Sight Unseen

Level: Intermediate and Advanced.

Type of activity: speaking (and drawing).

Materials: pictures (realia, if you will), pencil and paper.

Time: 5 to 20 minutes.

Organise the class into pairs. Give each pair a sheet of paper and pencil. The chairs must be arranged side by side, but facing in opposite directions, so the one who is to draw may not see the object his partner has. Then give Student As pictures (who will keep them secret, so Student Bs could not see them) who will describe the scene in the picture for Student Bs, who must draw it, from the description given. Afterwards, give Student Bs pictures, and reverse the roles.

After both students in each pair have finished describing and drawing, collect the drawings and the pictures, arrange them side by side, and ask the whole class to decide by vote which drawing is most like the picture it represents.

I used this game with students who claimed they could not draw at all, but later revealed to be quite good artists themselves. Besides being a good activity to revise certain vocabulary areas (prepositions, mainly), it also prepares students for the tasks of some international exams (KET, PET, FCE, etc.).