Sports Games for ESL | Vocabulary and Grammar Activities

 This Sports Vocabulary Games  for elementary ESL resource is included here: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Sports-for-ESL-Vocabulary-and-Grammar-Activities-14663481

Playing sports-themed games during the unit help learners practice sports vocabulary and grammar structures naturally. By moving, speaking, matching, and interacting with others, students develop stronger listening, speaking, reading, and thinking skills. Help your elementary ESL learners explore sports vocabulary and verbs through fun interactive games!

Do–Go–Play Sorting Activity
In this activity, students sort the sports cards into the correct column: do, go, or play. As they place each card on the mat, they practice using the correct verb for each sport, such as do karate, go swimming, or play soccer. This hands-on task helps learners understand verb–sport collocations while building vocabulary in an interactive way.

This version lets students cut and paste the sports cards into the correct do, go, and play columns. The black-and-white format is perfect for saving ink and gives students the chance to color the cards themselves before sorting. They can also write phrases for each category.

Sports Puzzle Match Game
In this activity, students complete circle puzzles by matching each sport with its equipment and place. As they connect the pieces, they review vocabulary such as ball, court, pool, bike, and paddle while strengthening problem-solving skills. This is perfect for centers, pair work, or independent practice.

I Can / I Can’t Writing Activity
In this activity, students use the sports cards to write sentences about what they can and can’t do on the format. They choose cards and complete the worksheet using connectors like and and but to make longer sentences. For example: I can play soccer and tennis or I can’t play basketball, but I can play tennis. This activity helps students practice sentence structure, express abilities, and connect language with the sports vocabulary they have learned.

Spelling Bingo Game
In this activity, students write any sports words they choose into the blank Bingo boxes. Then the teacher (or a student leader) uses the small sports cards from the resource to call out each word. Students listen carefully and cross out the words on their Bingo boards. The first student to cross out all their words and shout Bingo! wins. This game is a fun way to review vocabulary, practice spelling, and build listening skills.

I Like Sports Board Game
In this fun board game, students move around the path by rolling a die and landing on different sports spaces. Each time they land on a sport, they say a sentence such as I like tennis or I don’t like tennis. This game encourages speaking, builds confidence, and helps students practice sports vocabulary and simple grammar in an interactive, engaging way.

Sports Facilities Interactive Activity

In this hands-on activity, students use a sports facilities template along with standing player pieces and sport name cards that you will assemble beforehand. They choose a player, read the sport, and place the figure in the correct facility—such as putting the swimmer in the pool or the tennis player on the court. This interactive task helps students connect sports with their proper locations, strengthens vocabulary, and encourages speaking as they describe what they are doing (e.g., She is playing tennis on the court).

Which game will your students choose first? Comment below!

Don't miss the flashcards from this resource:   https://eflelementaryresources.blogspot.com/2025/10/sports-flashcards-for-esl-vocabulary.html

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Sports Small Cards for ESL | Vocabulary and Grammar Activities

 This resource ( Sports Small Cards for Elementary ESL – Vocabulary & Grammar Activity Pack) is included here: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Sports-for-ESL-Vocabulary-and-Grammar-Activities-14663481

The printable sports vocabulary small cards for elementary ESL support grammar practice. They are ideal for teaching I like + sports, He is playing + sport, and He plays + sport in a fun, meaningful way. These are ready-to-use visuals that work for whole-class lessons, centers, pair work, or individual practice.

Activity 1 for centres or pairs, . Find Someone Who: Use small cards to ask and answer questions like Do you like volleyball?

Activity 2 to challenge students to write  or say sentences. Match the Sport and Equipment: Students match the sport flashcard with its equipment card and say a sentence: She has skates for skating.

Activity 3  . Sorting Game: Sort sports by ball category.

team sports / individual sports or indoor sports categories.

Sort with the outdoor sports. Have students make up more categories to sort.

Activity 4. Use small sports cards to create sentences: He is playing football.

Activity 5 for the integration of vocabulary & grammar . Writing Sports Sentences (Past Tense Activity).
Students choose a small sports card and write a sentence using the simple past tense to describe the action. For example: She played baseball yesterday. This activity helps learners practice writing complete sentences, review past tense verbs for sports, and connect visuals with grammar in a meaningful way.

Activity 6. Students pick any small sports card and write a sentence to describe it using different grammar structures.

Activity 7 to adapt for stronger/weaker learners . Sports and Facilities Matching Activity
Students match each sport to the place where it is played. After matching, they can say or write simple sentences like You play baseball at a baseball stadium. This activity helps learners connect vocabulary for sports and facilities, practice prepositions of place, and use complete sentences in context.

Here are the most common prepositions of place related to sports and their facilities that your students can practice:

• on – for open flat surfaces
• 🏈 You play soccer on a field.
• 🎾 You play tennis on a court.
• 🏒 You play hockey on the ice.
• in – for enclosed or indoor spaces
• 🏊 You swim in a pool.
• 🏀 You play basketball in a gym.
• 🏋️ You exercise in a gym.
• at – for general places or specific venues
• ⚾ You play baseball at the stadium.
• ⛳ You play golf at the golf course.

 

Activity 8.  Famous Sports Facilities Match.
Students investigate the names of famous sports facilities around the world, such as Wimbledon for tennis or Yankee Stadium for baseball. They write the name of each facility on a small piece of paper and match it to the correct sports flashcard or picture. This activity helps students connect real-world examples to the vocabulary while practicing writing and reading skills.

There are  Ready-to-print worksheets to go along this resource. Here is the blog post: 

https://eflelementaryresources.blogspot.com/2025/11/sports-worksheets-for-esl-vocabulary.html

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Halloween Witch Actions – Present Continuous Grammar for ELLs

 This resource is found here:   https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Present-Continuous-for-Elementary-ESL-4403402

In this Halloween theme they see a witch flying, cooking, or dancing, which helps them understand what is happening right now — the core meaning of the present continuous.

TPR Activity with the flashcards: What Is the Witch Doing? Students respond physically and verbally to the witch flashcards to understand and use present continuous actions. Show a flashcard and say the sentence clearly: “The witch is walking.”
Mime the action as you say it. Have students repeat the sentence and copy your movement.

Students can easily describe what the witch is doing on the flashcards: “She is flying.”
The repetitive sentence pattern helps beginners gain fluency and confidence.

What Is the Witch Doing? – Present Continuous & Collocations. Students practice the present continuous tense while learning common collocations (verb + noun phrases) in context. Strengthens sentence building.

Put a flashcard and have the students give you more collocations for just one action.

Students learn to ask and answer questions in the present continuous tense using Halloween-themed actions. Show a flashcard and ask: “What is the witch doing?” Model the answer slowly, emphasizing She is + verb-ing + object.

The Witch Action Grid – Make and Write Sentences. Students practice forming and writing present continuous sentences by picking a flashcard in a grid.

Categorize the Verbs (Spelling Rules). Display your witch flashcards and the base form of each verb underneath (fly, call, carry…).
Have students observe and classify them according to the spelling change.

Small cards for talking about activities. Connect grammar to writing and creativity. Students choose a small card and write a sentence about it.

Write about what the witch is doing in affirmative, and in negative sentence based on any card.

Write Yes/no questions and suggestions with Let’s!

Students practice writing short descriptive sentences using clothing vocabulary and the present continuous tense.

Speaking Chain. Practice fluency in question-answer patterns. One student picks a card and asks: “What is the witch doing?”  The next student answers: “She is drinking.”
Then takes a new card and continues the chain.

Cut-and-match games build word recognition. Cut the words out the card and play match.

Worksheet 1. Match sentences to the correct witch picture by coloring the frame and sentence in the same color.

Worksheet 2. Answer the question: What are you doing?

Worksheet 3. draw a line from the word to the matching picture, after completing the verb with the missing vowel.

Worksheet 4. Match the verb to the picture.

Worksheet 5. Complete all the verbs and use it as pictionary.

Worksheet 6. Complete the Sentence with the verb.

Sentence Association Game: What Is the Witch Doing?

Students match the witch picture, and the sentence to practice the present continuous tense. Students can work in pairs to match all actions.

Flip Activity: What Is the Witch Doing? They’ll write sentences describing what the witch is doing, then lift the flap to write. Print the template, cut to glue the writing part under the witch images strip. Students lift the flap to check their sentences.

There is a printable book activity included in this resource:   https://eflelementaryresources.blogspot.com/2024/08/present-continuous-book-for-elementary.html

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Farm Unit – Present Continuous for Elementary ELLs

 This resource (Farm Unit – Present Continuous for ESL | Printable Farm Animals Verb Activities)  is included here to download: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Farm-Unit-for-Elementary-EFL-3790548

This farm-themed resource reviews present-continuous for teaching elementary ELL students. The variety of activities such as flashcards, worksheets, and games lets you adapt to your class. They are  engaging, printable, and classroom-ready. Perfect for whole-class lessons, centers, or pair work, this resource turns grammar practice into an enjoyable activity your students will actually look forward to.

Verbs in Action Flashcards to use with the whole class. Set with colorful pictures of farm animals doing a variety of actions (run, jump, eat, walk, sit, etc.). Have students speak by describing animal actions or answering questions.

Small cards are also present and ready to print. Play the question game. Students use a small card and ask question: Is the horse eating?

No, it isn’t.

Make an accordion with the small cards to make sentences, ask questions and more. 

Here is a video to check.

Pair / Small-group work. Students write short sentences to describe the farm animal using any of small cards. As an Extension: have students draw their own farm scene and write present continuous sentence.

Fill-in-the-blank exercises in this farm worksheet.

Cut and paste the words in each sentence worksheet. Students glue them in correct order under the animal picture.

Reinforce this grammar point through simple interactive games to help the learners grasp it more fully.  Print both quilts.  Cut any quilt into squares or use as a full board. Give students the sentence squares with the present continuous sentences.  Students match each sentence to the correct picture. For more practice: mix up the sentences and the pictures and play a memory/matching game.It can serve as a review center.

There is a farm preposition of place for ESL elementary learners  review included in this resource  :   https://eflelementaryresources.blogspot.com/2025/09/farm-prepositions-of-place-activities.html

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