The Adverb Game (inc Online Version)

An amusing mime guessing game (which also helps with learning grammar) with an adaptation for playing online

Everybody stands in a circle. One person is picked to go outside the room while the rest of the group decides on an adverb, such as “quickly”, “cheerfully” or “sleepily.” The volunteer is called back to stand in the centre of the circle. Her task is to guess the adverb by asking any individual or a few members of the group to mime an activity. They should do this in the manner (style) of the word.

For example, the volunteer may ask someone to “play a piano” or “dig a hole” in the manner of the word. She watches to see how that person is doing the activity. If she can’t guess the adverb, she can ask other people to mime different activities (she is allowed up to three guesses). When she gets it right, or her three guesses are up, another volunteer goes outside while the group chooses a new adverb.

Director’s Tip

You can play this game online by using Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Classrooms, Flipgrid or a similar video conferencing tool. You will need to send students a list of adverbs before you play (or older ones can make up their own). Ask the students to pick an adverb then give them an activity to try. They can show their response live or post a video for other students to guess.