Spielen wir im Deutschunterricht!
These ideas have been used in my own classroom, sent in by colleagues, or gathered from
teachers at our inservices and workshops over past years. Some you may already know,
some may be new, but it’s always good to reflect on how much fun students are having as
they learn. Remember, games in the classroom should be focused, meaningful and linked
to learning outcomes. Why not set yourself the goal of trying one new game with each
class per term?
Wer kann das sein?
When practising the alphabet, the teacher spells out the first name or surname of a student
in the class. That student must stand up before any of the other students say the correct
answer.
Schwarzer Peter
Students stand/sit in a circle. The teacher says a category in German, and each student in
turn must provide an answer to that category (see below for suggestions). When a student
cannot think of a response, or repeats a response which has already been given, they are
eliminated. The teacher then names a new category and the game proceeds. The last
remaining student is the winner.
Suggested categories:
Kleidungsstücke
Möbel
Tiere
Hobbys
Essen
Verben
trennbare Verben
Wörter mit nur einer Silbe
Länder
Städte in Deutschland
Wörter, die sich mit „ein“ reimen
im
P
Fa
Klassenzimmer
räpositionen
rben
Verkehrsmittel
Ad
jektive außer Farben
P
artizipien Perfekt
Ge
bäude
Körperteile
Beruf
e
Wö
rter, die mit Z beginnen
Flashcards
Next time your drilling vocabulary with flashcards, turn it into a game! Show a flashcard
to the class and say a word/phrase. If the word/phrase matches the picture, the class must
repeat. If the word/phrase doesn’t match the picture, the class must remain silent. Give
one point to the class and one to the teacher, as applicable. The class will be happy to see
that the teacher almost always loses!
Bus-Spiel
Divide students into 2-4 teams. Students sit on their chairs in team lines. Each “bus” is
given a name and these are written on the board to keep score. The student at the front of
each bus is der B usfahrer/die B usfahrerin. Only the driver can answer a question. The
teacher asks a question, and the first driver to stand up is allowed to answer the question.
© German Language Consultants, 2005
Curriculum K-12 Directorate, NSW Department of Education and Training
The correct answer receives a point. All drivers then stand and move to the back of their
bus, with all passengers moving forward until there is a new driver (for “crowd control”,
you may also like to award an additional point to the bus that is ready first). The winning
bus is the one with the most points after an allocated time (approximately 10 minutes).
Mein bester Freund, meine beste Freundin…
One student stands in the middle, while all the other students are seated on chairs in a
circle. The student in the middle says “Mein bester Freund, meine beste Freundin …” and
then completes the rest of the sentence, for example:
…hat blonde Haare.
…mag Schokolade.
…wohnt in Sydney.
All the people for whom this sentence is true must then stand up and find another chair
(not the one next to them), and the person in the middle must also try to sit down. This
should leave a new student in the centre, and the game continues.
Mein rechter Platz ist frei
Students sit in a circle on chairs, with one chair left empty. The person who has the free
seat on their right knocks on the seat and says Mein rechter, rec hter Platz i st f rei, ich
wünsche m ir d ie Je nny her bei. Jenny then comes to the missing chair and the game
continues.
Variations:
Animals
After the student says Mein rec hter, rechter Platz is t fr ei, ich
wünsche mir die Jenny herbei, Jenny asks the question Als was soll
ich kommen? The student with the free place says, for example, Als
Vogel! Jenny must then ‘fly’ to the empty seat.
Accusative case
This game can also be played with older students to practise the
accusative case. Select a topic, for example clothing, and have
students choose an item of clothing and write it on a card (with the
article). Each student must have a different item of clothing.
Students then sit in the circle and place their card in front of them
or pin it to their shirts. The person who has the free seat on the
right knocks on the seat and says Mein rechter, rechter Pl atz ist
frei, ich wünsche mir den Hut herbei.
Goal!
A fun (and rowdy) way to practise vocabulary outside. Put the students in two rows
facing each other, with about three metres between the rows. Number off one line (or use
items of vocabulary, such as colours, foods, animals etc.), then do the same for the other
row, but in the opposite direction.
In the middle, place a soft ball and two newspaper bats. At either end, place two goal
posts (use cones, or chairs on their sides). The teacher calls out a number (or vocab item)
© German Language Consultants, 2005
Curriculum K-12 Directorate, NSW Department of Education and Training
and the two students who have that number rush to the middle, pick up a bat and try and
hit the ball to the goal posts. A point is scored for every successful goal. The teacher can
call more than one number at a time, to liven things up even more! If so, add the
necessary bats.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
Falsche Spur
Each student is given a card with an item written on it. The students are then required to
walk around and ask the other students: Was hast du auf deiner Karte? The students then
need to group themselves into categories, according to what is on their cards. To make
the game more challenging, some students have a falsche Spur (red herring) on their card,
i.e. a word that belongs to no category. These students make up a group in their own
right.
Possible categories:
Gemüse
Die Tage
Getränke
Die Monate
Farben
Mö
Possible red herrings:
das Auto
der Kuli
bel
Schulfächer
Geschäfte
Sportarten
Tiere
der Lehrer
die Küche
Harry Potter versus Voldemort
Take students outside, asking each student to bring their own ‘wand’ (this should be a
piece of rolled up paper, rather than anything hard, for safety reasons). Five students
become Voldemorts, and the remainder of the class become Harry Potters.
Voldemorts must put as many Harry Potters under a spell as they can. To do this, the
Voldemort must touch a Harry Potter with his/her wand and give them a command. This
could be in the imperative form, or the “”du” form, depending on student ability.
For example:
Spiel Tennis! / Du spielst Tennis.
Lauf schnell! / Du läufst schnell.
Mache Hausaufgaben! / Du machst Hausaufgaben.
The enchanted Harry Potter must then mime the command until he/she is
saved by another Harry Potter. To do this, the rescuing Harry Potter must ask
© German Language Consultants, 2005
Curriculum K-12 Directorate, NSW Department of Education and Training
Was machst du? If the enchanted Harry Potter answers correctly, he/she can be freed by
the touch of the rescuing Harry Potter’s wand. If the answer is incorrect, they are not free
to join the game.
This game would work well with the Languages Through Movement resource.
Newspaper game
Have students stand in a circle, with a sheet of newspaper in the centre. As the teacher,
step into the centre of the circle first, and use the sheet of newspaper as a prop to aid with
miming a particular action/noun. Students must guess what the action/noun is, in
German. The student who guesses correctly then goes into the centre.
Examples with animals:
• roll up paper and twist in half, placing on head as ‘ears’ – students must then
guess what you are – ein Kaninchen
• use the newspaper as a blanket, and curl up on in – eine Katze
• roll newspaper up and use as a tail – ein Hund
This also works well with actions, when doing a topic such as hobbies. The newspaper
can become a tennis racquet, computer keyboard, TV screen, hockey stick, horse etc.
It always amazes me how imaginative students can be, and once you’ve played this game
with them once, you’ll usually have some eager volunteers who want to go first next
time. If you have some students who will always be too shy to guess (because they don’t
want to get stuck with going in the centre), you can make it so that anyone can go into the
centre of the circle when the correct guess has been made. For some reason, the
newspaper makes feel more confident, as they have something to hold on to! If your
newspaper is all sad and tattered at the end of the game, then it’s been a success!
Introductions
Stand in a circle with your students, and step forward, introducing yourself (Hallo, ich
heiße…) with an action, e.g. hopping, twirling around, moving your arms.
Then step back, and everyone else in the circle must step forward and say Guten Morgen
[name] and mimic the action. Then continue around the circle, with each student
introducing themselves.
What I like about this one is that shy kids who tend to just step forward and mumble
without an action are then mimicked by the others, in good sport (this has always been
my experience, anyway!).
Schlangenspiel
This game is similar to Bus-Spiel. Have students stand in two lines – Team
A and Team B. Teacher (or nominated “Quizmaster”) stands in front of two
lines, and asks question 1 to Team A, question 2 to Team B etc. Only the
students at the head of the “snake” can answer the question. If the correct
answer is given, the head student moves to the back of his/her own snake. If
the answer is incorrect, the head student must move to the back of the other
snake. The longest “snake” at the end of the quiz/allotted time wins.
© German Language Consultants, 2005
Curriculum K-12 Directorate, NSW Department of Education and Training
Obstsalat – Version 1
Divide class into two teams. Each team sits in two rows, with each pair of students facing
each other, feet together in the centre.
Team A
Team B
Pair 1
Pair 2
Pair 3
Pair 4
Pair 5
Call each pair, e.g. a type of fruit/type of animal/country etc. When the teacher calls out
Banane, the bananas must run to the front of the team (jumping over the legs of their
team-mates), down each side of the team and back up the middle, sitting down at their
original spot, legs together. Team A and Team B are racing, and the first “bananas” back
to their original position win a point for their team. If the teacher calls out Obstsalat, all
students must get up and run, with the first team back in their original positions winning
that round. Note: not recommended for girls in skirts/dresses.
Obstsalat – Version 2
Students sit in a circle on chairs, with the teaching standing in the middle. As a class,
decide which five fruits will be used, for example Birne, Apfel, Bluto range, Erdbeere,
Pflaume. Then allocate approximately five students per fruit. The teacher then calls out
two fruits, for example Apfel und Pflaume, and all students which are one of these fruits
must find a new seat. The teacher also tries to sit down. As there is one seat short, there
will should now be a student left in the middle. The game then continues. If the student in
the middle calls out Obstsalat then all students must move.
Concentration
An old favourite which can be adapted to practise a number of language points. Students
sit in a circle and follow the rhythm – both hands slap thighs once, clap, click fingers of
right hand, click fingers of left hand, then repeat.
To get students used to the rhythm, practise with each other’s names. For example, the
teacher goes first and when they click their right fingers they say their own name. When
they click their left fingers, they say the name of the student who is to continue. This
student then says their own name on the right click and another student’s name on the left
click. For example, Frau Smith – Anna, Anna – Peter, Peter – Michael etc.
Variations:
Vocabulary practice
On any given topic, students write down a word which is relevant to the
topic on a card. Students then place their cards in front of themselves
(students will need to be sitting on the floor).
© German Language Consultants, 2005
Curriculum K-12 Directorate, NSW Department of Education and Training
Pronunciation practice
Give each student a card with similar-sounding German words. A good
example is German surnames, such as Miller, Müller, Mauer, Meist er,
Möller, Maler, Metzger etc.
Hatschi Patschi
One student is asked to wait outside the door, while another student inside is chosen to be
Hatschi P atschi. The student outside then returns and begins to ask each student a
question (or series of questions) in German. This can be topic-based (e.g. asking about
families) or general. Each student asked provides the correct answer in German. When
Hatcshi Patschi is asked a question, instead of providing the correct answer they shout
Hatsch Patschi! All students must then swap seats, with a new student left standing to be
sent outside, and a new Hatschi Patschi is chosen.
Running dictation
This game can be played with any age group, using these simple guidelines:
Stage 1: 10 words
Stage 2: 15 words or 5 short sentences
Stage 3: 20 words or 5 sentences
Stage 4-5: paragraphs
If your classroom is near others, this game is best taken outside. Divide the class into
groups of 2-3. Each group must have a scribe and a runner. In groups of three, the third
student becomes the spell-checker (with or without a dictionary, at teacher’s discretion).
In groups of two, the scribe is also the spell-checker.
The teacher places the word list/sentences/paragraph at a considerable distance from the
students. The runners must then run to this destination, memorise as much as they can,
and then run back to their scribes. The scribe then writes down what the runner dictates to
them (spell-checking accordingly). The scribe may also ask the runner to return to the
list/sentences/paragraph at any time to check the spelling of certain words. The game
continues, with the first team with everything written down and spelt correctly winning.
Ich sitze im Grünen…
Students sit in a circle on their chairs. One chair remains empty. The student to the right
of the chair moves across on to the empty chair and says:
Ich sitze…
The next person moves across and says:
Ich sitze im Grünen…
The next:
Ich sitzt im Grünen und liebe…
The next:
Ich sitze im Grünen und liebe ganz heimlich Jessica!
The student who has been named then moves across to the empty chair and the game
continues.
© German Language Consultants, 2005
Curriculum K-12 Directorate, NSW Department of Education and Training