Crazy ESL “Football” Description Game

This game is absolutely one of my favorites, and honestly, doesn’t have that much to do with football. But this game is high-energy, tons of fun, and also gets everyone involved in thinking and speaking in English. Here’s how to play:

(Just like musical chairs)

Step 1: Clear the room (if necessary) and arrange chairs in a circle. Space the chairs out so the circle is large enough to move around in. Each player (except one) should sit in his chair.

Step 2: The one person who doesn’t have a chair is “It” and stands in the middle of the circle.

Step 3: The person in the center (“It”) calls out a description. For example, “Everyone wearing black” or “Anyone wearing sneakers.” 

Step 4: Anyone who matches that description must stand up and sit down in a new chair. They cannot move to a chair immediately to the right or left of them. At this time, whoever is “It” can also sit down in a newly-vacated seat. As you can imagine, it kind of looks like the 50-yard line of a football game, hence, the name. 

Step 5: Once everyone finds a sit, one person will be left standing (like in musical chairs). He becomes the new “It” and will call out a new description. 

Easy, right?

Why do I love this game so much?

• It’s high-energy. I’ve never seen students not having a good time or not screaming and shouting as they rush to get a chair. 

• They’re actually using English. Instead of just reading boring news articles or reciting passages, they actually using English the entire time to communicate. 

• Everyone is participating. That is, everyone is listening to and thinking in English throughout the whole game. For other review games, if it’s not your turn, maybe you can tune out. Not so with this game. Even if you’re not speaking, you have to listen carefully to find out if you have to move or not. 

• They discover vocabulary. This might the biggest reason I love this game. It’s truly magical to see students think of something they want to say, realize they don’t know how to say it, and eagerly figure it out. Students have the chance to learn so many words that aren’t typically in textbooks, like “braces,” “earrings,” “phone case,” “nail polish,” etc.

• It’s time-flexible. You can stop whenever you want, depending on how much time you have, since there are no teams and no winners or losers. If you need to kill time, this is an excellent activity choice as well. 

(Basically what it’ll look like)

 9 Tips:

1. Be sure to act out the game before you begin. And for the first round, I always make myself “It.” Students will probably need to see what you’re talking about. 

2. Depending on your class’s English level, you can add in more complex descriptions. Instead of just describing what people are wearing, you can describe physical characteristics, or hobbies, or even relationship statuses. Here are a few examples of ones I’ve used:

   Anyone who is wearing glasses

   Anyone who ate breakfast today 

   Anyone is from ________

   Anyone who can play basketball

   Anyone who has bangs

   Anyone who likes sushi

   Anyone who has an iPhone

   Anyone wearing nail polish

   Anyone who has a boyfriend or girlfriend

   Anyone who can speak English

3. For lower-level students, you could even play this game multiple times throughout the semester, as they increase their vocabulary. Perhaps after studying clothing words, you only use clothing descriptions. After they’ve learned about physical descriptions, you could play using physical descriptions, and so on.

4. Generally, descriptions that can be obviously seen and confirmed work best. Depending on how shy your students are, some might not want to join the game. So, if you do say, “Anyone who likes sushi,” there’s the chance that no one moves. Maybe Julie loves sushi, but she’s too shy to stand up and move. But, if everyone can see that Julie is wearing pink, she’ll be more likely to participate. 

5. Along with that point, start off with easier descriptions. I always start with “Anyone wearing black.” There’s always a couple of people wearing black, and I know everyone can understand that vocabulary and clearly see which people should remain seated and which people should stand up. 

6. Once students play for a bit, they might pick up on some strategies. If they don’t, you could always show them the next time you become “It.” Students might figure out that if they say something like “Anyone who can speak English,” then they have more chances to grab a seat, since everyone will have to stand up. They might also realize they can force someone’s hand. If Tim realizes that his buddy Paul is the only person wearing a hoodie that day, he can say, “Anyone wearing a hoodie” and take Paul’s seat when Paul is forced to stand up. Done strategically, this can bring a lot of laughs. 

7. As the teacher, I try to moderate the group. Sometimes “It” doesn’t always find a seat, and they might have to be “It” for the second round. If I know that student is a little shy, I’ll then make sure he or she gets a seat next time, even if it means I have to be “It” again. The game is supposed to be a fun learning experience, not a humiliating memory that gets pulled up ten years later in therapy.

8. Students can help each other if they need it. If Jason has been “It” five different times, he might need help thinking of a new description. Or, if he needs to ask a classmate for a translation of a description, that’s okay too. 

9. Obviously, make sure the game is controlled enough so that no one gets hurt or shoved around too much during the game. 

I hope you’ll be able to try this crazy descriptive game in your classrooms soon so you can see how much fun it is for yourself!