Fun Games to Develop Basic Communication Skills-Teaching Politeness Through Fun Classroom Activities

Developing social skills and polite communication is as important as academic learning for young learners. Teaching students how to make polite requests and express apologies helps them navigate everyday interactions with confidence and respect. Interactive games and engaging activities provide a fun way to practice these essential language skills. In this blog post, we’ll explore four exciting classroom activities—May I, Amazing Race, Find My Pair, and Statue Game—that encourage students to use polite expressions while actively participating in group learning. These activities not only reinforce language structures but also make learning enjoyable and meaningful. Let’s dive in!

1.  MAY I

Material Needed: Recordings, picture cards

Suggested Words:

Things in the classroom

1. ruler
2. pencil
3. eraser
4. book.....etc.

Suggested Sentences;

1. May I borrow a pencil?
2. Can you lend me your pencil?
3. Here you are.
4. Thank you.
5. You're welcome.
6. I'm sorry, I don't have one. 

How to Play:

• Students listen to the recordings of requests made.
• Students repeat after the teacher, requesting various objects.
• Divide students into groups. Each student in the group is given a picture card.
•  Every student in a group takes a turn to request objects.
• Students respond accordingly in their respective groups. 

2. AMAZING RACE

Material Needed:

1. Sentence slips
2. Picture cards. (Ex: shoes, dress, books...etc.)

Suggested Sentences Slips:

1. Mother, may I have this dress?
2. Can I have these socks and shoes?
3. Yes, you may.
4. May I go to the library?
5. Yes, of course.

How to Play:

1. Teacher pastes the pictures of the objects all around the class.
2. Prepare sentence strips for each picture on making requests and place them on the table.
3. Tell students to read the sentence strips and match them with the correct picture.
4.  Students take turns to request and reply aloud.

3. FIND MY PAIR:

Material Needed: sentence slips.

Suggested Sentence Strips:

• A: Did you bring my notebook?
• B: I'm sorry, I forgot to bring it.
•  A: Ouch! You stepped on my toes.
• B: I'm sorry. I didn't mean to.
• A: You broke my writing pad.
• B: I'm sorry. It was an accident. 

How to Play:

1. Take students to the field /hall to play this game.
2. Students are divided into 2 groups.
3. Each student of the group is given a sentence strip. ( Group A is given sentence strips on requests. Group B is given sentences on the replies.
4. When the teacher gives the cue, students start to find their pair by saying their sentences aloud. 
5. The winner of the game will be the first pair with the correct match.

4. STATUE GAME:

 Material Needed:

• Picture cards. ( 1. Spill the drink.  2. broken table lamp. 3. Pushing each other.) 

Suggested Dialogues:

1. A: Did you bring my football?
2. B: I'm sorry, I forgot to bring it.
3.  A: Ouch! You spill the drunk.
4. B: I'm sorry. I didn't mean to.
5. A: You broke my table lamp.
6. B: I'm sorry. It was an accident. 

How to Play:

1. Teachers play music and students dance to the tune.
2. When the music stops, students remain still. Choose two people to come to the front.
3. One of them picks up a picture from the box. Students role-play the situation of expressing apologies based on the picture.
4. Other pairs repeat with various situations.