Read My Mind is a simple game which you can play at the end of a lesson. It is ideal for groups of 3 or 4 and practices vocabulary and speaking.

If this is the first time you have played the game with the class, begin by demonstrating it to everyone and making sure everyone understands how to play it.

Playing the Game

Once the class know how to play, divide them into small groups of 3 or 4. One person in the group is the Thinker. They must think of a concrete noun. Any noun will do and there are no restrictions here. They write it down on a piece of paper and leave it folded on the desk.

In turns, the other members of the group – the Guessers – have to try and guess the noun on the paper. They only get one go.

The chances of guessing the noun are very small. However, this is where the fun begins. Once each of the guessers has tried the hidden word is turned over and revealed. The guessers then have to explain how their guessed word is related to the hidden word.

For example, suppose the hidden word is banana.

The first guesser tried chair which is wrong. They might explain the relationship between banana and chair thus:

Bananas grow on trees and trees are made of wood which is also what most chairs are made of.

The rest of the group give this a thumbs up or a thumbs down. This is a pretty poor explanation so it would probably get a thumbs down.

The next guesser tried straw. They might say:

Mattresses are made of straw. In the jungle, if you don’t have straw you can pick loads of bananas and then peel them and put them in a big bag and sleep on that!

It’s quite an inventive suggestion and may get a couple of thumbs up!

The final guesser tried lemon. They could say:

Not only are both lemons and bananas fruit; they’re both yellow!

Notes

As you can see this game needs imagination and a reasonably good vocabulary so it is perhaps best suited for more advanced classes. However, if you want to play the game with beginners you could adapt it slightly by creating a series of flashcards on each of which you have a simple noun (choosing carefully so there are both duplicates and obvous relationships between them).

Image © digitalbob8