(5) Festivals and Special Events – Pelmanism Game
Vocabulary
Items
Names of festivals / events:
Mid-Autumn Festival, Christmas, Chinese New Year, Easter,
Halloween, Dragon Boat Festival, National Day, Speech
Day, birthday, party, concert, show
Verb phrases to describe activities:
eat moon cakes, exchange presents, get lucky money, eat
chocolate eggs, play trick or treat, eat rice dumplings, hold
the flag-raising ceremony, get the graduation certificates, eat
birthday cakes, sing and dance, listen to songs, watch a
performance
Activity Description
Pupils take part in a group competition to match the word cards of different
festivals / events with the activities. After they have got the matching pair, pupils
make sentences on the big coloured sheet given.
Materials for Each Group
Two sets of word cards of names of festivals / events and activities
Big coloured sheet and coloured pens
Procedures
1. Pupils are divided into groups of four to play the game. Each group is given a big
coloured sheet, some coloured pens and two sets of word cards – one on the
names of festivals / events and the other on the activities.
2. Pupils have to put all the cards face down on the desks before they start.
3. Pupils take turns to turn over the cards. If the two cards match, they can keep the
cards.
4. Pupils who can keep the cards have to make sentences with the words on the cards
(e.g. We exchange presents at Christmas.) and write the sentences on the big
coloured sheet.
5. The pupil with the most cards and correct sentences wins.
Answer Keys
1.
We play trick or treat at Halloween.
2.
We eat moon cakes at Mid-Autumn Festival.
3.
We get lucky money at Chinese New Year.
4.
We eat rice dumplings at Dragon Boat Festival.
5.
We exchange presents at Christmas.
6.
We eat chocolate eggs at Easter.
7.
We hold the flag-raising ceremony on National Day.
8.
We get the graduation certificates on Speech Day.
9.
We eat birthday cakes on our birthdays.
10. We sing and dance at a party.
11. We listen to songs in a concert.
12. We watch a performance in a show.
Word Cards

Festivals / Events
Activities
Halloween
play trick or treat
Mid-Autumn Festival
eat moon cakes
Chinese New Year
get lucky money
Dragon Boat Festival
eat rice dumplings
Christmas
exchange presents
Easter
eat chocolate eggs
National Day
hold the flag-raising ceremony
Speech Day
get the graduation certificates
birthday
eat birthday cakes
party
sing and dance
concert
listen to songs
show
watch a performance