The Red Light Green Light ESL game is a version of the well known children’s game (also known as Statues), in which students have to write instead of running.
2+
10-20 mins
Setup
This game is often played as a class, but you could also play in smaller groups. Either way, each student writes on their own paper.
Alternatively, you could play on the board in teams, with one student from each team writing in each round. Students have to wait for their turn, but it does make it easier to check students’ work and avoid cheating.
Game
- One student in the class/group acts as the ‘light’ (if playing as a class they should come to the front).
- The other students playing have to write a predefined list of characters/words, as fast as they can.
- However, they can only write when the light says “Green Light!” If the light says “Red Light!”, they must stop writing immediately. Any student caught writing is disqualified from the current round.
- The student who finishes first shouts out “Stop!” Or “Finished!”, and is the winner. The teacher or the light should check their completed work to confirm. The winner then becomes the light for the next round.
- Repeat the process for future rounds. If playing in teams, the winner of each round gets a point for their team.
Target Language
The Red Light Green Light ESL game is primarily designed as a warmer or time-filler for kids.
With low-level beginners, you can use it to practise set lists such as the alphabet, numbers, ordinal numbers (useful for dates), days of the week, months etc.
Or, you could ask students to write any ten words from a given vocabulary category. This is usually more suitable for high beginner or low intermediate students.
For other similar games, try Board Race and Dictation Race.
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