Thinking Game

This activity is challenging students to think the way native speakers of English do. A word is an image which is reflected in different contexts. People have always loved to play games with the words they use. Just like playing a game in your free time, hunters also hunted game and gaming is a great way to win or lose money.

Thinking Game 1
Is bed a noun or a verb?

Thinking Game 2
Guess whether the words below are nouns or verbs.
Thinking Game 3

Thinking Game 4


Thinking Game 5
A collective noun is singular in form but that refers to a group of people or things.
These nouns are normally used in everyday life alone.
A school, a bed, a business, a parliament, a mob, a rhumba, an army, a troop, a circus, a bouquet etc.
Print the handout Collective Noun Sheet and try to fill in the column for collective nouns part 1: e.g. an embarrassment of ...........
Think of what could be an embarrassment. A political scandal maybe etc.
You can use tools like:
Google Search Visual Thesaurus Dictionary.com

Thinking Game 6
The following collective nouns come from verbs and focus on habits and actions that describe what the group does.
Look back at the words in Task 2 and answer these questions.
  • What can make you shiver? 
  • What can drift? If something drifts, where does it drift? 
  • Who waddles and where?
  • Who squabbles and in which situation?
Now look at the Collective Noun Sheet  again and try to fill in the column for collective nouns part 2: e.g. a drift of ...........

Thinking Game 7

Discuss and debate why you have made your choices.
Decide which words are negative and which words are positive.

Thinking Game 8

Which of these collective nouns could be used for the animals listed below?
(i.e. A group of giraffes is called a ......?)


Remember that this is a thinking game. Think of why a particular group of animals is called in such a way. It is not important to find the correct answer but it is important to make a justified guess, so be prepared to give reasons for your guesses.

Thinking Game 9
Watch this video and check your answers. This thinking activity involves finding out why these groups of animals are called in such a way.
Thinking Game 10

Fill in the last column of the Collective Noun Sheet with the names of animals.


Thinking Game 11
Watch this Slide.