Phrasal verbs games & activities for ESL

When it comes to phrasal verbs, many teachers encounter a common challenge: how to make their study interesting and memorable. 

To students, phrasal verbs often seem like monotonous lists of words with complex and confusing structures. 

But what if we told you that phrasal verbs can be learned through fun and games? Yes, it's totally possible!

In this article, we will share ideas for games and activities that will help your students easily remember and actively use phrasal verbs in their speech.

Before we explore phrasal verbs games, let’s understand what phrasal verbs are and why they are so crucial.

For example, "run into" means to unexpectedly meet someone and "put off" means to delay or postpone something. 

Now, here’s a question: Have you ever wondered why characters in your favourite films or celebrities on social media use phrasal verbs so often? It’s not by chance. 

These verbs make speech more natural, and knowing them helps in better understanding native speakers. 

Therefore, to ensure your students not only understand but also actively use phrasal verbs, incorporating engaging phrasal verbs activities into your lessons is essential. 

This game is suitable for students who have already learned or been introduced to several phrasal verbs and are ready to test their knowledge in a competitive format. 

Prepare a list of phrasal verbs, splitting them into two parts: the verb and the preposition or adverb. For example, "turn" and "off", "pick" and "up". 

Divide the students into two teams. 

Write the verbs on the board, and write the prepositions or adverbs on cards and place them randomly on the desk. 

On your signal, one student from each team must run to the cards and find the appropriate preposition for the phrasal verb written on the board. 

The team that collects the most correct combinations and can explain them wins. 

The phrasal verb game "Taboo" is a fun game that helps students practise explaining and using phrasal verbs without using them directly.

You need to prepare cards with phrasal verbs. 

Each card should have a phrasal verb that students cannot say while explaining it, along with a few forbidden words related to that verb. 

Divide the students into two teams. 

One student from each team draws a card and must explain the phrasal verb to his team without using the verb itself or any forbidden words from the card. 

Each correctly guessed word earns the team a point. 

The team with the most correctly guessed phrasal verbs wins within the given time.

In this game, students actively use phrasal verbs in real-life situations. Let's find out how to play it in class. 

Divide the students into small groups of 2-4 people. 

Give each group cards with phrasal verbs, such as "get over", "look after", "break up". 

The more creative and natural the use of the phrasal verbs, the better! 

After all groups have prepared their skits, they perform them in front of the class.

It’s important not just to insert the phrasal verb into the conversation, but to make the dialogue look natural. 

After each performance, you can discuss how well the phrasal verb was used and review its meaning together.

Phrasal verbs activities like ‘Charades’ are active and fun games that help students remember phrasal verbs better through action and associations. 

In this game, students use gestures and mime to explain a phrasal verb. 

Prepare cards with phrasal verbs. Divide the students into two teams. 

A student from one team draws a card with a phrasal verb and must explain it to the team using only gestures and mime, without speaking the word. 

The team has to guess the phrasal verb within a set time (one minute). If the team guesses correctly, they earn a point. 

The team with the most points at the end of the round wins.

This engaging ESL game challenges each student to find as many phrasal verbs as possible from a set of letters. 

You can use this game to review phrasal verbs, for example, during revision sessions.

You will need a standard letter grid (like in the classic Boggle game) or create your own on a piece of paper with letters arranged in a grid. 

A 4x4 or 5x5 grid is recommended. 

For example, the grid might include letters like: B, R, U, A, K, T, E, P, I, F, L, I, N, G, C, V.

Students need to find phrasal verbs within a set time, such as 2-3 minutes. 

They need to create at least two components — a verb and a preposition, such as "give up," "break up."

Points are awarded for each phrasal verb found. 

If you’re interested in how to teach phrasal verbs, we have a separate article on this topic where we share effective methods.

Additionally, we recommend checking out the platform offering courses to teach English. 

These courses are designed for teachers who want to enhance their qualifications. 

You can take them at any time and will receive a certificate upon completion of each course.

In conclusion, learning a language isn’t about huge lists of words and dull teaching. 

It’s about lively conversational practice, engaging activities, and a creative approach to teaching. 

Mastering phrasal verbs should be fun so that knowledge sticks in students’ memories. 

Integrate phrasal verbs games into your lessons and see how motivated and inspired your students become.