Drama game: Word Tennis

Age: 7 to adult

Players: Small teams of 6-8 players

Time: 10-15 minutes

Skills: Vocabulary, Speaking and Listening

Play tennis with words – how long can you keep going?

In this word-association game, participants must keep thinking up words in a chosen category and ‘bat’ them to each other. If anyone repeats a word or can't think of a new one, somebody else takes their place.

The class is divided into teams of about 6-8 players. Each team forms a queue facing another team. You can have several pairs of teams facing each other in a large space or play off two teams at a time.

Announce the first category (see suggestions below). The two players at the head of each line ‘bat’ a word to each other then go to the back of the line. The next players take their place. Make sure the players mime batting the words to each other – it's more fun with actions. The teams keep playing until one of the players can't think of a word or repeats an earlier word. A point is then awarded to the opposing team.

Categories

• colours
• fruit
• vegetables
• sea creatures
• flavours of ice cream
• fairy tales
• pets
• jungle animals
• desserts
• celebrities
• sports
• hobbies
• capital cities
• adverbs
• adjectives

Director's tips

• Change the categories as often as you need to maintain interest (Students will soon come up with their own interesting suggestions for themes)
• If you want, each player can bat two words to their opponent before going to the back of the queue
• For language learners, display word lists around the space