Fun and Learn Gamification Portfolio
Introduction There are a variety of activities for children to learn, but in this case, we are going to focus on play. Play is something fun that contributes to people's motivation and generates interest in learning. Adults and young people also learn through play but now we are going to focus on activities for children, specifically from 3 to 6 years old or even 7 on some occasions.
Nursery (3 years old) 1. Short story and dramatization. In this activity the teacher reads a short story with simple vocabulary, appropriate for the age group and focused on the topic she wants to work on, she reads it first so that the students can imagine the scene first and then together with the teacher recreate the scenes of the story and the student can contribute new ideas to it. (The story can be used at any age by adapting it to the same age).
Materials. o Short story o Costumes (optional)
Example:
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/SJWz1JbyjRQ/maxresdefault.jpg
Another example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoaqX_-J-fs
2. Rally of color This activity consists of making groups of 3 students each, where they will learn the primary colors and each student will represent a color. The first activity consists of collecting all the objects of the corresponding color and then placing them in the bucket of the same color and they must shout the name of the color so that their partner can come out and repeat the activity but with their color. The group that finishes first and with the correct colors wins.
Materials: o Caps of primary colors o jars of primary colors
Example:
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/f0/5d/74/f05d748ce2f6427a8968782ef9b09609.jpg
3. Visit the zoo
First, they will dress up as explorers and then they will go in parts around the class where there will be different images of zoo animals and while they look at them they will do the action like taking a picture and the teacher will make the sound of the corresponding animal and the students will have to imitate it.
Materials: o Costume of explorers. o Images of zoo animals. o Camara made of paper.
Example:
http://mm.milfiestasinfantiles.com/uploads/manualidades-fiestas/disfraz-caseroexplorador-nino.jpg https://i.ytimg.com/vi/mQKDUKxjiJ4/maxresdefault.jpg
Reference of idea: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CT86Dl442jA
4. Snow making In this activity the children will make snow and this to introduce the Christmas theme. For this activity the teacher will cut diapers in half and remove the stuffing inside. The students will mix that with water until they get the texture of snow. The teacher can also put Christmas songs to do the activity.
Materials: o Cup of water o Towel o Baby diapers
Example:
https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sciencekiddo.com%2F fakesnow%2F&psig=AOvVaw2_rSfWDJQR4F1LCvdRJg4F&ust=1630077020808000&source =images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAoQjRxqFwoTCIju5qH8zvICFQAAAAAdAAAAABAJ
Another example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hANdg1Odvm0
5. Making my farm animals First, they watch a video about the farm animals where they will imitate their sound as well. Then the teacher will give them plasticine or clay so they can make their own farm and then explain which animals they are and present it to their classmates who can ask questions about the farm. The teacher must always keep in mind that care must be taken to ensure that no student ingests the material.
Materials: o Plasticine or clay. o Video of farm animals.
Example:
https://plastilina.com.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Figuras-con-plastilina.jpg
Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6HzoUcx3eo
Pre – kinder (4/5 years old) 1. Memory of numbers.
In this activity they will have to play memory with a group of numbers, they can be up to 50 and the students will have to find their partner, say out loud what number it is and then write it in a tray with sand or sugar to also practice fine motor skills.
Materials: o Tray o Sand or sugar o Memory game of numbers up to 50
Example:
https://static.parentlane.com/contents/PL_Y7_Y8_ACT_64.jpg https://i.ytimg.com/vi/MvJuRgj7pbA/maxresdefault.jpg
2. Sequence of colors
In this game the teacher will project on the screen a sequence of primary, secondary and some tertiary colors and they will have to repeat the sequence with circles of the same color and at the same time saying the name out loud and each time the difficulty will increase. They can start with a sequence of 4 colors and increase one color at a time until they reach 7 colors.
Materials: o Circles of different colors. o Secuence of the colors.
Examples:
https://cemacogt.vteximg.com.br/arquivos/ids/413044-10001000/840463_1.jpg?v=637591438765600000
3. creating my robot friends In this activity the children have different geometric figures where they must create a robot which will be their friend, then they must explain to their table group which figures they used to create their robot.
Materials: o geometric figures o Glue o Scissors
Example:
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/1b/17/a6/1b17a6594b5086760a31eef1c06494fc.jpg
4. Puzzle with vocabulary words
Students can put together puzzles with 4-6 pieces that contain the vocabulary words they are currently looking at. They can also create a puzzle with different objects and have students name them as they put them together. They can do this in groups or individually.
Materials: o Puzzle
Examples:
https://img.freepik.com/vector-gratis/felices-ninos-lindos-juegan-resolver-rompecabezasjuntos_97632-1094.jpg?size=626&ext=jpg
5. Recognizing sounds In this activity, the teacher should paste flashcards of different animals on the classroom walls and introduce the sounds of each animal. Then the students will have to move around the class looking for the animal that makes the sound and touch the flashcard, repeat the sound they heard and say how it names. Each animal will have a value of 10 points.
Materials: o Flashcards of animals. o Something to produce the sound.
Example:
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/98/f7/0b/98f70b25f7335bab718d7a00157582e0.jpg
Reference of idea: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_DlDw45FV0
Kinder (5 years old) 1. broken phone In this activity, children form a circle and can sit on the floor. The teacher starts by creating a sentence with a certain degree of difficulty and says it silently to one student and that student has to say it to another student and so on. Then the last one has to say the sentence out loud. Create a sentence for each student.
Materials: o Sentences.
Example:
https://rosinaiglesias.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Depositphotos_97941186_m-2015-768x876.jpg
Example video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9ZW-X0jFVc
2. Mimics This is a game where they can learn vocabulary. The teacher first shows the words and the meaning, then they take turns modeling one of the vocabulary words and their classmates must guess which vocabulary word is being represented by miming.
Materials: o Vocabulary words.
Example:
https://bebechito.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/juegos-de-m%C3%ADmica-2e1596740187513.jpg
3. The rally match This activity consists of placing some obstacles where the children must pass to get to the board where they will have to match words with their picture or complete a sentence with words in the word bank and return the same way to shake hands with their partner and do the same route. This activity is done in teams and there may be a prize for the team that does it in the shortest time.
Materials: o Bottles o Marker o Board o Flashcards o Making tape.
Example:
https://static.vecteezy.com/system/resources/previews/000/368/668/non_2x/vectorwhiteboard-with-boy-and-girl-writing.jpg https://i.ytimg.com/vi/snafH_MPDhM/hqdefault.jpg
4. Create a story Each day 2 stories will be played. Each student must create their own story. Then they will be chosen at random as the star of the week and will have to present their story to their classmates in any way they want, even through a dramatization with the help of their classmates, and that until they all pass.
Materials: o Short story of each student
Example
https://i.pinimg.com/474x/ec/43/00/ec4300d0372b9ec98cf4dd62e095f068.jpg
Video of example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uK6fP3NWrREç
5. Profession Day
This activity consists in personifying the profession that the students want to be when they grow up, each student can represent as a member of a community and provide service to what would be the classmates. For example, if a child wants to be a doctor, he will dress up as a doctor, with his utensils and all, and be able to "cure" his classmate.
Materials: o Costumes of profession.
Example
https://s.alicdn.com/@sc04/kf/H0fd6f12faa5f46a6b24f12cfc5ffff12P.jpg_300x300.jpg
Video of the idea: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxdrEFz9Jsw
Pre-first (6 years) 1. Tongue twister contest
This activity consists of forming 2 groups where the students will have tongue twisters of different degrees of difficulty and whoever says it in the shortest time will win, each tongue twister will have a value of 10 points and whoever reaches 100 points first, wins.
Materials: o Tongue twisters.
Example:
https://www.mundoprimaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/trabalenguasinfantiles.png
Another example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAjX_CgZokU
2. flying words
The teacher should make different small posters with vocabulary words, then throw them in the air and the student should catch one of these posters in the air, then read the word and create a sentence with this word.
Materials: o Posters of vocabulary words.
Example
https://www.conmishijos.com/uploads/experimentos/Experimento-infantil-hojavoladora-bis.jpg
3. Simon say Simon say is a game where the children must do all the actions that the miss says half the time simon say first, with this game we could include the parts of the body. For example: "Simon say touch your head" and the children must touch their heads but if she doesn't say that at first, the children must not do it.
Materials: o Flashcards of part of the body
Example
https://encryptedtbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQn3XS6WsGC3WFoRpGU5KRD6UtXiD7DFJcWRQ& usqp=CAU
Video of example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90GBmRLMtfM
4. Jeopardy
Jeopardy is a very simple game where you can create different categories and questions and in groups you can answer them, learning from each other as well. In this game we can add sentences or vocabulary questions and more.
Materials: o Jeopardy
Examples
https://thetechtack.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/jeopardy-logo-2019-12508971280x0.jpeg
https://img.freepik.com/vector-gratis/pregunta-infantil-joven-pensativo-hacer-preguntas-nino-confundidocomprender-o-encontrar-respuesta-ilustracion-dibujos-animados-retrato_102902-859.jpg?size=626&ext=jpg
5. alphabet soup
This activity consists of finding words in an alphabet soup or we can even innovate by having them look for sentences as well. We can even make a variation that instead of letters, they can be drawings and thus play with the changes.
Materials: o Alphabet soup o Markers or crayons.
Example
https://cdn.wordsearch365.com/media/post-images/beneficios-jugar-sopa-de-letras.jpg
Conclusion Gamification is a process with which we can include the game as a learning method, it is something innovative where it motivates and inspires students to want to learn. Gamification can be applied at all ages because it is still effective. The game even brings different skills to students to improve as a person and learning a second language is a perfect method.
References: Katie. (21 de May de 2014). Gift of curiosity. Obtenido de https://www.giftofcuriosity.com/6-activities-for-learning-about-colors/
Monaco, E. (s.f.). fluentu. Obtenido de https://www.fluentu.com/blog/educatorenglish/esl-activities-for-children/
Murphy, E. (1 de Septiembre de 2017). British Council. Obtenido de https://www.britishcouncil.es/blog/como-ensenar-ingles-a-ninos
Ximena, M. (febrero de 2020). English class. La Preparatoria school.