Nouns in a Hat

Activity
Nouns in a Hat
Target level	JHS 1 - JHS 3
5.00 (one vote)

Nouns in a Hat as played by Stephanie Gross.

Materials

• Hat (or box), for the cards the nouns are written on.
• Cards with nouns written on them (prepare double the number of cards to students, + 3 for explanation)
• Blank cards, for Game 2 (students will prepare 2 each)
• Blackboard, to keep score

Gameplay

Divide the students into two groups. Prepare a hat (or box) with nouns written on cards. Use a blackboard to keep track of scores.
During Game 1 use nouns that the teacher prepared. The students will learn how to play during Game 1. Then before starting Game 2, have all the students write 2 nouns on blank cards that you provide them with. Use only these new nouns for Game 2.

• Game 1 (use nouns that the teacher has prepared - examples below)
  • Round 1 (explain)
    1. One student will have 1 minute to pull nouns from the hat and explain them to their team without using the word/words on the cards. When time is up..
    2. Pass the hat with the remaining nouns to the other team. One member of that team now has 1 minute to explain as many as they can.
    3. Repeat until all nouns have been guessed.
    4. Put all of the nouns back into the hat and start Round 2.
  • Round 2 (gesture)
    • Same as Round 1 except the students must use gestures only to describe the nouns. They cannot speak.
  • Round 3 (one word)
    • Same as Round 1 except the students can only use one word to describe the noun.
  • Round 4 (sounds)
    • Same as Round 1 except the students can only use sounds to describe the noun.
• Game 2 (use nouns that the students write)
  • Round 1 (explain)
  • Round 2 (gesture)
  • Round 3 (one word)
  • Round 4 (sounds)

Notes

• Score: Any student on the team can answer, just shout out the answer. The answer must be exactly as written on the card. Teams get one point per noun guessed correctly within the minute. Teacher keeps score on a board.
• Nouns: Teacher prepares the nouns for Game 1. After Game 1, the students write original nouns for Game 2. Each student should write 2 nouns.
  After each round all nouns are put back into the hat. Nouns used in Game 1 are not used in Game 2.
• Pass: students can say pass once during their turn if they can't explain a noun.
• Example Nouns: (taken from the 1 and 2 nensei textbooks)
  passport, curry and rice, 〇〇-sensei, pencil case, Sport's Day, black cat, Harry Potter, big boat, guitar, juice, white dog, baseball, peach, water, kendama, Mt. Fuji, sushi, ramen, movie, umbrella
• More examples: soft cat, purple car, smelly socks

See also

• Junior high school activities
• General-use games.