Routines ESL Activities and Games | Present Simple, Time, Adverbs of Frequency

 This resource is included here: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Routine-Verbs-for-Elementary-ELL-3088833

Make teaching daily routines fun and interactive with this ESL resource pack for elementary English language learners! Students practice daily routine vocabulary, telling time, present simple sentences, adverbs of frequency, sequence words, speaking, reading, and writing through engaging worksheets, games, sentence strips, matching activities, board games, and hands-on tasks. This resource is perfect for centers, small groups, morning work, homework, and classroom games while helping students build confidence using everyday English.

The flashcard activities in this Daily Routines resource help students practice speaking, reading, listening, and sentence building in a fun and interactive way.

 sentence building activity

 First, the routine verb flashcard is placed on the board. Next, the time flashcard is added, and finally, the part of the day flashcard completes the sentence. For example: He wakes up + at 6:00 + in the morning.

Students learn that we use at with exact times: at 6:00.

They also practice using in the with parts of the day:  in the morning.

There is a flashcard to complete with the hands as needed. The time flashcards used in the examples belong to a complete separate Time Unit resource available in my store. https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/The-time-for-Elementary-ESL-EXPLORE-4532035

 
Students grab the flashcards and place them in order on the board to create complete sentences using routine verbs and time expressions.

Activity: Students select a routine verb flashcard, add a time expression, and complete the sentence with a part of the day. After organizing the flashcards, students write the complete sentence on the board.

 adverbs of frequency flashcards: always, usually, and never

By combining the adverb flashcards with routine verb cards, students can easily understand how frequency words are used in everyday English.

 

Students place the routine flashcards under the correct adverb of frequency category such as always, usually, or never. As students organize the flashcards, they talk about their own habits, routines, chores, and free time activities. This helps learners connect grammar with real-life experiences.

Sentence building with the sequencing words before and after.  These words help students describe the order of events in their daily routines using flashcards.

 Routine Timeline Game

Students place flashcards on the board in chronological order from morning to night. Then they add sequence words such as before and after.

This helps students understand sequence and time order.

The small cards provide students with additional practice of the vocabulary and grammar structures that were first introduced with the flashcards.

 Daily Routine Sentence

Place the routine verb flashcards, time cards, adverbs of frequency cards, and sequence word small cards in separate piles. Students grab cards and create a complete sentence.

 

True or False About Me

The teacher will choose small cards to create sentences about herself. Classmates decide if the sentence is true or false.

This activity encourages conversation and personal connections with the vocabulary.

 
Find Someone Who…

The teacher cuts the small cards in half and gives one half to each student. Students walk around the classroom asking questions and searching for the classmate with the matching half card.

This interactive activity encourages speaking.

Writing Activity

Students can create meaningful sentences by choosing cards from different piles and writing about routines, chores, and daily activities.

The teacher places the small cards in separate piles on the desk. Students choose cards to build complete sentences such as “I always ride my scooter in the afternoon.” or “I usually run before I take out the trash.” Then, students write their sentences in their notebooks and share them with the class.

Morning vs Night Sorting

Students can practice sequencing daily routines by placing the small cards in chronological order for each part of the day. Then, they orally describe the sequence using simple sentences and transition words. Students can also compare their routines with classmates and create their own daily schedule conversations.

The worksheets in this resource give students meaningful practice with daily routine vocabulary, telling time, adverbs of frequency, sequence words, and present simple sentences.

 “What Do You Do?” worksheet

Students look at each picture and write the answer in the speech bubble.

“Write the Questions” worksheet

Students read the answer sentence, look at the picture clue, and write the matching question on the line. This activity gives learners meaningful practice with WH- questions, auxiliary verbs, word order, adverbs of frequency, time expressions, and sequence words such as before and after.

This worksheet helps students practice changing negative sentences into affirmative sentences using daily routine vocabulary. Students read each sentence carefully and rewrite it in the affirmative form on the lines provided.

Write and talk about their own daily routines using simple present tense questions and answers. Students read each question carefully and write personal answers about their habits, routines, and activities during the day.

Students use the answers from their “Talk About Your Daily Routines” worksheet to complete a class survey activity. As students share their personal answers aloud, the teacher records the information on the board using tally marks for each question. Together, the class analyzes the results and talks about the most common daily routines in the classroom.

This matching worksheet helps students practice reading. Students read each sentence carefully and draw lines to match the correct sentence to the corresponding picture. This activity is perfect for reinforcing simple present tense, time expressions, and routine actions.

Writing the correct verbs

Students review common routine actions while strengthening spelling.

 

Hands-on cut and paste parts of the day

students use the action pictures from the previous worksheet and sort them according to the correct part of the day. First, students cut out the routine action cards. Then, they glue each picture under the correct category: morning, noon, afternoon, evening, night, or midnight.

 

This worksheet helps students practice adverbs of frequency such as never, usually, and always while reviewing daily routine vocabulary. Students complete each sentence by choosing the correct adverb of frequency according to their personal habits or the teacher’s instructions.

These routine worksheets can be used many times by placing them inside clear plastic sheets or dry-erase sleeves. Students can complete the activities using dry-erase markers and easily wipe the answers away to practice again. This is a great way to save paper, reuse worksheets throughout the school year.

 This sequence words worksheet helps students practice using before and after while talking about daily routines. Students read each sentence carefully and complete the blank with the correct sequence word. The activities encourage learners to think about the order of actions during the day while reinforcing routine vocabulary and sentence structure.

 

Interview worksheet

Students work in pairs and take turns interviewing each other using the question prompts on the clipboard worksheet. They listen carefully to their partner’s answers and write the information on the lines provided.

Draw the Clock Hands

Students look at each sentence and draw the clock hands or arrows to show the correct time for each daily activity.

 

The games in this resource help students practice daily routine vocabulary and grammar in a motivating and hands-on way. Through interactive play, students develop speaking, listening, reading, teamwork, and sentence-building skills while gaining confidence using English in meaningful everyday situations.

Routine Game

The game board includes different colored spaces that match the colors of the question cards. Students roll the dice, move along the path, and pick up a card that matches the color of the space where they land.

Each card contains a question related to daily routines and time. Students must answer the question correctly in order to stay on the space and continue moving toward the finish point. If they cannot answer, they can move back one space or miss a turn depending on the classroom rules.

Routine Sentence Strips
Students read the sentence strips and place them on the correct person doing the action. The house can be enlarged in a printer to make it this big or use the normal size paper for the game. Teachers can also turn this resource into a speaking game by asking students to read the sentence aloud and explain why they placed it in that room. The large printable format makes it perfect for table work, centers, pocket charts, or small group ESL activities.

 

Spinners and Speak

These two printable spinners make sentence building fun. Students spin the daily routine spinner and the sequence word spinner to create original sentences using before and after.

Students spin both spinners, the adverbs of frequency and the verbs. Then, use the results to create complete sentences about routines and habits.

For example: I usually swing.

 

Students spin the verb spinners and the time spinner to create original sentences. The teacher or students can draw the hands on the clocks to create different times before using the spinner. After spinning, students make complete sentences such as: I eat at 7:00.

 

Students spin the action and the part of the day spinners.

For example: I brush my teeth in the morning. The activity also reinforces the use of the preposition in with parts of the day such as in the morning, in the afternoon, in the evening, and at night.

 

Join me at TPT- Holistic English Resources by Rosa Amelia!

Discover engaging, creative, and effective resources designed specifically for English Language Learners! Find ready-to-use lesson plans and activities. LINK: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Holistic-English-Resources-By-Rosa-Amelia

Present Continuous Routines Activities

  This resource is included here: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Routine-Verbs-for-Elementary-ELL-3088833

 This complete set is designed to help students understand and practice routine verbs through a variety of hands-on activities, visual supports, and games. Perfect for centers, small groups, or whole-class activities, this resource promotes active participation and supports different learning styles in a playful and effective way.

These flashcards introduce key daily routine verbs and support students in forming sentences in the present continuous.

 Look at the flashcards and answer the question. Ask: What is he doing? or What is she doing? Then answer using the present continuous: He is chatting.

 Ask yes/no questions. Is he doing laundry? Then answer: Yes, he is.

Listen and point. The teacher folds the verb word of each flashcard and places them on the board. Then, say: “He is sleeping.”
Students point to the correct flashcard.

 

What is he/she doing today? The teacher places the selected flashcards on the board and has a student says the sequence of actions of that day.
Students answer: “He is waking up.” “He is cleaning the window.” “He is eating corn.” “He is swinging on the swing.”

 

 Mime and Guess. The teacher shows the flashcard to one student to act → others say: “You are listening to music!”

 Find Someone Who…. Place the flashcards in a grid on the board. Say: “He is a boy” He has a scooter.

Students: A1! He is riding a scooter.

Give students a routine flashcard and ask them to create as many correct phrases as possible using the verb. Encourage them to add details such as place, time, and people.

Use the board to model complete sentences with routine verbs in the present continuous. Show students how to expand a simple verb into a full sentence by adding details such as objects and places.

Write the Sentence. Show flashcard → students write: “She is washing the dishes in the kitchen.”

 

These small cards provide flexible practice for building sentences, playing games, and reinforcing routine verbs in the present continuous.

 Listen and Show. Students hold up the correct flashcard when they hear the sentence.

Pair Practice. Student A shows a card → Student B says the sentence.

 
Mini Sentences Cards. Students match written sentences STRIPS available in the resource, to small cards.

Writing with the small cards. Look at the small card and observe the picture carefully. Write sentences about what you see using the present continuous. The teacher should guide students to improve their observation skills and help them translate the picture into written sentences.

 These worksheets provide structured practice to reinforce routine verbs and help students build confidence using the present continuous.

This worksheet helps students connect pictures with actions, reinforcing vocabulary and present continuous forms.

The word search helps students improve word recognition.

 

It reinforces the structure I am + verb -ing while encouraging students to describe actions happening now using familiar routine verbs.

 
This worksheet helps students practice forming questions in the present continuous.

students practice forming verbs in the present continuous by focusing on spelling patterns with -ing. Learners sort the verbs into three groups: adding -ing, doubling the final consonant + -ing, and verbs that end in -e and change to -ing.

Students develop vocabulary, improve spelling, and reinforce the structure of the present continuous in a meaningful and visual way.

 

Students look at each picture and complete the sentences using the correct verb in the present continuous form.

 

 

This worksheet helps students understand how verbs combine with other words to form common phrases (collocations). Instead of learning verbs in isolation, students practice meaningful combinations like make the bed, do homework, or ride a bike.

This questionnaire encourages students to practice speaking and asking questions about daily routines in a meaningful way

 

These games make learning interactive and fun while helping students practice routine verbs and the present continuous in a meaningful way.

Sorting Verbs into -ING Categories

In this hands-on activity, students sort the verbs small cards or sentence strips according to their spelling rules. Prepare the activity by assembling the pockets: you can glue or tape the pocket templates onto a folder, envelope, or a piece of cardboard to make them sturdy and easy to use in class. Each pocket represents a rule. This interactive activity helps students recognize spelling patterns.

 

Spin and Cover – Routine Verbs

To prepare, print and cut out the spinner. Attach it to a sturdy surface such as a folder, envelope, or cardboard. Then, place a brass fastener with a clip (for example, a paperclip) in the center of the spinner to make it spin.

Students take turns spinning the wheel. When the spinner stops, they say the verb that comes up and cover the matching verb on their worksheet or list.

 

Sentence Association Activity

In this activity, students will match sentence strips to the correct pictures in the scene.

Provide each student or pair of students with the main picture and a set of sentence strips. Students read each sentence carefully and look for the matching action in the image. Then, they place the sentence strip in the correct location on the picture.

Encourage students to say the sentences aloud as they match.

 

Board Game: Routines and Present Continuous

Students take turns rolling the dice. Each time a student lands on a number, they pick the corresponding numbered card and read the sentence aloud.

After reading, the student finds the matching image marker and places it on the correct number space on the board.

The game continues until a player reaches the finish. The student with the most correct matches or the one who reaches the end first wins.

Make the markers by cutting and gluing the ends only and folding the middle part to make the marker stand.

 

Join me at TPT- Holistic English Resources by Rosa Amelia!

Discover engaging, creative, and effective resources designed specifically for English Language Learners! Find ready-to-use lesson plans and activities. LINK: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Holistic-English-Resources-By-Rosa-Amelia

I use Creative Fabrica for my covers,this is my affliate link:

https://www.creativefabrica.com/product/20-pink-yellow-pattern-digital-papers/ref/2670802/?sharedfrom=pdp