Teaching kindergarten and VYL students might seem tough, but really there’s a pretty easy formula for it that everyone can follow. 

This hour-long routine/lesson can be used everyday for your VYL TEFL class. All you need is a set of flashcards!

Here is the short version. Teachers can print this out and put it in their notebook as a reminder of the “formula.”

Side note: I don’t do “teams” or “points” for kindergarten classes. Little kids can make their own fun without the stress of competition, especially in VYL classes where levels tend to be varied. I recommend that you don’t award points or assign teams for any of these games.

1. Sing a song (5 minutes)

1. Many kindergarten teachers start the day with a song. I teach a new song each week. Ideally the song you teach will go with the vocabulary or grammar your students are learning but any easy childrens’ song works.

2. Go over the rules and reward system (1-5 minutes)

1. I go over the rules everyday in my kindergarten classes. 
2. My rules are to raise your hand, be quiet, sit down, and stand up. 
3. At the beginning of each class, I ask my students to tell me the rules, and I draw a picture of each rule on the board.
4. Then I put the reward system on the board. My reward system is a cute, eye-catching magnet. I put the numbers 1, 2, and 3 on the board. Each time the whole class obeys the rules, I move the magnet up. If they get to 3, they have “won” and we all cheer.
   1. Note on physical rewards: I personally don’t like “real” rewards for little children. Kindergarteners are happy when you’re happy and giving away “stuff,” like candy, is kind of pointless (in my opinion) and undermines their excitement at just learning for the sake of learning. However, if you must give away physical rewards, stamps or stickers can get the job done for cheap. Remember that high fives, fist bumps, and cheers are also super effective.

3. Pass a “ball” and ask a question. (5 minutes)

1. I get a ball, balloon, teddy bear, funny hat, or even a scrunched up paper, and I pass it to a student. Then I ask them a simple question. 
2. At the beginning of the year, I start with “What’s your name?” Then I move onto “How are you?” “Can you…?” “What do you like?” as the students’ English improves. 
3. Kids love using their new language and holding a new toy everyday. This is also a good chance to let them show off what they know. Sometimes they’ll surprise you with answering in ways that you didn’t even know they could.

4. Introduce the vocabulary (2 minutes)

1. Simply show the new flashcard, draw an image of the vocabulary on the board, or show the image on a PowerPoint. Honestly, flashcards work best. Say the words and encourage students to repeat, but don’t force it yet. The goal of this is just to introduce the concept, not force them to speak.

5. Drill vocabulary pronunciation as a group (3 minutes)

Show the flashcards again. This time, encourage repetition with the following “games.” You can choose a different game every day so your students don’t get bored.

1. Chant – Simply chant the new vocabulary all together, such as “Apple, apple, apple!”
2. TPR – Mime the new vocabulary and chant it, such as mime eating with a fork, and say “fork” repeatedly as you do so. Repeat with all vocabulary.
3. Loud and Quiet – Have all the students crouch down and whisper a vocabulary word on a flash card. Slowly stand up, saying the word louder and louder, until you jump up and shout the word. This game is noisy, so sometimes start loud and get quiet to encourage a calmer atmosphere, especially if the game is winding down.
4. Silly Voices – Practice saying the words in different voices. “Say it like a monster! Say it like a ballerina! Say it like a baby! Say it slow!” Have students mimic the silly voices, and they’ll get lots of pronunciation practice.
5. Apple, banana, pear – This last one can’t be used with all flashcards, but it is fun when it works. Put the flashcards into this order – 2 syllables, 3 syllables, 1 syllable. Then do this chant, “2, 3, 1. 2, 3, 1. 2, 3. 2, 3. 2, 3, 1.” For example, with fruits, it would sound like this. “Apple, banana, pear. Apple, banana, pear. Apple, banana. Apple, banana. Apple, banana, pear.” Another example for clothing flashcards would be, “Glasses, underwear, boots. Glasses, underwear, boots. Glasses, underwear. Glasses, underwear. Glasses, underwear, boots.”

6. Recognition Game (5 minutes)

Now that the students have had some speaking practice, you want to make sure they actually recognize the words. The following games are not about speaking, just about proving they can recognize the words when you say them.

1. Fly swatters – This classic game just uses something like a toy hammer, fly swatter, or even roll of paper. The teacher sticks the flashcards on the board. Two students each take the “fly swatter,” the teacher says a word, and they have to hit the correct word.
   1. As I mentioned above, I do not assign points or teams for this game in kindergarten classes. Just call two students up, let them play, and then let them sit down again without having any kind of “winner.” VYL students like playing. Competition can be demotivating at this age and no teacher wants crying in class. (Older kids are a different story, of course!)
2. Slap the flashcard – If you don’t have fly swatters or a board, just lay flashcards on the floor, have a few students sit in a circle around the flashcards, and let them slap the flashcard with their hands when you call out the word.
3. Sticky ball – Put the flashcard on the board. Give the kids a sticky ball. You say a flashcard. They try to throw the ball at the flashcard. If you have more than one ball, multiple students can play at once.
4. Bean bag toss – This game is the same as above, but put the flashcards on the floor and students throw a bean bag on the flashcard you say. If you have more than one bean bag, multiple students can play at once.
5. Hop in a line – Put the flashcards in a line parallel to the students on the board or along the floor. Have several students stand up and form a line perpendicular to the line of flashcards. (3 students works well.) Say a flashcard. The students must hop in unison so that the line of students is now all standing in front of that flashcard. Repeat a few times and make sure to say some flashcards that require large hops to keep the game exciting.
6. Find the flashcard – “Hide” flashcards around the room. (With VYL, just setting them on top of tables or sticking them to walls is enough.) Call a student’s name and a flashcard. Let them run and find a flashcard. Have several students go find different flashcards at once if you want a little chaos.

7. Drill vocabulary pronunciation again (3 minutes)

The goal is to get students as a class to say the words out loud again before giving them individual pronunciation practice. This will help cut down on student anxiety at being asked to speak out loud, as well as ensure there aren’t too many wild pronunciation errors.

1. Slow reveal – Use something like a piece of paper to hide the flashcard from the students. Slowly remove the piece of paper, revealing a bit of the flashcard at a time, and let students shout the word when they recognize it. Encourage them all to say it once more when you’ve revealed the word. Do this with all the cards.
2. Show quickly – This is the same idea as before, but now flip the flashcard around super quickly and let students shout out the word if they know it. Show it again and encourage them to repeat once more. Do this with all the cards.
3. What’s missing? – Put all the flashcards on the board or floor where students can see them. Tell them to close their eyes, take away a flashcard, tell them to open their eyes, and let them guess what’s missing. When someone shouts the answer, show the card, and get everyone to say it again. Repeat.

8. Practice individual vocabulary pronunciation (5 minutes)

Now that students have had lots of choral pronunciation practice and recognition practice, it’s finally time for them to show you what they know! For each of these games, listen carefully to pronunciation. If students get an answer wrong or pronounce a word incorrectly, encourage the whole class to repeat the word, this takes the “blame” off the student and gives everyone loads of practice.

1. Hot potato – Have the students sit in a circle. Give one student a ball or soft toy. Play some music and let students pass the ball around. When you stop the music, the student left holding the ball must say a flashcard.
2. Sticky ball – Put the flashcards on the board. Students throw the ball and say the flashcard they hit. If you have more than one ball, multiple students can play at once.
3. Basketball – Use a mini-basketball and hoop. Show a flashcard to a student, if he or she says the word correctly, they can try to get a basket. If you don’t have a basketball and hoop, you can use anything you have on hand, like a trashcan and scrunched up paper or teddy bear and a shopping bag.
4. Hop and say – Lay flashcards in a row across the room on the floor. Students try to hop on the flashcards, saying the words as they go, to cross from one side to another.
5. Guess the flashcard – Put the flashcards facedown on the floor. Point at a flashcard, and let a student guess which one it is. Turn it over and check. If the student is right, he or she can hold onto the flashcard for the duration of the game. If he or she is wrong, turn the flashcard back over, point to another flashcard, and let another student guess. Eventually ask students about flashcards they’ve already seen, and if they’re memories are good, they’ll be able to guess correctly and get the flashcard.
6. Guess again! – Another version of guessing the flashcard is when the teacher sits at the front and hides the flashcard against his or her chest. Students guess which card the teacher is holding. Whoever guesses correctly gets to come up, sit in the teacher’s chair, choose the next flashcard, hide it against their chest, and choose other students who try to guess their flashcard. Repeat until several students have had a try.

9. Drill sentence pronunciation (3 minutes)

Now it’s time to learn some sentences. Give students an opportunity to say the sentences together as a class. You can use the same games you used before when chanting vocabulary.

1. Chant – Simply chant the new sentences all together, such as “I like apples!”
2. TPR – Mime the new sentence and chant it, such as miming, “Yes, it is!” while nodding your head and giving a thumbs up, then “No, it isn’t,” by frowning and shaking your head. Encourage students to repeat.
3. Silly Voices – Practice saying the sentences in different voices. “Say it fast/slow/loud/quiet!”

10. Individual sentence pronunciation (5-10 minutes)

Now encourage individual students to say the sentences. You can do this by playing any of the same games from step 8. For example, “Guess the Flashcard” can be played with the sentences, “Is it a ____? Yes, it is. No, it isn’t.” Another simple way to practice sentences is below.

1. Say and allow students to “try something” – Encourage a student to say the target sentence, then “reward” them by giving them something fun to do. They can throw a sticky ball at a cartoon you’ve drawn on the board. They can play a variety of board games, such as trying to pull a piece from a Jenga tower for saying a sentence right. If you have mini-bowling or a toy dart board, they could get a try at that. Anything fun, funny, or attention-grabbing can be used as a game “reward” for saying the correct sentence. 

11. Model and Practice Conversation (10-15 minutes)

A lot of people miss this step when teaching kindergarten, which is a pity because this is the chance where kindy kids really get to show off. The steps for getting VYL to practice conversation are below.

1. If there’s another adult in the room, have them come to the front and model the conversation with you, “I like apples. What do you like?” “I like fish. What do you like?” “I like pizza. What do…” Repeat a few times.
2. Now call a student to the front. It’s best to call stronger students for the first model. Repeat the conversation with him or her. Then call another student up and do it again.
3. Now call three students up. Have one practice talking with you. Have the other two practice the conversation with each other. Repeat once more.
4. Finally assign pairs. With kindergarten you have to go around the room and use your hands to point to the students you want working together. I’ll point at two kids and say, “2 students,” then point at another two and say this again and again until they’re all in pairs or groups of three. 
5. Now let them talk! They’ll often shock you with how much they can say! Especially if you set this up as a routine and do it at least once a week. Go around the room listening in and correcting, encouraging, as necessary. They won’t be able to speak for more than a couple of minutes, but it’s excellent practice and very motivating for students!

12. Story Time (5-10 minutes)

A good way to wind down a class is by “reading” a picture book. Sometimes I’ll read the story verbatim, but sometimes I just point to the pictures and say sentences that are more in line with what the students have been practicing, especially in classes with low levels of English. Either way, kids love listening to stories. Ask them questions to keep them really involved.

13. Worksheet Time (10-20 minutes)

Kindergarten kids shouldn’t write much. If your school does phonics practice, then writing alphabet letters or practicing writing their names is fine. Otherwise coloring or drawing is much better. Some examples of good worksheets are below.

1. Color by numbers
2. Color dictation
3. Drawing dictation
4. Connect the dots
5. Simple origami

Final notes:

1. Never let kids get bored with a game. I got some great advice once which was to stop the game when it is at its most fun. When the kids are still cheering and having a good time, that’s when you should stop the game. Then the kids will always want to play that game again because they’ll always have good associations with it. If you let them get bored with it, even once, then they’re likely to complain next time you want to play that game.
2. Notes for long classes! If your kindergarten class is longer than 60 minutes, you should fill the rest of the time with activities like song, dance, exercise, coloring/crafts, and free play time. Kindergarten students shouldn’t be expected to sit and listen for long periods of time and should be given lots of breaks. Even a 1 hour class might be too long and should probably have a five minute break in the middle for going to the bathroom and getting water.
3. An easy way to keep kids calm is to have some games that are soothing and some that are exciting. If you have too many calm games, the kids are going to get antsy. If you have too many exciting games, they’ll go nuts. Some examples of exciting games are hot potato, slap the flashcard, any kind of dancing game, TPR, loud and quiet. Below are some examples of “settling” games that can be used at any time.

Instant settlers – These activities can be used any time the students are getting too riled up.

1. Slow reveal – Use something like a piece of paper to hide the flashcard from the students. Slowly remove the piece of paper, revealing a bit of the flashcard at a time, and let students shout the word when they recognize it.
2. What’s missing? – Put all the flashcards on the board or floor where students can see them. Tell them to close their eyes, take away a flashcard, tell them to open their eyes, and let them guess what’s missing. 
3. Telephone – Students sit in a circle. Whisper a sentence to one student. He whispers it to the next student and so on. The last student says the sentence out loud.
4. Read a story.
5. Sing a song.

I know that’s a lot of information, but if you can nail this, your VYL classes will run smoothly and the students will learn so much!

Good luck and remember, they’re just kids! So have fun with it!

Want some more games for your kid classes? Try these awesome sentence building games for older kids.