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Hot Seat

One child sits facing the class. A word appears behind them. Class describes it without saying it.

⏱ 15-20 min⚡ Low-Medium energy👥 One at a time

• any lesson vocabulary

• nouns

• animals

• food

• adjectives

• A chair facing away from the board

• Vocabulary words on the board or flashcards

📋 How to Play

Place a chair at the front facing the class — this is the "Hot Seat."
One child sits in the hot seat — they cannot see the board.
Teacher writes or shows a vocabulary word behind the seated child.
The rest of the class describes the word in English — NO saying the word itself.
The child in the hot seat listens and guesses the word.
Set a time limit of 30-60 seconds.
If they guess correctly, they earn a point for their team.
Swap to a new child after each word.

✓Teach describing language first — "It is an animal... it is big... it eats meat..."

✓Allow simpler clues for younger or weaker children — "It has four legs."

✓Play in teams to keep everyone engaged and competing.

✓Use recently taught vocabulary to reinforce the lesson.

→Two children in hot seats at once — teams race to make their player guess first.

→Child in hot seat can ask YES/NO questions — class can only answer yes or no.

→Play in pairs — one child describes to their partner across the table.

Want full 50-minute lesson plans for Ages 5-6?