Possessives Mad Libs

Setup

This version of Mad Libs always uses the same one-sentence text as a template, with the students simply changing the details in it. Students will all need a piece of paper each. They will pass this paper to another student, so define the order/direction papers are to be passed.

Activity

Following your instructions, students will write part of a sentence on the paper in front of them. They will then pass it to another student and write on another piece of paper. The order of instructions is as follows:

1. Write a pronoun e.g. “Alex” (encourage them to use any subject they want, including proper nouns and plurals).
2. Pass the papers.
3. Write the form of the verb “have” or “have got” that agrees with the pronoun on that paper e.g. “has”.
4. Pass the papers.
5. Write a number greater than 1. e.g. “13”.
6. Pass the papers.
7. Write a classroom object in its plural form e.g. “pens”.
8. Pass the papers.
9. Write the word “in” plus the correct possessive for the pronoun e.g. “in his”.
10. Pass the papers.
11. Write a body part e.g. “ear”.
12. Pass one more time, and the students now read the sentence that has been created on their paper. For example, Alex has 13 pens in his ear.

Target Language

The Possessives Mad Libs ESL activity is a simple but fun way to practise possessives and have/have got with beginners. Students can also practise the vocabulary for classroom objects and body parts at the same time.

You also have the option to alter the format slightly in order to practice other basic vocabulary. For example, you could replace classroom objects with food, and body parts with rooms of the house.

The activity works best with younger kids who will have a good laugh at the silly sentences created. It could work with any beginner class if you think they will like that sort of humour though.

Just be careful with a kids class that they don’t create offensive statements about their classmates. You might want to outlaw certain body parts and the names of students in class to be safe. You could use the names of famous people or cartoon characters instead.