs up card. This builds a deeper understanding of number order and sequence. Print the cards and glue onto craft sticks for easy play.

Found this game in this book and adapted it to suit the resource: 100 games for teaching English by Agung Prihantoro.

Small cards let students manipulate the materials directly, which keeps them engaged and supports kinesthetic learning.

Line Up with Crayons small cards! Each student gets a small card (number or crayon quantity). The teacher says: “Line up in order!” Students must arrange themselves in a line from 1 to 20. When everyone is in place, the class counts together from the first to the last student.

Challenge the students to it activity but “Backwards!” → Students line up from 20 down to 1. Another challenge is to have the students line up in “Alphabetical order!” → Students line up in alphabetical order of the number words (eight, five, four…).

Place the small cards in alphabetical order.

Fold the words in each small card and have students write the numeral and words. Place them in order.

The worksheets provide a hands-on, quiet-time opportunity for students to practice and demonstrate their understanding.

Find and Match worksheet: have students draw lines to match each number to the correct number word.

Missing Number and number words Fill-In. Students fill in the missing numbers.

How Many? Write the Number word. Ask students to count and write the numeral and/or number word.

Listen and color worksheet. Teacher says the number and color: “Crayon number 5 is blue.”   Students listen carefully and color the crayon in the correct square.  Continue until all 20 crayons are colored. Students write the color word to describe each colored crayon. This activity reinforces number recognition, listening comprehension, colors vocabulary.

This Numbers Board Game is a fun way for students to practice counting, number recognition, and sequencing from 1 to 20. Each player starts at one of the four starting points and takes turns rolling a die to move along their path. The first player to reach the center “FINISH” wins! The colorful design keeps learners engaged while reinforcing math and language skills in an interactive way.

Say It in a Sentence: Each time a student lands on a number, they make a sentence such as: “I see 12 crayons” or “I have 7.”

These matching mats support number recognition, counting, and word association by giving students a physical and visual way to match and manipulate pieces. They’re especially useful to bridge visual and written language, reinforcing both vocabulary and concept understanding.

There is a coloring version of the mats. Each student gets a matching mat with crayons numbered 1 to 20 in random order.  A student spins the color spinner, lands on a number and names it for the group find it on their mat and color it.  Continue spinning and coloring until the mat is complete.

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Found wonderful clipart for the numbers at Creative Fabrica. Here's my affliate link: https://www.creativefabrica.com/product/alphabet-crayon-clipart-and-number/ref/2670802/?sharedfrom=pdp