Teach ESL to Kids

Babies Need Games Too!!!

Using ESL games for babies?! Can that really work?

I admit that it seems a little strange to use games to teach ESL to babies. After all, they don’t really speak, they don’t have good motor skills, and they don’t seem to “know” all that much.

You just have to work around these things!

Babies may not be speaking English yet, but that doesn’t always mean that they don’t know things. You have to choose games that don’t force them to speak, but which still demonstrate their knowledge.

Following are a couple of ESL games for babies which use flashcards that have proved successful in my baby classes. They may not seem like “games” to an adult, but the babies actually find them quite fun.

Before going into the games, you should keep a few things in mind when playing these games with babies:

• If the baby doesn’t know the answer, gently point out the correct card to them.
• If the baby is reaching for the wrong card, quickly move the correct card to where they are reaching for.
• Always heap lots of praise on the baby when they do touch the correct card.

These few suggestions will help the babies to gain confidence in demonstrating their knowledge.

Five ESL Games for Babies Using Flashcards:

1. Pick a Card. Hold out the cards in your hand and let the baby pick one. Move them around slightly so the baby has to reach. Once he or she has picked a card, see if they can say what is on the card, or say what is on the card and have them repeat (if they can).
2. Touch a Card. Lay the cards out on the floor and ask the baby to touch a particular card. Make sure that they touch the right one and give lots of praise for getting it right. A variation of this is to spread the cards around the room and have baby walk to where they can touch it. This gets them up and moving.
3. Give Me a Card. Give each of the babies a card to hold. Then say “Who can give me ‘cat’?” The baby who is holding the cat card can give you the card.
4. Choose a Card. Lay the cards out on the floor and ask baby to choose their favorite. This works good with food or animal flashcards.
5. One out of Two. Put two cards out in front of baby. Point to the first card and say what it is. Then point to the second card and say what it is. Repeat this a few times, then ask the baby to touch one of the cards.

I hope that these games can help to make your baby classes more fun.

Love,
Shannon Sensei

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