Zoo Animals / Zootiere: Vocabulary Game for the English Classroom

The vocabulary game is a board game that helps learners practice zoo animals in primary school English lessons. The spaces on the game board feature pictures of zoo animals, whose English names the children say aloud as soon as their piece lands on one. There are also event spaces, and the first person to reach the finish line wins.

What is included

• Game board: A path from "Start" to "End" with pictures of zoo animals, English-labelled event spaces such as "Skip a turn!" and dice spaces
• Game instructions: The course of the game and rules for all spaces in German

Tips for using the material

• It is helpful to have a fixed rule for the picture spaces: If the animal is named correctly, the piece stays where it is; if the wrong name is given, it moves back one space.
• The material provides clear instructions for the event spaces: Move forward or backward, skip a turn, or roll again when landing on the dice symbol.
• It may be useful to use the game as one station in a rotation system.

These skills are promoted

• Vocabulary: consolidate and expand the English names of zoo animals such as elephant, giraffe or penguin
• Pronunciation: say the terms aloud when naming the pictures
• Word-picture association: recall the correct English term for a picture of an animal without any labels

Organizational notes

A die and game pieces are needed for the game.

To complement the game, there are word and picture cards for introducing the vocabulary, a card game for naming zoo animals and a dice game with conversation questions on the topic.