Low prep games using just pens and pencils

This article is part of an occasional series on minimal preparation games using objects that are already in every classroom, in this case being ordinary ballpoint pens, HB pencils, board pens, felt tip pens etc. See the bottom of this page for links to the previous articles in the series.

The number of TEFL games you can play with pencil and paper are almost limitless, and include drawing games, hangman and battleships. As there are so many of those, I am concentrating here on games that can be played with just pens or pencils (i.e. no paper), and with little or no preparation by the teacher before class. Ideas which break those rules are nearer the bottom of the article.

1. The shortest straw

Pencils that have been sharpened over the years and so become different lengths, e.g. colouring pencils, can be put in someone’s hand so that their lengths cannot be seen. These are then selected by students and pulled out one by one (preferably slowly to raise the tension), who only find out if they chose a short or long one when the end of it pops out of the hand.

In the traditional game the person who drew the “shortest straw” has to do some kind of penalty like being the wolf in the game “What’s the Time Mr Wolf” or singing a song, but you could make it more positive by getting them to compete to draw the longest pencil, perhaps for points. Alternatively, you could define exactly what length they should try to draw, e.g. “(Try to pick a pencil which is) shorter than this pencil but longer than this one/ the second shortest/ exactly 5.3 cms long”. Students could also pick any pencil they like and try to make a true sentence about it before its length is revealed, e.g. “I think this pencil is shorter than that one”. Alternatively, students could guess whether the next pencil is shorter or longer than the previous one (similar to the old TV game show Play Your Cards Right).

2. Is this your pencil?

Students sit in a circle with one pencil each hidden in their hands or pockets and put them quickly into a pile in the middle of the circle when the teacher says “Ready, steady, go”. The teacher chooses one student and their classmates take turns trying to guess which pencil is that person’s. Every time someone guesses wrongly, the person whose pencil they are looking for should give a reason why it is wrong, e.g. “My pencil is newer/ longer/ a different colour”.

3. Interior decoration

Pretend to colour things in the classroom and then test students on what the new colours are, e.g. “The curtains were green. What colour are they now?” This is a great way of adding interest to doing classroom vocabulary yet again, and young learners soon get the concept (although teachers can often get confused!) You can make it even more fun and confusing by pretending to draw or write on the classroom objects, e.g. pretending to write the names of students for “Whose whiteboard is it?” or drawing faces for “How does the door feel?” Students can then do the same things with their textbooks, e.g. pretending to colour the dragon character pink and then testing their partners on the new colour.

4. Spinning pen

Sit the students in a circle and spin a pen (a board pen usually works best) to see whose turn it is next. You can also spin the pen to point at something in the classroom that students should shout out the name of. If you put the pen in the middle of some flashcards (e.g. setting up twelve flashcards in a circle like in the card game Clock Patience), the same thing can be done to practice the vocabulary on flashcards. You can also play this game with the flashcards face down to add to the challenge by adding a memory game element. Students can then play the same game in groups, with the place the pen points out deciding who goes next, which classroom object they should talk about (maybe in response to their partner’s questions), or which object on the textbook page they should talk about. You could also design a worksheet for students to spin their pens on.

5. Back drawing

A good TPR (total physical response) way of learning and practising letters and spelling is to “write” the letter/ word on someone’s back with your finger. The person who was “written” on should then shout out the word, slap the right flashcard, write the word, or draw it on the next person’s back (in a Chinese Whispers kind of way). “Writing” with a pen or pencil rather than a finger is actually better, as it practises gripping that writing tool and is easier to feel through your back. However, make sure they leave the cap on the pen or turn the pencil round so that it doesn’t hurt their partner or draw on their clothes!

6. Air drawing

This is another game that is usually played just with a finger but actually works better with a pen or pencil. The person whose turn it is “draws” or “writes” something in the air, and the other people have to try and work out what it is.

7. Letters with pencils differently

Students can make letters and words with pencils without the use of paper by laying a pack of ten to thirty of them on the table and making letter shapes from them, e.g. by making a capital B from two triangles (each made from three pencils) put together. This is similar to the game made famous by Sesame Street where students make the shapes of words and letters with their bodies on the gym floor, but with the added difficulty of pencils not being bendy like bodies. Students could race to make the letter or word that you call out, or make as many English words and letters as they can in the time available. You can also add another layer of competition by giving the pencils as points in the previous game.

The same game can obviously be done with numbers (e.g. two squares next to each other from seven pencils for a number 8) with students making the number you say, making the total of the sum you shout out (e.g. “What’s seven minus three?”) or even writing out the whole sum.

You could also let them use other things in their pencils cases, e.g. erasers to dot the i’s or to make a division sign.

8. Pictures with pencils

As long as you think carefully about what things you ask them to make, it possible to make pictures of houses, cars etc with pictures laid on the table in the same way as students make letters, words and numbers in the game above.

9. Stretchy pencils

Students use pencils to join two things in the classroom or in their books as per your instructions, e.g. using 25 pencils to create a line of them along the floor all the way from the door to the whiteboard or using three pencils to make a line from the picture in the top right corner of page 15 to the word in the bottom left corner of page 14.

10. Pencil tricks

Give students instructions on what tricky things they should do with their pencils, e.g. hold it lengthways between their thumb and little finger, balance it behind their ear, or spin it round and round between their middle fingers like a baton twirler. This is good practice of body language, and you can add more complex language such as imperatives if it is trick they won’t know how to do until you give them help and instructions.

11. Pass the parcel

Sit the students in a circle and ask them to pass the pencil or pen around the circle as a song plays. The person who is holding the pencil as the song is paused or comes to an end (if it’s not a song that fades out) has to write or draw something. This is obviously the first of the ideas in this article where I am cheating, as the person who gets the pen or pencil will need some paper or the whiteboard to do their task with. This can be a good way of revising songs if you tell them which line or word you are going to stop on, or if they are waiting for the last word or note. You can also use other prompts for when the pencil stops going round, e.g. one student saying the ABC backwards or one student running around the classroom touching and counting the thing you tell them to (e.g. “Touch seven chairs!”)

12. Pencil Twister

You can add to the language practised with the Spinning Pen game above by designing a worksheet or set of flashcards that have actions written on them, e.g. “Shoot the fire bell” or “Put your hands on your eyes”. The person who spun the pencil or the whole class then rush to do that action within the time limit you set, e.g. before you finish counting down from ten to one.

13. Spinner

This is a well known classroom use of a pencil that does need some extra materials, although it is low prep as all the actual work could be done by the student in class rather than by the teacher beforehand. Students cut out a hexagon from paper or card, then punch their pencil through the middle to make something like a spinning top. You can now write things on each six edges, with the side which is pointing up when the pencil stops spinning being the one that is chosen. The obvious thing to put on the sides are numbers one to six to save buying dice for a TEFL board game etc. Other possibilities include actions the students should do, and answers to questions about their future (“Only if you work hard”, “There is a high possibility of that” etc- like a Magic-8-Ball)

Useful classroom language

Types of pen and pencil

• Automatic pencil
• (HB) pencil
• Felt tip pen
• Colouring pencil (= colour pencil)
• Board pen (= whiteboard marker)

Parts of pens and pencils

• Lead
• Point/ Nib
• Clip
• Button
• Eraser
• Spring

Actions

• Spin
• Pick
• Choose
• Write
• Draw

Other articles in this series

Low prep eraser games

Low prep blank paper games

Low prep scraps of blank paper games