SPIELE
I hope I am not offending anyone. Very few of these are my original games, but I’m
finally getting around to writing them down for everyone’s use. Thank you to everyone
who contributed. I hope all my instructions are clear. If you want credit for one of the
ideas or if you find typos or unclear instructions please let me know and I’ll try to edit
this sucker. dfile@woh.rr.com
BASEBALL
Objective: I like to use this to practice genders & plurals or tenses.
Requirements: I divide the class into two teams. Each team sits on one side of the room.
In the middle space, I make a home base opposite me, then a first base, second base
close to me, and a third base. I also need a list of questions.
Play: Player 1 from Team 1 is up and goes to home base. He decides whether he wants
to go for a single, a double, a triple, or a home run. If I play with genders and plurals, I
give an English word and he has to give a) the gender to get to first base, 2) the singular
German noun to get to second base, 3) the plural article to get to third base, and 4) the
plural noun form to get home. If you play with tenses, you might use 1) present, 2)
simple past, 3) present perfect, 4) whatever you think they need help on – subjunctive,
past present, future, etc. If Player 1 goes for a double and gets both answers correct, he
goes to second base. Let’s say Player 2 also goes for a double and gets his 2nd answer
wrong. That is the first out for that team, Player 2 sits down, and Player 1 stays at 2nd. If
Player 3 goes for a single and gets it right, Player 1 automatically moves ahead 1 base
as well. You obviously play until that team gets three outs (which the teacher or
scorekeeper should be keeping track of on the board) and then team two goes. One
problem with this game is that too many players take the easy way out and go for single,
not really practicing what you’re trying to practice. Sometimes after a couple of rounds,
I tell them they have to go for three or four bases or you could turn the order of bases
around and make them give the hard things first.
BOARD RACES
Objective: To practice vocabulary or just about anything
Requirements: A list of words / questions, board and chalk or markers and two teams
Play: Teacher gives a question, first student from two teams come up and try to answer
the question first. I insist they put down their marker or chalk before I even look at it.
That way I know whether they’re done thinking about it. If the first one who puts down
their chalk is correct, his team gets a point. If not, the other team can still write the
correct answer. The team with the most points at the end wins the game.
Variation: Have two players from each team go up, link arms, and using only one
marker/piece of chalk they have to write the answer with each player only writing one
1
letter. If one player thinks the other made a mistake, he takes his turn by erasing the last
letter.
CATCH PHRASE
Objective: To use and understand German; it’s good to practice past vocabulary before
an exam
Requirements:
 A Catch Phrase timer (If you don’t have one, you could use a classroom timer
on your classroom computer. You will need to turn up the volume. You will
also want to vary the time and not let students see the time remaining.)
 A game board with two markers (I draw one on the board.)
 Index cards with one German word on each one. I include German and
English. I use pencil and don’t write too large or too dark. For the words, I use
vocabulary words, geography terms (cities, states, countries, rivers, tourist
spots, etc.), names of famous people (not necessarily German-speaking),
names of students or teachers, etc. For a 50-minute game I usually go through
about 100 cards.
 Little strips of paper in two colors. These will be taped to the students’ desks
to keep track of the two teams.
Play:
1. Before we start, I caution all players to get rid of their inhibitions and just have
fun. Don’t worry about saying dumb things. They make a bigger spectacle of
themselves by saying nothing at all than by trying.
2. You must have an even number of players. If you have an uneven number, let one
be scorekeeper. They put their desks in a big circle, hopefully not too close to
their neighbors. They must leave room for the teacher to walk around in the circle
behind them. Tape a small piece of construction paper to each desk alternating
colors to denote teams (example: red – black – red – black, etc.).
3. You hand a small stack of the index cards to any player and start the timer. The
first player tries to get his team to say the word on the first index card. He can
describe it, use a fill-in-the-blank phrase or sentence, give the opposite, or just
start using related vocabulary, but he may only speak German. He may not spell it
out, use any part of the word, say a word that sounds like the word, or use any
English. The player and teacher are both listening for the word. If his team says
the word, the player puts down the index card he used (make sure he doesn’t put
it in the back of the stack) and hands the cards to the player to his left. The second
player then tries to get his team to say the next word. The goal is not to be holding
the cards when the timer goes off. If red is holding the cards when the timer goes
off, black gets the point. (There are no points for getting a word; you just get the
privilege of passing the cards on. Only one point will be given per round.) With
2
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
beginning students, I allow them to point or act out little things from their seat,
but they can’t stand up.
If the player can’t get his team to say the word, he can give up. Stop the timer and
award the point to the other team. Also stop the timer and award the point to the
other team if the player uses English or violates any other rules. This will happen
a lot at the very beginning until they get used to only German.
The winning team is the first to the end mark on your board or the team that’s
ahead when the period is over.
On the card, I list nouns with genders, but they don’t have to give the gender. I
also give the infinitive form of verbs, but will accept any form of the verb. If the
word is Land and the team guesses Deutschland, I give it to them since Land is
included.
A student may not refuse to accept the cards if he thinks the timer is about to go
off. Students should also not wave around the cards while they’re talking.
While the students are playing, the teacher is walking around behind them
listening for the word and has the rest of the index cards at hand for when the
players run out. (The reason for giving them small numbers of cards is that they
sometimes get frustrated and may throw down the cards.)
If a team fails to get a word, you are supposed to let the other team guess the
word from the clues already given. I don’t use this rule because it’s fairly easy to
see the neighbor’s card and because I sometimes forget. That’s also a good time
to give examples of how to give good clues.
This is my favorite game ever. It gets quite rowdy and noisy, but it’s all done in
German.
CATEGORY GAME IN ROWS
Objective: This is a good vocabulary/ general knowledge review at the beginning of the
year or after a vacation.
Requirements: The teacher needs a list of categories. Some examples: foods (or
vegetables, fruits, entrees, etc.), compound words, verbs, words beginning with the
letter W, cities in German-speaking countries, boys’ names, interrogatives, adjectives,
3-letter words, means of transportation, relatives, German cars, sports & games, past
participles, famous Germans from history, German states, musical instruments, verbs
with vowel changes, countries, subjects in school, animals, reflexive verbs, words
ending with the letter H, furniture, colors, etc. The class is divided into teams and each
team sits in a row with the captain in the first seat. Each team needs a stack of papers
that says Kapitän at the top, then lists 1 – 25 or so with blank spaces after each number.
The captain should write his name at the top of several of these sheets before starting.
All answers must be in German, they must be spelled correctly, and an answer may not
be repeated on the same paper.
3
Play: The teacher gives a category, the captain writes down one answer and one answer
only, then passes the paper to the player behind him. That player writes down a different
answer for that category, and play continues. When it gets to the last player in the row,
he answers and then brings the paper back to the captain where play continues. I watch
and when things start slowing down, I call 10 Sekunden. After 10 seconds, teams must
immediately stop writing. I collect the papers, everyone takes a breath, I give the next
category, and I grade the papers from the first category while they are working on the
second. I give one point per correct word (some are subjective calls), but I take off for
misspellings or for repeating a word. I post the scores on the board and by that time it
should be about time to finish the second round.
CATEGORY GAME WITH WAGERS
Objective: Similar to Jeopardy, it can be used to practice a variety of things.
Requirements: I make up several categories that I think students need work on –
geography, history, vocabulary, grammar, spelling, holidays and festivals, food & drink,
etc. I have several questions under each category. I may have 50 questions for one
category and only 15 for another. I give them a warning when a category is close to
running out of questions. I also try to vary the questions – sometimes easy, sometimes
hard, mostly mid-level. I divide the class into teams of approximately 4 members each.
Each team needs a captain who is responsible for giving me the answer.
Play: I (or the scorekeeper) put the name of each captain on the board. Teams should be
sitting so they can converse together. Each team starts with the same number of points –
I usually start with 100 to 200 points. Each team makes a wager on their first question.
Go through all the teams before anyone gets a question. Then return to Team 1, they
choose a category, you read the question, and they give an answer. Remember to only
take the captain’s answer. If they get it right, their wager is added to their score; if it’s
incorrect, their wager is subtracted from their score. Go through the rest of the teams.
For the second round, start with Team 2’s wager and go the rest of the way around, then
Team 2 gets the first question. If you have a lazy team who decides to wager everything
and get out early, I always have an assignment for them that will be taken for a grade. I
let them know that up front.
CORRECT THE SENTENCE
Objective: To get kids to recognize those mistakes they make over and over again (zu
Hause, ich gehe schwimmen morgen, er habt, mein kuli, etc.).
Requirements: The teacher makes up a list of sentences (8 – 10) containing mistakes. I
only use one mistake per sentence and I make the font fairly large. I then make a
4
different color copy of these sentences per team and I cut the sentences apart. Each team
needs a writing utensil.
Play: The class is divided into teams. I like to have only 3 – 4 players on a team. You
need a stack of same-colored sentences per team on a desk or somewhere centrally
located in the room. One player per team will be the runner. The teacher assigns a color
to each team. When the teacher says los, each runner comes up and grabs one slip of
paper from their pile. He goes back to his team and they correct the sentence, then the
runner returns it to the teacher. The teacher has to OK it before the team takes a second
sentence to correct. If it has not been corrected, they have to take it back and keep
working until they get it corrected. The first team to get all the sentences correct wins. (I
sometimes slip in a correct sentence, but found it to be very frustrating when I put more
than one mistake in a sentence.)
Again, it’s nice that kids are up out of their seats and moving around.
FAMILIENDUELL
Objective: To use a variety of German vocabulary.
Requirements: You need your own survey questions. This has to be done some time
before the game because it is time-consuming to tally. You might even give the survey
to students at the end of the school year and use the game the following year. I teach
beginning levels and here are some sample questions I ask:
1. Wer ist dein Lieblingsautor?
2. Nenne eine Stadt in Oesterreich!
3. Was sieht man am Strand?
4. Was ist die Hauptfarbe in deinem Schlafzimmer?
5. Was isst du am liebsten?
6. Was ist dein Lieblingsfach?
7. Um wieviel Uhr gehst du ins Bett sonntags bis donnerstags?
8. Welches europaeisches Land moechtest du besuchen?
9. Nenne etwas Weisses!
10.Nenne ein deutsches Bundesland!
11.Nenne einen bekannten Richard!
12.Was ist dein Lieblingssport?
13.Nenne ein Obst!
14.Nenne eine Schulsache!
15.Was hat ein Maedchen in der Handtasche?
You get the idea, trying to use vocab you’ve used in the past. I tally 100 answers. I
also have overheads with the correct number of answers for each question. (This is a
lot of work and I use the game for probably 3 years before I update only certain
5
questions that would be likely to change.) I only count answers that get more than 1
vote so not everything will end up being worth 100 points. I also combine some
answers (potato chips, mashed potatoes, French fries all become potatoes)
Play: The class is divided into two teams. One player from each team comes up. I
ask a question and the two players try to give the best answer. I use a buzzer system,
but with only two players they could shout the question or have a little bell. The first
one to buzz in gives an answer, its place and number of votes are revealed (it was the
second-place answer and got 24 votes). The other team gets to answer to try to top
the first answer. If that player gets the # 1 answer, they get control and can decide
whether to keep playing this question or give it to the other team. The team with
control tries to get all the answers without getting 3 strikes. If they get all the
answers listed, they get all the points from that question. If they get 3 strikes, the
other team steals and they try to come up with any remaining answers. If they get
one, they get all the points from the round. Then go on to question # 2. If any of this
is unclear, it really is easier to just sit down and watch the game Family Feud one
time and you’ll get it.
FOOTBALL
Objective: General game to review vocabulary, grammar, geography, culture, whatever.
Requirements: A football field that can be drawn on board. Mark off 5-yard lines. A
cardboard or paper football with a magnet on the back for use with magnetized boards.
A list or pile of questions made up by the teacher. A bucket or can with plays contained
at end of this list of games (pages 12-14). I make about three copies of each, cut them
out, and fold them up.
Play: The class is divided into two teams. A coin is tossed to decide which team starts
(Kopf oder Zahl), the ball is placed on the 50-yard line. Player # 1 selects a play from
the bucket/can. If a card has +5 on top and FUMBLE on the bottom, it means that the
player will move 5 yards ahead for a correct answer, but will fumble and the other team
will get the ball if he misses his question. If Player # 1 got the answer correct, Player # 2
from his team goes up and draws another play and attempts the second question. If
Player # 1 got the answer wrong, Player # 1 from the other team draws a play. All
questions should be answered individually without help from the team. You may want
to put a time limit on answering and place a 5-yard penalty for too much time. If 10
yards has not been gained within 4 questions, the ball goes back to the other team.
6
GRID / MAZE GAME
Objective: To practice vocabulary or grammar concepts
Requirements: A plastic tarp gridded off with masking tape. Each square will have a
word or phrase in it (an English word to practice vocabulary – or possibly a picture - or
a grammar concept such as the simple past of tun) The teacher has several identical
grids in her hand with premarked pathways to get through the grid. Each grid is a
different color. I also make sure each grid has the same number of boxes marked and I
number the grids so I know the exact path they should take and I don’t get confused
myself. [There is a copy of my grid at the end of this list on page 15.]You also need a
stop watch or jot down the time on the clock as soon as the first person steps on the grid.
Play:
1.Your class is competing as a team and NOT against each other.
2. I sometimes give students 3 minutes to study the grids and look up anything they
don’t know, but all books and lists must be put away before play begins
3. Player 1 is up. He chooses the color of grid they want to play. The rest line up
behind. (I have the computer randomly list students in a class, then I write that list on
the board so they know the order.) The first person steps onto a square, I start a
stopwatch, and the player gives the German answer. (Classmates may help.)
Pronunciation must be correct (especially Umlauts), nouns must include genders, and
all verbs must be in the correct form.
4. I will give a combination of the following answers:
Richtiges Wort – the word is completely correct
Falsches Wort – something is wrong – word, pronunciation, gender, form
Only if they get the richtiges Wort do I go ahead and give them the Stelle.
Richtige Stelle – correct square to advance according to my grid
Falsche Stelle – incorrect square
5. If the player is correct, he takes a step forward or sideways and tries another
word. If he gets it wrong, he goes to the end of the line.
6. Classmates may help by helping you with a word or telling you “rechts, links, or
geradeaus”.
7. If you go through the entire class, player 1 is up again.
8. Play ends when a player finally steps off the grid at the other end of the grid. Stop
the stopwatch immediately.
9. Think about what is helpful and what isn’t. If everyone is shouting, no one can
hear anything. I need to hear the answer from the player, not from the class. I
won’t shout over you, so you are wasting time if you’re shouting. Repeated
abuses will result in time added and, if it continues, we will have to stop.
10.No one may approach me since I have the key in my hand. You MUST listen to
my instructions.
11.I will keep time and the fastest class will get a Schokoladenbonbon or a treat
during the quiz tomorrow. You won’t know the winner until the end of the day.
7
[If I only have one section of a class, I divide that class into two teams and each
gets a different grid.]
This is a great game because kids are up and moving, there is a lot of repetition, and
nobody feels stupid since it’s a cooperative game.
HOT SEAT
Danke to Libby Heineman.
Objective: To practice vocabulary or grammar concepts
Teams: Divide class into even teams. Each team sits in a row.
Preparation for teacher: List of vocabulary or grammar questions (e.g. the present
perfect of ich gehe.
Supplies needed: Each students need a sheet of paper and a writing utensil.
Play: There can be no talking during play. If there is, that team is disqualified from that
round and gets 0 points. The teacher gives a question, such as a) the German equivalent
of spider or 2) use the word einladen in a sentence or 3) use auf in a sentence. You
should set a timer for a time limit and then everyone has to immediately put down their
writing utensil. The teacher checks the player’s answer in the front row (the hot seat). If
that player’s answer is incorrect, nobody on that team gets a point. The teacher moves to
the next row and checks the first player’s answer. If that player is correct, you then
check the rest of the players’ answers in that row. They get 1 point for each correct
answer. Continue until you have everyone’s score from that round. For the second
round, the first player in each row gets up, everyone moves one seat forward, and the
first player goes to the last seat in the row. Play starts with a new word.
JEOPARDY
Objective: To practice anything and everything. I often use it as a review for a chapter.
Requirements: I have a list of categories on the board in random order. Categories for
one particular chapter might be: Geographie, Vokabeln, Perfekt, Singen / Tanzen,
Buchstabieren. I bought the Eggspert game from Teachers’ Discovery which made a
huge improvement in this game and cut down on arguing about unfairness. [If you don’t
have a buzz-in system, I have done it by taking turns and each team gets only one shot. I
won’t take a second answer from another team because it’s just too hard to watch
without having a buzzer system. I’ve also tried using little bells, but that was really
hard. The Eggspert game was my best purchase ever.]
Play: The class is divided into 5 or 6 teams. Each team sits in a row. I keep the Eggspert
game at the front of my classroom (it has to be plugged in) with 5 or 6 seats around it.
8
The first player from each team comes up and takes a seat. For this first group, I ask one
of each category of question. Eggspert has a time limit which you may change. The first
player who buzzes in gets to answer. Each correct answer gets a point. If the first player
gets it wrong, the other teams may buzz in after you have cleared the board. It really is
fairly easy to keep track of which ones have already buzzed in, but no team may buzz in
for the same question more than once. After the first five questions, the second person in
each row comes up and we repeat the process. Keep going until you run out of time or
questions.
Warning: I have to make up penalties for abuse of buzzers. Students love to buzz in.
NINETY-NINE
Danke to Carol Haring for this one!
Objective: To practice the numbers 1 – 99.
Requirements: A deck of cards without jokers for each group of kids. I put them in
groups of 4-5. Each player also needs 3 chips (color is irrelevant).
Play: Dealer deals out 3 cards to each player. The undealt cards are placed on the table
to form a face-down stock. The player to the left of the dealer starts and play initially
passes clockwise. On each turn you play one of your 3 cards face-up in the center of the
table, calling out the total value of the face-up pile in German, then draw the top card
from the stock. For each card played add the value of the card played to the total value
of the pile. Jacks and Queens count as 10. Aces count as 1. The following cards cause
special effects:
4 = The value of the pile remains the same but the direction of play reverses.
9 = The value of the pile remains the same and the direction of play remains the same.
10 = Reduces the value of the pile by 10.
K = The value of the pile is automatically 99.
You try to play without going over 99. If you cannot play without going over 99, you
lay down your hand and put in a chip. Play ends and the next player deals the next hand.
Hands continue until only one player has a chip left; that player is the winner. This
game should be played rapidly. You have to keep reminding students to draw a card
after they have played.
A couple of days after we play this, I have all the winners play a grand championship
game.
9
PICTIONARY
Objective: To practice vocabulary
Requirements: Little pieces of paper in a can with one vocabulary term per paper. I use
vocabulary words, geographical terms, people from the book or videos, a few students
or teachers at school, famous people, etc. You will also need chalk or dry-erase markers
for the board. It helps if you have different colors. You will also need a timer. I use one
of those sand timers that goes about 50 seconds.
Play: I divide the class into teams of 4 – 5 students each. A player from Team 1 comes
up and draws a word. I make sure I see it so I can also listen for the answer. As soon as
the player is at the board, I turn over the timer. The player must draw the word without
talking, using gestures, or drawing obvious symbols. (The part about symbols is tough
to figure out since all pictures are symbols. I always say no letters, numbers, musical
notes, and whatever else I think of.) If the player drew an object or a person in the
classroom, he cannot look at that person or thing while drawing. If his team gets it
before the timer runs out, that team gets a point and you go on to Team 2. The other
teams that are not up need to be quiet. If they are stupid enough to yell out the correct
answer, I give it to the team that is up.
This is a good game when you don’t have much time to prepare and kids really like it.
SUMM
Objective: To practice the numbers.
Requirements: Nothing.
Play: Students stand evenly spaced in a large circle around the room. Teacher stands in
the middle. The teacher randomly points to a student and that student says eins. Teacher
points to students to the right and that student says zwei. You continue until you get to a
number containing a seven or that is a multiple of seven (or whatever number you
choose). That student says summ instead of the number and the direction of play
reverses. As soon as a player misses, start from eins again with a different student. The
last student standing is the winner.
TIC TAC TOE
Objective: Can be used to practice genders, plurals, past tense, vocabulary, etc.
Requirements: Each group of 3 students needs a playing board, a writing utensil
(preferably each with a different color), and an answer sheet cut into 3 separate sheets.
Play: Each group of 3 is randomly denoted Player A, Player B, and Player C. For the
first 2 games, players A and B will play while player C checks their answers. [At the
10
end of this document (pages 16-17) I posted a game with plurals so I’ll use that for
instructions. As mentioned, you can adapt the game to whatever you want.] Player A
begins and chooses a word on the first board to give the plural of. If he is write, he
marks that square with his initial, an X, his color pen, whatever. I don’t play that he gets
another turn, but you could. Player B then chooses a square and gives the plural form. If
he gets it wrong, he doesn’t mark the square but the checker should also not give him
the correct answer. It’s pretty much what you’d expect. The first player to get 3 in a row
up, down, or diagonally wins. I play that if nobody gets that, the first one with 5 squares
wins. After the first 2 games, Players B and C play while Player A checks, then Players
C and A play while Player B checks. The player with the most wins at the end is the
winner. I usually have an extra tie-breaker if needed and try to make it pretty difficult.
KNALL
I just wanted to mention that I purchased this game from Teacher’s Discovery and it
was a good purchase. Every year I copy the game on different colored paper for each
class I have. It’s an easy game to pull out if you find yourself with 15-20 extra minutes
at the end of a class.
11
12
13
14
15
A
der Computer
die Uhr
der Tag
die Schule
die Freundin
das Buch
das Büro
das Haus
der Rechner
der Bruder
der Herr
der Lehrer
die Karte
der Ball
das Heft
die Antwort
die Mutter
der Kuli
B
das Problem
die Stadt
der Krimi
die Note
die Schwester
der Freund
der Stuhl
das Fach
das Telefon
die CD
die Frau
der Onkel
die Schule
das Buch
das Mädchen
die Schülerin der Schüler
der Cousin
C
der Freund
der Tisch
die Stadt
die Tochter
der Krimi
das Lineal
der Junge
der Onkel
der Herr
der Sohn
der Ball
der Bahnhof
das Spiel
die Minute der Lehrer
die Schwedin das Radio
die Idee
16
A
die Computer
die Uhren
die Büros
die Karten
die Tage
die Schulen
die Freundinnen
die Bücher
die Häuser die Rechner
die Brüder
die Herren
die Lehrer
die Bälle
die Antworten
die Mütter
die Kulis
die Hefte
B
die Probleme die Städte
die Krimis
die Noten
die Schwestern
die Freunde
die Stühle
die Fächer
die Telefone die CDs
die Frauen
die Onkel
die Schulen
die Bücher
die Mädchen die Schülerinnen die Schüler
die Cousins
C
die Freunde
die Tische
die Städte
die Töchter
die Krimis
die Lineale
die Jungen
die Onkel
die Herren
die Söhne
die Bälle
die Bahnhöfe
die Spiele
die Minuten
die Lehrer
die Schwedinnen die Radios
die Ideen
17
18