Word Games
Below are Samples from “The Games Box”
When you pre-order this fantastic resource you you will automatically receive a 50% discount on that purchase, a free guide on how to organise a games session and these sample games from “The Games Box” in a form that you can print out and use as individual cards.
ACTION STORY
Players are divided into groups of 4 or 5. The object of the exercise is for the group to tell a story one sentence at a time but the emphasis must be on action. Each sentence must progress the story through action, much in the way an action movie does. The action must continue without stopping until the end of the story. Give some examples of the action movie genre. Eg. “Speed” and “Speed 2”, “Cliffhanger”, “Terminator” etc.
ALLITERATIONS
Players stand in a circle. One person is given the ball, and asked to name as many words as possible beginning with ’P’ (or any other letter), in the time it takes for the ball to get passed along the circle. No repeats are allowed.
Variation: Play the game in pairs and have a time limit.
Required: a ball
ALPHABET GAME
Divide the players into pairs. The leader chooses a topic for conversation. The first player says a sentence whose first word must begin with the letter A; the next then says a sentence, which must begin with B; then back to the first for a sentence beginning with C, and so on. The sentences must follow on from each other logically and sensibly.
Variation: Try working through the alphabet backwards!
BARNEY
Players sit in a circle. One person is chosen to stand in the middle. He/she calls out a letter to one of the other players. That player must come up with the name of each of the following: a person, object or service that can be sold, and a location for the sale, all starting with the letter given. Example: ’D’ “Daniel sells Dog food in Dubrovnik”. Any person who fails to respond to the letter called becomes the letter caller.
CATEGORIES
Beforehand prepare some category cards. For example the title of one card might be “Birds of a Feather”. On the card is listed seven things in that category e.g. eagle, wing, flock, flight etc
Divide players into two or more teams. Two players are chosen from each team. One of the players chooses one of the category cards and at a signal from the leader has 30 seconds to give clues regarding each thing on the list. They are not allowed to use the word at all but can use whatever means to convey the list to his/her team. The second player acts as recorder for the team. Noting down all words successfully identified by the team. One point is received for everything guessed within 30 seconds. Then the second team picks another category and play continues. The team with the greatest number of points overall wins the game.
Required: category cards need to be prepared beforehand
CHINESE WHISPERS
The group should be divided into two or three large teams. The leader shows the first person in each team a card with a complicated phrase on it. The players, whispering, must transmit the phrase to the last player in the row. Each player is only allowed to transmit the phrase once to the next person. Usually when the phrase comes to the last player it is distorted. The team whose message is passed on correctly or close to correct wins.
Required: complex sentences or phrases written down on slips of paper or cards
CITY TO CITY
The group forms a circle. The leader chooses a player who names a city to begin with, for example, s/he says: “Moscow”. The player next to the leader names a city that begins with the last letter of Moscow – “W”. S/he says: “Warsaw”. The next player says, for example, “Washington” and so on. Each player has 3 seconds to respond. If s/he can’t think of the name of a city in 3 seconds s/he is out of the game.
DISSOCIATION GAME
Players sit in a circle. One person (A) is selected to start. (A) calls out a word to her/his neighbour. The neighbour then calls out an unassociated word to his/her neighbour and so on around the circle. If anyone starts associating the game has to start again and move in the opposite direction. The aim is to get all the way around the circle without a word association.
For example: car, dandruff, frog, ocean, blue. The group would start again at this point because blue is obviously an association with ocean.
FIRING SQUAD
All players form a straight line. One player (A) is selected to face the ‘firing squad’ and stands at a distance from the group. The first player in line (B) calls out a word to (A), who responds as fast as he/she can with the first word that comes to mind. The next player in the line then throws another word, unrelated to the previous word, and again A needs to respond as quickly as possible. This continues rapidly down the line and then (B) takes (A’s) place and the whole process begins again.
FORTUNATELY /UNFORTUNATELY
Players are divided into groups of five; try to avoid an equal number in a group for this particular exercise. One member is selected to begin. The group then tells a story phrase by phrase. Each phrase begins alternately with ‘fortunately’ and ‘unfortunately’. The story should always move forward by each subsequent phrase and it is not permitted to repeat any previous phrase or situation.
An example of the start of such a story might be:
Fortunately Jack had remembered to pack his hiking boots for the journey. Unfortunately the bags did not arrive at the baggage collection. Fortunately for Jack he always carried a spare pair of boots in his backpack. Unfortunately as he left the airport he was mugged. Fortunately the mugger left his credit card but took his one and only pair of boots. Unfortunately Jack had foot condition that required specially made boots ……and so the story goes on.
HANGMAN
One person in the group is chosen as ‘hangman’. S/he thinks of a word or phrase, which consists of 7 or more letters and draws a horizontal line on a blackboard or whiteboard for each letter in the word or phrase. S/he then draws the gallows, where s/he will “hang” the group, if they cannot guess the word. The ‘hangman’ points to one member of the group to begin. S/he must name a letter. If s/he guesses a right letter “the hangman” inserts it into the word. It the player doesn’t guess the letter “the hangman” draws the rope on the gallows. After each wrong letter “the hangman” continues to draw the noose the figure of a man on the gallows bit by bit. S/he draws the head then body, each of the legs, each of the arms. If a player guesses the word before the group is hanged s/he becomes “hangman” in the following round.
Required: a blackboard/whiteboard and chalk/marker
LAST LETTER ASSOCIATION
This is an association game, where, instead of naming the first word you think of upon hearing a previous word, you name the first word you think of starting with the last letter of the previous word.
For a comprehensive set of games cards for every age group, every occasion, in 11 different categories, look at “The Games Box” .
Harry Tawse | 
July 20, 2009 12:09 pm
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