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🏁
Category Race
Teams race to name as many words in a category as possible before time runs out.
⏱ 10-15 min⚡ Medium energy👥 Teams of 3-4
📚 Vocabulary
• animals
• food
• colours
• clothes
• classroom objects
• transport
🛠 Materials
• Timer or stopwatch
• Whiteboard to keep score
• Optional: category cards
📋 How to Play
- Divide the class into teams of 3-4.
- Teacher announces a category — "Animals!"
- Set a timer for 60 seconds.
- Teams take turns — one child from each team shouts a word from that category.
- Each correct unique word earns the team 1 point.
- No repeating words already said by any team.
- When the timer ends the team with the most points wins the round.
- Play 5 rounds with different categories.
💡 Teacher Tips
✓Use categories from the current lesson to reinforce new vocabulary.
✓Write words on the board as they are said so nobody repeats them.
✓This game naturally differentiates — stronger students say more obscure words.
✓Great as a review game at the end of a vocabulary unit.
🔄 Variations
→Play individually — each child keeps their own score.
→Restrict to words starting with a specific letter.
→Teams must use the word in a sentence to earn double points.
Want full 50-minute lesson plans for Ages 5-6?