Drawing Instructions - ESL Classroom Activity

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ESL Classroom Activity - Fun English Games Drawing Instructions

This fun ESL classroom activity will test how well your students give instructions in English.

The aim of the game is for one student to describe a simple picture or series of shapes to another student who will draw the picture on the whiteboard/blackboard without looking at it. That means they'll need to listen hard to what the other student is instructing them to draw.

You can split the class into pairs and have them all do the activity at the same time but I think it works best as a quick activity to start or finish a lesson that everyone can enjoy together.

Begin by finding 2 volunteers, one who will give the instructions and the other who will attempt to draw the picture. Have one student face the whiteboard/blackboard while you show everyone else in the class the picture, it's a good idea to start with something simple like random shapes rather than a complicated scene that is difficult to explain let alone draw.

It's then up to the other student to give instructions in English, such as:

"Draw a large circle"

"Draw a small square inside the circle"

"Draw a horizontal line that touches both sides of the circle"

It's always fun for the other students watching, especially when things don't go to plan. Give the volunteers a few minutes to finish the picture before comparing the original picture to the finished product, how close were they? What were some instructions that could have possibly worked better?

Find some new volunteers to draw the next picture and play again!