Customs
Subject: Spelling
Skills: Speaking, Listening
Level: Elementary
Recommended Age: 12+
Number of Participants: 4-12 players
Time: 20-25 minutes
Place: Any
Equipment: Not required
Materials: Not required
Preliminary Preparation: Not required
Immediate Preparation (3-5 minutes).
1. If possible, arrange the game participants so that they are sitting or standing in a circle or a semi-cirle.
2. In the first round, it is you, who play a customer officer. To that end, think of a criterion, under which you are going to 'pass items across the border', e.g. the name should contains the letter 'K'.
How to Play. A typical role-play might start something like this:
You (addressing to Player А): What do you have in your luggage?
Player А: A camera.
You: Sorry, I'm afraid you can't cross the border.
You (addressing to Player В): What do you have in your luggage?
Player В: A skirt.
You: Well, you can pass. Enjoy your trip!
Player В: Thank you.
and so on.
After all the 'passengers' have answered, you ask the same question to Player A again and so on. The round continues as long as all the 'passangers', except the last one, have 'gone through the customs'. This only remaining player takes the role of a customs officer in the next round and so on. The game lasts as long as each player, at least once, acts as a customs officer.
Variation. Here are some ideas for other possible criterion:
- a word should contain two letters 'А' ('L', 'О', etc.)
- a word should end with the letter 'Е' ('R', 'T', etc.)
- the second (third, etc.) letter of a word is 'H' ('I', 'U', etc.)
and so on.
Advice. Do not allow the players to write down 'passed' words. Otherwise, they easily spot the criterion!