Unique People is a game to practice the present perfect simple verb form.

Firstly you’ll need to make sure your class are familiar with the Present Perfect Simple verb form, both formation and usage. Ideally the game can be played after teaching the it and can be used to practice it.

Explanation

Explain to your class that you believe that are unique. Tell them something really unique you have done using the Present Perfect Simple. Begin with fairly simple statements:

I have parachuted out of an airplane.

I have visited every single continent.

Now check with the class to see if you are unique or if anyone else in the class has done the same. Use question forms here and make sure the class understand how it is done.

Have you parachuted out of an airplane?
Has anyone apart from me parachuted out of an airplane?

Have you visited every single continent?
Has anyone here visited every single continent?

When the students are familiar with this, give them a few minutes to write down a really unique sentence about themselves using, of course, the Present Perfect Simple.

Now choose a few students at random to offer their unique sentence to the class to see if they really are unique or whether anyone else in the class has done the same. Encourage question forms.

Classroom Activity

Once the students are familiar with the idea and comfortable with it, get them individually to write down 3 unique sentences about themselves. Encourage them to be as inventive (but truthful!) as possible.

You can go around the class at this time to check and help out.

When the students are ready, it’s time to mingle. Get them all on their feet and walking about the class, asking each other about the unique things they’ve done. Each time they ask someone who has NOT done what they have done, they give that activity a point.

After ten minutes get everyone back in their seats and see who’s unique. Pick a student at random and find out about their most unique experience. Then another student and so on until you find out about the most unique student experience in the class.

Of course this can lead on to plenty of discussion about the experience (perhaps some students will exaggerate a little here!) which can also be good fun.

Variations on a Theme

Take the opposite approach. After each student has written down 3 things they’ve done on 3 separate pieces of paper (and make sure they don’t put their names on the paper) take all of the papers and shuffle them up then deal them out to the class (if anyone gets their own, swap it for another).

Finally the students spend ten minutes mingling: they have to ask each other if they’ve ever done the activity on the paper and – if that person has done it – they get to keep the piece of paper. The first one who gets rid of all their slips of paper wins!

Useful Links

Present Perfect Simple‏‎ in English Grammar – an overview of the pps in English