Baby Shower Games in the EFL class?

No I am not expecting! I was planning a wedding shower for a friend a while back and I mainly fell back on my teaching knowledge of random games to amuse the guests. So when I was scrolling through free kindle books and found this I thought, "You know, I bet baby shower games would be great in some EFL classes!" Some of them were, and others... not so much. Here are a few of the ones I think I could use in class.

Feed the baby: Great for beginning EFL students (I'd say A1 or A2) learning about food. Think of it as a specified Simon Says. One student volunteers to be the baby (or the teacher starts). The baby starts shouting out random vocabulary. For example, the baby says: "Broccoli" The parents, the rest of the students, have to decide if it is edible or not edible. If it is edible they clap twice. If it is inedible they cover their mouth.

Baby: Broccoli
Parents: Clap twice
Baby: Bread
Parents: Clap twice
Baby: Shoes
Parents: Hands over their mouth

If a parent messes up and does the wrong motion they are "out" and should sit down. Start out slowly but speed up eventually. This should help students recognize food words. The last student standing becomes the baby.

This can also be done with flash cards! While I think this works well with food, you could easily lose the baby and parent scenario and use it for colors or rooms in a house. For example the topic could be "Things we find in a kitchen" Two claps would be: Knives, Drawers, Microwaves. Hands on your mouth would be: bed, toilet, etc.


What animal is it? Take a shoe box and put a hole in it. Put an animal cracker in it. Have the student put their hand in and describe it. Can they guess the animal? Great for adjectives (rough, tiny, bumpy, etc.) and animals! You can use a puzzle piece or small toy if you want to avoid food (or have to because of allergies or school regulations. Alternatively put things in plastic Easter eggs and have them describe and guess. Probably best for Primary or Pre-K.

Who is it? Finally an easy ice breaker. Hand each student a post it and have them write three facts about themselves on it. Put a number on it and place them around the classroom. Have students go around with a student roster and guess who is what number.

Name Game! Probably the hardest (I think). Either give all the students a name (your name, a mascot name a celebrity name, a main character's name, an author's name, etc.) or let them use their own. Have them make a sentence with each letter starting a different word, so: Carissa Create Awesome Relics Inviting Super Stars Around. To make it easier have each letter start a sentence: Clearly you are special As such you should be careful. Really think before you decide to do something. If you do that, then your life should be awesome. Should you not follow those directions, things may end badly. So you've been warned. Act cautiously and you'll love life!

So those are just a few ideas from this book. Have you ever been to a baby shower? What's your favorite game? Would you use it in the classroom or keep it away from EFL?

102 ESL Games and Activities - Book Review

Now just $2.99 on Amazon

102 ESL Games and Activities for New and Prospective Teachers I have skimmed through the whole book and about read half of it. I didn't find any new and groundbreaking activities, but I did find a lot of solid activities with a good basis in having students actively participate.

The writer is Miles Jaworski who has taught for 25 years in China, Vietnam, Ecuador and the United States of America.

Basically this book does exactly what it says it does. It gives 102 activities for new and prospective teachers.

What kinds of activities? There's a lot of speaking, some writing, some ice breakers, a lot of fillers and mainly drills (where students are tricked into having fun while learning...awesome!)

This is a sample of how the book looks in my kindle (in my case the kindle app on my tablet) and why it is awesome:

1. Each activity has a Language/ Skill Practiced e.g Past Simple /Past Continuous. Most games can be adjusted to practice whatever you want. However, when you are a new teacher doing a lesson on the past perfect (or another specific topic) for the first time, it can be nice to quickly find a game tailored to that skill.
2. In addition to a title each activity has an approximate time! When I first started teaching the HARDEST part for me what to figure out how long an activity should take. Now the author mentions that this isn't set in stone and it is key to remember that. Some classes will take longer and others won't need as much time, but at least Miles gives a general ideas.
3. Most activities require very little. So when you are assigned to a class without a computer, an IWB or a radio, it is nice to have these easy activities ot use.
4. If you don't have the Internet in your classroom you can download this to your tablet / Kindle and use it in class to find a last minute filler game.

Here's why it isn't the best

1. Most of these activities are fairly simple and you would probably have come up with them on your own / seen  them online / found them in a textbook.

Overall:

• If you are a new teacher, or a teacher who doesn't have time/ability to sort through the Internet to find appropriate activities this is great.
• If you had been teaching for a while but stopped and are just now getting back into it, this is a great refresher of some classics.
• If you are a new teacher who wants an overall view of different types of activities to do in EFL then this is a great e-book for you!

If you do download it let me know what you think! Do you like it more than I did, or less?

Pumpernickel! Another word guessing game!

 Have your students learned adverbs of frequency? (usually, always, sometimes)
Can they ask questions?
Do they know different locations?
Do they know lots of different verbs?

Then they are ready for this game!

I've always called it pumpernickel because I think that's a fun word to say! If you have a better word to say (maybe something that your students struggle with and need help pronouncing) then you should use that instead.

The rules of the game are easy, you have to answer questions about your verb without actually saying it. And the rest of the class has to ask questions about your verb. Instead of saying your verb we use the word, "pumpernickel."

So one way we can play it would be:

1. The teacher puts different words that they have practiced in a hat and pulls one out.
2. Student 1: Do you pumpernickel every day?
   Teacher:  Yes, I pumpernickel every night.
3. Student 2: Do you like to pumpernickel?
  Teacher: I LOVE to pumpkernickel.
4. Student 3: Do you pumpernickel in your bathroom?
    Teacher: No, I don't pumpernickel in my bathroom; it would be dangerous.
5. Student 4: Is it sleep?
    Teacher: Yes it is sleep!

Now student 4 can pick a word and the rest of the students will continue asking questions about pumpernickel.


Adaptations: 

• Some teachers have students guess in a particular order. Other teachers choose from volunteers. Whatever works best for your class.
• Now, some teachers play where students come up with their own verbs. That's awesome! An easy way to make this a no-prep game. However, I teach high school students. I can think of quite a few verbs I would NOT want them to use. 
• If you have lower level students you can make more verbs by adding locations. For example, "go" can be, "go to church," "go to the dentist," or "go to the zoo." Eat can be, "eat dessert," "eat fast food" or "east vegetables" etc.
• Pick a verb tense. You can use this to review a specific verb tense by making all questions in that tense
• Future: Will you pumpernickel tomorrow?
• Past Perfect: Have you pumpernickeled in a kitchen?
• Past Progressive: Have you been pumpernickeling since you were little?
• etc.
• You can use nouns and adjectives instead of verbs, but verbs make this game extra fun!

I LOVE word games!  If you are looking for other word games try: ink-pinks or guess the rhyme.

If you end up using this in class let me know how it goes and if you changed it. If you don't use it in class I'd love to know about what other word games do you like?

10 ways to use tongue twisters in your class!

I LOVE tongue twisters!

Sometimes I am pretty good at them. I feel like I have an agile frog's tongue attacking sounds as they come.

Other times I get so tangled I feel more like I have the dog's tongue, a useless appendage that just hangs from my mouth. 

OK, so we all know what a tongue twister is, but how can we best use them in class. Have the students say them? Well yeah... but what else? Here are 10 different ways to use tongue twisters in class.

1. Dictoglosses  (Higher Level)
• I’ve mentioned using them in dictoglosses and that can work well. A dictogloss is essentially an activity where students hear a text (in this case the tongue twister) and without notes try to write what they remember. Then they hear it again and get to work with a partner to share both renditions with the end goal of having replicated the original text well
• The advantage of using tongue twisters in a dictogloss? Unlike other EFL activities this has students hearing the sounds repeated (first by the teacher then the other student). They also have to talk with their partner (practice speaking) and write the sounds (often with homonyms this can be tricky).
2. Running Dictations (I've done this with all levels)

• Divide your class into small groups (of two-three students is perfect)
• Post tongue twisters on the wall around the classroom (as many tongue twisters as there are groups).
• Explain that one person at a time can run to a tongue twister and then run back to the table. The person at the table then writes down the tongue twister as the runner told them.
3. Fill in the blanks (Depending on the blanks you choose, all levels)
• Give them a longer tongue twister with some blanks. Ex. If I buy some better ______ it will make the batter _______. See if they can fill in the blanks based on what the rest of the tongue twister says.
4. Who’s there? (All levels are possible depending on the tongue twister you use)

• If you are looking for another oldie but goodie in the EFL world try Telephone. This increases the difficulty of the game as each time the message is passed one person will have to say it correctly (usually challenging) and the other person will have to hear it correctly. This will help students remember that speeding up their speaking won’t always help them.
• Try to use shorter tongue twisters for this game! ("Red lorry, yellow lorry" twice is fine.)
5. The Rotation Situation (All levels)
• The best tongue twisters to do this with are the ones that play minimal pairs off each other. For example: “She sells sea shells by the sea shore” uses s and sh.
• The premise is you pick a simple pattern: putting your hands on your shoulders and putting your hands on your head. “She” hands on your head “sells sea“ hands on your shoulders ”shells by the“ hands on your shoulders “sea” hands on your head, “shore”.
• This can be done slowly at first, but once students get the hang of it try it faster and faster each time.
• This is commonly done with, “My Bonnie lies over the ocean” with students standing and sitting every time they hear the B sound. It helps them recognize and distinguish sounds.
6. One by one (All levels are possible depending on the tongue twister you choose)
• Another fun way to do this is to have the tongue twister on the board and have the students say the tongue twister individually. That is, that one student says “On” the student behind him says “a” the student behind him says, “lazy” etc. The other students should pay attention as they still need to move their hands appropriately and be prepared for their turn. This can make the game more fun. See how many times you can get around the classroom. Use a stopwatch and see how fast the class can do it. Divide the class into two groups and see who does it the fastest etc.
7. Illustrate it

• Have students illustrate a shorter tongue twister. 
• Then have them present it to the class.
• In the end bind them together for your own tongue twister book.
8. “Oh no! Where’d it go?” (For lower levels, but your higher level class may like it)
• Younger students love chants so I would write entire tongue twisters on the board and then erase one word and say, “Oh no, where’d it go!” Silly but they loved it!
• Then we’d try to recite the tongue twister even though the one word had been removed.
• After we said it a couple times I'd erase another word, "Oh no! Where's it go?" and we'd try to do it again without that word on the board.
• In the end there would be no words on the board, and we would successfully do it on our own
9. Hangman
• Use a classic game of hangman (or a not so classic game) and at the end have the students say the tongue twister. If they do so successfully they get an extra point for their team.
10. Make their own
• Now that they have seen tongue twisters see if they can come up with their own and present it to the class. 
• Vote on the best tongue twisters, the funniest, the saddest etc.

Normally $2.99 snag it for free!

Normally $.99 get it for free.

If you are trying to find a place with tongue twisters the Internet is FILLED with them. Right now Twisty Tongue Twisters, Looney Limericks and Pixelated Poems and Tongue Twisters for Kids are free to download from Amazon. If you don't get them while they are free you can still find them for under $3.00! If I could only pick one I would suggest you spend the extra $2.00 and get Tongue Twisters for Kids.

What about you? I am sure there are more ways to use them and if you know of any please share them in the comments below. Or do you have a site you love using to find that perfect tongue twister? Share it in the comments!

15+ different Vocabulary Methods (How to teach words)

A key to learning any new language is new vocabulary! There are so many ways to

GAMES:

• SNOWBALL FIGHT Get students to have a blast throwing around paper in class and then answering vocabulary questions! http://eslcarissa.blogspot.com/2012/12/fight-fight-playful-way-to-have.html
• Get students to improve their vocabulary by really thinking about what word someone is trying to get you to guess with rhymes! http://eslcarissa.blogspot.com/2012/11/i-am-thinking-of-word-that-rhymes-with.html
• Make reviewing vocabulary words more fun by throwing hangman into the mix. Like the snowball fight, this game plays on students love for throwing things. http://eslcarissa.blogspot.com/2012/10/alternate-hangman-hangman-you-knew-and.html
• Using pictures, homophones, antonyms, or definitions you can play Flyswatter. You can also get students to run around, which helps with excess energy. http://eslcarissa.blogspot.com/2012/09/flyswatter.html
• When you want students to practice vocabulary get them to create ink pinks. By using these rhymes they are using other vocab and showing they really understand the word http://eslcarissa.blogspot.com/2012/07/rhyming-word-game.html
• Battleship is what I usually use to repeat grammar. However, it can also be used for vocabulary. Simply make each box a vocabulary word, or arrange the columns and rows by categories. http://eslcarissa.blogspot.com/2012/06/battleship-game-differentiated-for-efl.html 
•  (NEW Added June 2013) Pumpernickel is another no prep game where students try to guess the verb another student is thinking of by replacing the verb with pumpernickel. For example, "Do you pumpernickel every day?" http://eslcarissa.blogspot.com/2013/05/pumpernickel-another-word-guessing-games.html 
• (NEW Added June 2013) Feed the baby is awesome for beginning EFL students. Think of it as a specified Simon Says. One student volunteers to be the baby (or the teacher starts). The baby says: "Broccoli" The parents (students) decide if it is edible or not edible. If it is edible they clap twice. If it is inedible they cover their mouth. While obviously great for food this can be adapted for other categories.  http://eslcarissa.blogspot.mx/2013/06/baby-shower-games-in-efl-class.html
• (Added June 2013) Remember making fortune tellers when you were younger? Change it into a game! My EFL students love playing so much they'll forget they are learning. http://eslcarissa.blogspot.mx/2013/05/cootie-catcher-speaking-activity.html
• (Added November 2013) Have you ever used Quizlet? You can make word lists and your students can play the automatically generated games to study on their own. http://eslcarissa.blogspot.com/2013/11/quizlet-for-at-home-studying.html
• (Added May 2014) Have you ever played Jenga? I bet you have! You can also use Jenga to review vocabulary words http://eslcarissa.blogspot.com/2014/05/jenga-in-classroom.html 
• (Added June 2014) This is a GREAT version of Pictionary that required NO DRAWING! Intrigued? Check it out! http://eslcarissa.blogspot.com/2014/06/artistically-challenged-pictionary.html

ACTIVITIES

• Try using a dictogloss with vocabulary. It gets students to practice listening, reading and writing PLUS they can hear new vocabulary http://eslcarissa.blogspot.com/2012/09/5-fun-ways-to-use-dictagloss-in-efl.html
• These are the basic steps one has to take to teach any words (you can combine these with any of the methods here) http://eslcarissa.blogspot.com/2012/08/basic-steps-of-teaching-any-lexis.html
• This activity can be a basic way to reinforce vocabulary words..and it usually ends up being really funny! All it takes is a piece of paper and the ability to write and fold. Make sure to set a time limit! http://eslcarissa.blogspot.com/2012/06/write-fold-pass-draw-fold-pass-repeat.html
• Have your students use word journals to get different collocations, idioms, etc. in addition to the definition http://eslcarissa.blogspot.com/2011/03/nelson-arditto.html
• Tell a story! Students respond well to stories, so put one together using different vocabulary words. http://eslcarissa.blogspot.com/2011/03/occupations.html
• Start a blog. Have students send in pictures using their cell phones or e-mails of their vocabulary words http://eslcarissa.blogspot.com/2010/08/part-ii-day-1.html
• To get a bit more complicated than just telling a story tell a draw and tell story. Then see if students can make their own using vocabulary words  http://eslcarissa.blogspot.com/2012/06/tell-and-draw-stories.html 
• Use songs! Students will get them stuck in their heads and never forget.  http://eslcarissa.blogspot.com/2012/06/not-another-cloze-how-else-to-use-songs.html
• Use TPR. There's a reason "Simon Says" and "Head Shoulder Knees and Toes" are so popular! Associate a motion with a word and it should stick with your students longer. http://eslcarissa.blogspot.mx/2012/10/this-or-that-these-or-those.html
• (Added June 2013) To review names of items in a house have them make their own house. This is an easy origami craft http://eslcarissa.blogspot.mx/2013/06/house-learning-rooms.html
• (Added October 2013) Decorate your class AND give your students a little help remembering tricky vocabulary words  http://eslcarissa.blogspot.mx/2013/10/vocabulary-mobiles.html
• (Added March 2014) This is a fun activity to help students grow their vocabulary in a visually pleasing way :) http://eslcarissa.blogspot.com/2014/03/get-students-using-different-words.html 
• (Added February 2015) This activity has students form small groups and make dialogues to show they understand words. They need to listen to other students, guess defintions from context, and finally tell a story! http://eslcarissa.blogspot.mx/2015/02/vocabulary-group-work.html

ALTERNATE QUIZZES

• Instead of multiple choice offer some quizzes that are a bit different than traditional vocabulary quizzes http://eslcarissa.blogspot.com/2012/09/vocab-quizzes.html

I am thinking of a word that rhymes with....

Looking for an easy filler?

The fast and the dirty rules:

To start the teacher thinks of a word and writes it on a piece of paper (to prevent cheating later) and says says, “I am thinking of a word that rhymes with frog”

Then students try to guess the word, but instead of saying their guess they give a hint, “Is it an animal cats fear?”

Now the teacher has to figure out what animal they are guessing and respond “No it is not a dog”

“Is it another word for a pig?”

“No it's not a hog.”

“Is it something people use to write online?”

“No it's not a blog”

“Is it what happens when the sky is really thick and you can't see through it?”

“I don't know” (The teacher doesn't know! So the person has to tell the word they meant.)

“Is it fog?” (This person gets a participation token/point for stumping the “teacher”)

“No it's not”

“Is it a slow run?”

“Yes it's a jog!”

If they guess correctly then they get to be the teacher and think of a word for the class to guess (and get a token).

This is even better than the teacher thinking since students have to try and guess what the students are thinking when they propose a rhyme.

ALTERNATIVES

• I normally let them guess until they get it but sometimes I'll cap it at 20 guesses. It's usually my end of class filler, so I try to get students to beat their score (can you guess in less than 5 this time?). If it takes more than 20 guesses then the person who thought of the unknown word “wins.”
• You can give more clues according to the class, so if you are practicing syllables (teaching superlative perhaps?): “I am thinking of a two syllable word that rhymes with _______”
• Use it to practice parts of speech, “I am thinking of a verb that rhymes with frog” (clog, flog, jog, snog, etc.) This can be hard so consider omitting the rhyming.
• Another way to make the game easier is to get change the rhyming aspect. “I'm thinking of an animal that starts with a D” (Dragon, Dinosaur, Dog, Duck, Deer, Dolphin, Donkey, Dove, Dragonfly, etc.)
• If you are giving out participation tokens you can give it to students if they guess correctly (a good way to get students involved) or if they posit a guess that the thinker can't guess.
• With upper level students I tend to exclude words with suffixes, otherwise trying to guess all the words that rhyme with nation is rather hard and time consuming.
• Play it like Alternative Hangman where students have to answer review questions and only if they get a review question right are they allowed to guess.
• You can also play it as a team game where correct guesses or stumping the “teacher” gets your team points. To keep it going fast you can cap it at 10 guesses.

Why is this game good?

It helps them practice rhymes

It helps them practice interrogative statements (making questions).

It helps them practice basic vocabulary and defining words in English.

Most importantly it helps them practice thinking and forming sentences in English.

Students like it!

Much thanks to Lauren, one of the awesome ladies I studied with in Spain, for introducing me to this game. She got us all hooked on it when we were waiting in line or on long public transportation rides.

Alternate Hangman (The Hangman you knew and loved, but more physical)

When I was young I remember spending HOURS playing hangman with my brother while my parents prepped for their own classes.

Many teachers that don't have much training start out with limited games and one of the go-tos is Hangman. It helps with word recognition, can be used to review vocabulary and is a great filler since it requires little to no prep. It isn't just for EFL and English classes; I can recall this being used in many of my classes throughout high school. We would use it in history (e.g. with president's names, battles, treaties), geography (e.g. countries, rivers, mountain ranges) etc. This version is a twist on the classic hangman that can be used in any class!

It was presented at a GEPIK conference I attended in 2008, while I was in Korea. I do not remember the name of the teacher, but she was a younger lady who was clearly overwhelmed at being told to help a group of 100+ new GEPIK teachers with activities for class, nonetheless she did really well.

One of her games was adapted hangman! I don't remember the specifics of her set up, but this is how I have used it over the years. I understand she used it mainly as a filler, but I suggest using it for a vocabulary review, OR to review pretty much anything.

You can play this game two ways.

For both versions you need a target for the students to hit. You can make one out of cardboard/poster board and hang it on a wall or just draw one on the board. The point is to make the rarer letters on the outside (easier to hit) and the more popular letters on the inside (harder to hit). I made a sample here, but you can adapt it anyway you like. You may choose to have more letters in the middle or only 3 different area to hit (instead of my 5). You're the teacher so make it however you like!

VERSION ONE

1. Divide the class into teams.
2. Go around the classroom with each team getting a turn.
3. When it is the first team's turn let them throw a beanbag at the target. Whatever section it hits is the section they can pick a letter from. (so if they hit the green ring they can choose, N, B U, C, R or M)
4. My rule is they can talk together as a group to decide but if I hear anything that's not English they forfeit their turn and the next group goes.
5. For this version I gave them a point for each letter they chose in the word (if there were two of the letter they got two points).
6. The team with the most points when the word was completed wins.

VERSION TWO

1. Divide the classroom into two teams.
2. Ask revision questions about the topic you wish to review.
3. Either with a bell, raising their hand, etc. Give the first team to “buzz in” the chance to answer the question.
4. If they get it right they have a chance to throw the beanbag and guess a letter OR they can simply try to “solve” the puzzle.
5. If they get it wrong the other teams have a chance to steal, and then throw the beanbag and guess a letter or “solve” the puzzle.
6. No points are given for correct or incorrect answers, points are ONLY given to the team who guesses the word (or completes it).
7. If time permits after one word is guessed you can put another, and another until the time allotted is up.

Why add the beanbag throwing in the first place? With younger students (and even older students) the addition of the physical makes it more fun (and more like a real sport, not just a language game).

The reason the speaker added that in her class she had a few students who were physically competent. They played sports they were active and they had killer reflexes... but they struggled in English. When she divided the class into groups often students would be audibly disappointed when these students joined their group. By adding this physical component, they were no longer seen as liabilities and instead were viewed as assets. This helped their self-esteem and also classroom dynamics! I hate to perpetuate the stereotype of a “dumb” jock as it is not the norm (in my opinion) but if your class has students like this then try it may help.

So there you go: an easy twist on the classic Hangman!

If you have a chance to use it in your class please let us know! Or, if you have a different way of using hangman, I'd LOVE to hear it!

This or That? These or Those?

When I was younger, I vaguely remember this song being used in class. It went, "Open them, shut them, open them, shut them, give a little clap clap clap. Open them, shut them, open them shut them, put them in your lap lap lap." I believe there was more, but I seemed to omit that part from my memory. (If you want the whole version and other fingerplays you can look inside The Eentsy Weentsy Spider book and see the "correct" version")

As far as learning goes, it was perfect. It was repetitive, simple, included the body (wohoo TPR) and was super easy to adapt. So when I started teaching ESL (EFL to some) to Preschool and Kindergarten students this was definitely in my bag of tricks.

Like most songs and chants I liked it because it could be adapted to almost anything.


We used it to review classroom language (stand up, sit down or open the book, close the book etc.), animals (much like with the sweet little bunny song most animals can easily be given a body equivalent), adjectives (really useful for short and small and other subtle differences), verbs (often the easiest to mime), classroom supplies (have them hold up a pencil then a pen), clothing or body parts (touch the clothing), and really anything else your heart desires.

As the video states I found it great when reviewing this and that (along with these and those). This was one finger touching the other hand (singular and close), that was one finger pointing away from the hand (singular and far), these was two or more fingers touching one hand(plural and close), and those was two or more fingers pointing away (plural and far). Students picked it up quickly, and I could see them doing the motions during the test.

The best part was students genuinely enjoyed it! When classes got rowdy, I would silently begin doing the "open them shut them" motions and one by one they would do them with me. Then when everyone was with me we would quickly do a round and then get back to the lesson.

Have you altered the song's lyrics or tried any of the above in class? Share in the comments!

A rhyming word game

A co-worker and I were discussing how our students get stuck on paraphrasing sometimes because they can''t think of other ways to say words. So they just move words around but can't put them in their own words. One of my solutions is a game I play with students called Inky Pink. It goes like this:

What's Inky Pinky for a silly rabbit? A funny bunny?

What's Inkity Pinkity for a scary flash of light in a storm? Frightening Lightening

What's Ink Pink for an entertaining religious woman? A fun nun

Can you figure out how to play the game?

Often I don't tell my students the rules I just start giving them clues and seeing if we can come up with answers. Eventually they get the hang of it and then I ask the ones that do to explain it to the class. 

If you haven't guessed yet these are the rules: You describe something (using synonyms or descriptions) that can be answered in two words normally with matching syllables. To tell how many syllables it is you use Ink Pink (one syllable-one syllable: fun nun), Inky Pinky (two syllables-two syllables: funny-bunny), Inkity Pinkity(three syllables-three syllables: frightening lightening).

Traditionally the syllables need to match, but I tend to make it more diverse by allowing each word to have different syllables.
What's Inky Pink for a solitary duplicate (two syllables-one syllable) alone-clone.

You can also do it with pictures:
 What's Ink Pink for: a fat cat

Once students get the hang of it there are tons of applications. Off the top of my head I have used it to fill up some extra time, to practice paraphrasing or to review vocab.

For example these are some vocabulary words I use from Ray Bradbury's All Summer in a Day: Pleading, Tidal, Slacken., Avalanche, Savor, Suspend, Frail, Cluster, Peer, Glance, Whisper, Seize, Stake, Bore, Seek

What's ink pink for a brief look that happened by luck: A Chance Glance
What's ink pink for a weird look: a Queer Peer
What's inky-pinky for asking for something a lot and is losing a lot of blood: a Bleeding Pleading

Students can come up with their own and try to guess other student's ink-pinks.

I have a packet for All Summer in a Day at Teachers Pay Teachers that includes some ink pink worksheets. It is only $1.50! If you aren't a member of TPT yet you can sign up for free here

I learned that these were ink-pinks, but others have called them hink-pinks or hinky-pinkys If you are slow to make your own there are some books and games to help you out:

Do you remember playing this game when you were younger? What's your favorite ink-pink? How would you use this in the classroom? Or why not?