So today I want to share the awesome games we did. Some I took from various internet sites, some were favorites from back in the day of deaf college ministry, and some were totally made up by me.
Since we have 3 age levels I did 3 games per class. We used the vocabulary we had been learning however each of these games can be adapted to use whatever signs you are teaching or learning.
Enjoy!
Little kids class:
Colorful Balloons- This game is similar to "Four Corners" but with colors. Tape 1 balloon of each color in different areas (on the walls) of the room. Everyone except the caller- person who is blindfolded and standing in the middle of the room- runs to a balloon (hopefully not everyone goes to the same balloon but spreads out). The caller- - signs a color. Everyone who is standing under that color balloon is out. And so and so forth till there is only 1-2 left in the game.
ASL Charades- This game is just like it sounds. Because we were working with very young kids (some were not old enough to read) I went online and printed pictures of animals we had learned in ASL (if they are older kids you can print just the words). Then put all the pictures in a bag. Each child had to draw a card and act out the animal shown but without signing the name. Then all the other kids have to SIGN the name of the animal back (no voices!).
Grab Bag- This game focused on the Lesson about Foods but it can be adapted to just about any lesson. I printed off the internet pictures of foods we had learned (2 copies of each picture). Then put 1 copy of each picture into a bag. Then split the class into 2 teams and lined them up. On the opposite side of the room we had 2 chairs- each with a grab bag. When it was time to Go! 1 student would run up to the grab bag- reach in and grab 1 card- sign the picture as fast as they could- then throw the card off to the side and race back- tagging the next in line. Racing is the funniest part and you do need referees watching to see if they are signing correctly but it's neat seeing them try to remember the signs when under a time-rush.
For elementary age kids:
Who Am I?- Probably my favorite game and loved by all who play it- Who Am I? is so versatile that even Deaf people play a version of it. For ASL class we chose animal signs but you can adapt it for foods, or rooms, or family or whatever. First everyone sits in a circle (preferably on chairs) except 1 person (stands in the middle). Everyone (including the person in the middle) gets a sign- I let them pick their favorite animal but make sure everyone is DIFFERENT. Help them remember what animal each person in the circle is (no voice- only signs). Then after a lot of practicing and everyone feels familiar with who each person is- start the game. The middle person has a rolled up newspaper or magazine. Someone in the circle signs an animal name (not their own). The people in the circle as well as the middle person try to figure out who is that sign (like I say "alligator" and everyone looks for "alligator"). IF alligator realizes they have been called, they try to sign another person's animal name- i.e. "squirrel". BUT they have to call another's animal name BEFORE the middle person whacks them with the newspaper (leg not face). IF they call another's animal name before getting swatted then the middle person tries to find the second person "squirrel" before "squirrel" calls someone else's animal name. And so on and so forth until the middle person whacks someone before they can call a new name out. ONCE the middle person swats someone before they can sign a name, that person they whacked gets to become the middle person. This game is all about speed and memory.
Videophone: You all remember playing "Telephone" as kids right? Well Deaf can't use the regular telephone so we played "Videophone" instead. The basics is the same- everyone lines up facing away from the teacher (i.e all facing right). The first person (the teacher) taps the 1 student on the shoulder and signs a 2-3 sentence story. Then the student turns and taps the next student on the shoulder and repeats the story to the best of their ability. And so-on down the videophone line. The story always ends up much shorter and very interesting!
ASL Scavenger Hunt: I will include the clues I used but feel free to make up your own! Just like a regular Scavenger Hunt except substitute words in English for signed pictures of words you have taught. We did this after learning family signs and room signs. And of course- you MUST have a prize at the end of the hunt!
High School Class:
ASL Mad Libs: I printed off words we had been learning and put them in a bag. Then each student had to take 3-4 words and hold onto them without showing them to their neighbors. Then one student began a story. For example: "Sally went on a vacation." Then the student had to use their 3-4 words in the story (could voice the words they had not learned but had to sign the words that had been taught). Then the next student continues the same story but adds on using the words they pulled from the bag- again signing the words they knew instead of voicing them. In the end- everyone gets practice both signing words and reading the signs to keep the story going.
Finger Bridge: One of the first classes was fingerspelling ABCs. Students are encouraged to practice ABCs as often as they can to build fluency and speed. Since our high school class was pretty small this game was easy to do. Think like egg toss games- pair up partners and have them facing each other on opposites sides of the room. Make sure they are standing close enough to still see each other's hands :) One side fingerspells a word who's sign has also been taught in class, then the other side has to Sign the word back (i.e we learned family signs so one side fingerspelled "M-O-M" and the other side signed "Mom"). IF the person signing back gets the word correct they get to take one small step forward. IF after several attempts they can not figure out the word, they get a new word but the goal is whoever gets to their partner first- wins.
I hope each of my descriptions were clear. Feel free to leave a comment if you have any questions! Oh and each game could always use improvement- so feel free to make them your own :)
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