Kim's Game

Kim's Game is a simple game often played to help memorise a group of objects. As such it's a good game to help students learn vocabulary, especially objects within a certain semantic field.

Preparation

Collect together a group of items in the same semantic field, for example kitchen utensils, office equipment, fruit and so on. The items should be familiar to your class and of a suitable vocabulary level.

If more practical, you can use good quality photographs of different objects.

Before the class arrives, arrange the items on a desk and cover them with a cloth. Don't let the students see what's beneath the cloth and so when they arrive, they will immediately be intrigued by what's being hidden. You can use this as a starter for the activity: a brief discussion with the class on what might be under the cloth based on the shape and size of what they can see, etc.

Play the Game

Arrange the class into small groups. Make sure that all desks are cleared and no student has pen or paper to write anything down.

Explain that under the cloth there are a number of items. You will show them to the silent class for 60 seconds. After that each group must write down the name of as many objects as they can remember - in English of course!

Show the items for 60 seconds then replace the cloth.

Back in their groups, the students try to remember what they have just seen. You can organise some kind of points system, perhaps a point for a correct guess and another for a correct spelling and so on depending on the level of the class.

Name Origin

Although the game is quite old, the name derives from Rudyard Kipling's novel, Kim, where the young hero plays this game as part of his training to become a spy.