Home Blog Three vocabulary games from one word list Activity ideas
Three vocabulary games from one word list Introduce the words once, then use them in a word search, a scramble and bingo.
A simple plan for one group Everyone can refer to the same spellings while the activity changes. Keep the answers and call list for checking.
Garden Birds: eight words, three games robin · wren · blackbird · starling · chaffinch · goldfinch · dunnock · nuthatch
L Y U D L T G B Y Q F Z Y S R U T K O G J U V N M T D N G O L R X U N J C A C N P R D A S K J G K R H O G O F W N J N W B L A C K B I R D N K H Z I F K H I N E O R J O L N F Y A N C N I O A D H G I A G P H C H X V A G X N U T H A T C H P I R B C Y S V I H T K R Q K W H R Z E J W B L F T
robin wren blackbird starling chaffinch goldfinch dunnock nuthatch
Word scramble Garden Birds
IORNB
WNER
IBDRLCABK
IARSGNTL
IHHACFCNF
NOGHIFLDC
UODCNKN
UHCTHNAT
robin dunnock goldfinch blackbird FREE wren starling nuthatch chaffinch
Call these same eight names in bingo
The same eight bird names in each activity. One word list is enough for a word search, a scramble and a round of bingo. Introduce the words once, keep their spellings where everyone can see them, then change the game when the group is ready. You can use all three activities or save one for another day.
Choose a topic your group knows Start with a topic the group wants to talk about. Garden Birds includes robin, wren and woodpigeon in a British garden setting. Cooking Verbs gives you actions such as chop, stir and knead. Read a few entries aloud before choosing; even a familiar topic may have some new words.
If you shorten the list, use that edited version for all three games. Keep at least eight different words for a 3 × 3 bingo card with a free center. Larger cards need more words.
See how many words each bingo size needs →
Read the Garden Birds word list→
Try the Cooking Verbs theme→
Introduce the words Put the list where everyone can refer to it. Ask which words are familiar, read the new ones together and give a brief explanation where needed. With Garden Birds, someone might recognize a bird from its description before knowing its name. Leave the spellings visible throughout the session.
Activity What to do Keep nearby Introduce the words Read a few names and talk about unfamiliar ones. The word list Word search Find words alone or with a partner. The same list for spelling help Scramble Put the jumbled letters back in order. The word list, with answers kept aside Bingo Listen for a word and mark it on the card. The host call list
The examples below use the full Garden Birds list. The search and scramble use those words; each 3 × 3 bingo card has eight of them and a free center. The smaller example near the top of this page uses the same eight names in all three games.
Garden Birds — Word search {"title":"Garden Birds","locale":"en","activity":"word-search","seed":"birds-session-01","engineVersion":"pt-engine-1.0.0","printVersion":"print-1.0.0","paper":"Letter","fontPoints":12,"marginsMm":12,"words":[{"id":"w01","display":"robin","gridForm":"ROBIN"},{"id":"w02","display":"blackbird","gridForm":"BLACKBIRD"},{"id":"w03","display":"blue tit","gridForm":"BLUETIT"},{"id":"w04","display":"great tit","gridForm":"GREATTIT"},{"id":"w05","display":"coal tit","gridForm":"COALTIT"},{"id":"w06","display":"marsh tit","gridForm":"MARSHTIT"},{"id":"w07","display":"long-tailed tit","gridForm":"LONGTAILEDTIT"},{"id":"w08","display":"chaffinch","gridForm":"CHAFFINCH"},{"id":"w09","display":"goldfinch","gridForm":"GOLDFINCH"},{"id":"w10","display":"greenfinch","gridForm":"GREENFINCH"},{"id":"w11","display":"bullfinch","gridForm":"BULLFINCH"},{"id":"w12","display":"house sparrow","gridForm":"HOUSESPARROW"},{"id":"w13","display":"tree sparrow","gridForm":"TREESPARROW"},{"id":"w14","display":"starling","gridForm":"STARLING"},{"id":"w15","display":"wren","gridForm":"WREN"},{"id":"w16","display":"dunnock","gridForm":"DUNNOCK"},{"id":"w17","display":"nuthatch","gridForm":"NUTHATCH"},{"id":"w18","display":"treecreeper","gridForm":"TREECREEPER"},{"id":"w19","display":"magpie","gridForm":"MAGPIE"},{"id":"w20","display":"jackdaw","gridForm":"JACKDAW"},{"id":"w21","display":"woodpigeon","gridForm":"WOODPIGEON"},{"id":"w22","display":"collared dove","gridForm":"COLLAREDDOVE"},{"id":"w23","display":"song thrush","gridForm":"SONGTHRUSH"},{"id":"w24","display":"mistle thrush","gridForm":"MISTLETHRUSH"}],"grid":{"rows":16,"columns":16,"directions":["horizontal","vertical"],"allowOverlap":true,"alphabet":["A","B","C","D","E","F","G","H","I","J","K","L","M","N","O","P","Q","R","S","T","U","V","W","X","Y","Z"],"blacklist":["FUCK","SHIT","CUNT","PORN"]}} Garden Birds Word search Find the words in the grid. Use the list to check the spelling. W L M Y G O L D F I N C H U L T R T A B W O O D P I G E O N Y R E Q G R E E N F I N C H F Z Y E N R P T K G G R E A T T I T J E U U I M I S T L E T H R U S H C T R E E S P A R R O W V N M D R H C H A F F I N C H G O R X U E A N J C C O L L A R E D D O V E T P H O U S E S P A R R O W A P C S K J G K D G D U N N O C K E H N S O N G T H R U S H J O N R B L A C K B I R D W N K H A Z H O R J O L S T A R L I N G L Y A I O A D H A G B L U E T I T P C H B U L L F I N C H R O B I N X V J A C K D A W M A R S H T I T Words to find robin blackbird blue tit great tit coal tit marsh tit long-tailed tit chaffinch goldfinch greenfinch bullfinch house sparrow tree sparrow starling wren dunnock nuthatch treecreeper magpie jackdaw woodpigeon collared dove song thrush mistle thrush PuzzleKitLab · https://puzzlekitlab.site · support@puzzlekitlab.site Page 1 / 2 Language: en · Version: pt-engine-1.0.0 · Seed: birds-session-01 Garden Birds word search with the full word list and matching answers. Words used robin · blackbird · blue tit · great tit · coal tit · marsh tit · long-tailed tit · chaffinch · goldfinch · greenfinch · bullfinch · house sparrow · tree sparrow · starling · wren · dunnock · nuthatch · treecreeper · magpie · jackdaw · woodpigeon · collared dove · song thrush · mistle thrush
Make a Garden Birds word search→
Garden Birds — Word scramble {"title":"Garden Birds","locale":"en","activity":"scramble","seed":"birds-session-01","engineVersion":"pt-engine-1.0.0","printVersion":"print-1.0.0","paper":"Letter","fontPoints":12,"marginsMm":12,"words":[{"id":"w01","display":"robin","gridForm":"ROBIN"},{"id":"w02","display":"blackbird","gridForm":"BLACKBIRD"},{"id":"w03","display":"blue tit","gridForm":"BLUETIT"},{"id":"w04","display":"great tit","gridForm":"GREATTIT"},{"id":"w05","display":"coal tit","gridForm":"COALTIT"},{"id":"w06","display":"marsh tit","gridForm":"MARSHTIT"},{"id":"w07","display":"long-tailed tit","gridForm":"LONGTAILEDTIT"},{"id":"w08","display":"chaffinch","gridForm":"CHAFFINCH"},{"id":"w09","display":"goldfinch","gridForm":"GOLDFINCH"},{"id":"w10","display":"greenfinch","gridForm":"GREENFINCH"},{"id":"w11","display":"bullfinch","gridForm":"BULLFINCH"},{"id":"w12","display":"house sparrow","gridForm":"HOUSESPARROW"},{"id":"w13","display":"tree sparrow","gridForm":"TREESPARROW"},{"id":"w14","display":"starling","gridForm":"STARLING"},{"id":"w15","display":"wren","gridForm":"WREN"},{"id":"w16","display":"dunnock","gridForm":"DUNNOCK"},{"id":"w17","display":"nuthatch","gridForm":"NUTHATCH"},{"id":"w18","display":"treecreeper","gridForm":"TREECREEPER"},{"id":"w19","display":"magpie","gridForm":"MAGPIE"},{"id":"w20","display":"jackdaw","gridForm":"JACKDAW"},{"id":"w21","display":"woodpigeon","gridForm":"WOODPIGEON"},{"id":"w22","display":"collared dove","gridForm":"COLLAREDDOVE"},{"id":"w23","display":"song thrush","gridForm":"SONGTHRUSH"},{"id":"w24","display":"mistle thrush","gridForm":"MISTLETHRUSH"}]} Garden Birds Word scramble Put the letters in order to find each word. 1. IORNB 2. DKRLBCIBA 3. LETTIUB 4. TIAETRGT 5. ATIOTCL 6. IAMTTHRS 7. DEIITGNLOALTT 8. CNCAHIHFF 9. DNICGLHFO 10. ECEIHFNRNG 11. FLBINCHLU 12. OUPHSWAEORRS 13. ROSRREAPEWT 14. GANLISTR 15. RENW 16. KNCONUD 17. NTHUHTCA PuzzleKitLab · https://puzzlekitlab.site · support@puzzlekitlab.site Page 1 / 4 Language: en · Version: pt-engine-1.0.0 · Seed: birds-session-01 The same bird names as a word scramble. Use the separate answers to check the original spellings. Words used robin · blackbird · blue tit · great tit · coal tit · marsh tit · long-tailed tit · chaffinch · goldfinch · greenfinch · bullfinch · house sparrow · tree sparrow · starling · wren · dunnock · nuthatch · treecreeper · magpie · jackdaw · woodpigeon · collared dove · song thrush · mistle thrush
Make a Garden Birds scramble→
Garden Birds — Word bingo · PT-6975732F-001 {"title":"Garden Birds","locale":"en","activity":"bingo","seed":"birds-session-01","engineVersion":"pt-engine-1.0.0","printVersion":"print-1.0.0","paper":"Letter","fontPoints":12,"marginsMm":12,"words":[{"id":"w01","display":"robin","gridForm":"ROBIN"},{"id":"w02","display":"blackbird","gridForm":"BLACKBIRD"},{"id":"w03","display":"blue tit","gridForm":"BLUETIT"},{"id":"w04","display":"great tit","gridForm":"GREATTIT"},{"id":"w05","display":"coal tit","gridForm":"COALTIT"},{"id":"w06","display":"marsh tit","gridForm":"MARSHTIT"},{"id":"w07","display":"long-tailed tit","gridForm":"LONGTAILEDTIT"},{"id":"w08","display":"chaffinch","gridForm":"CHAFFINCH"},{"id":"w09","display":"goldfinch","gridForm":"GOLDFINCH"},{"id":"w10","display":"greenfinch","gridForm":"GREENFINCH"},{"id":"w11","display":"bullfinch","gridForm":"BULLFINCH"},{"id":"w12","display":"house sparrow","gridForm":"HOUSESPARROW"},{"id":"w13","display":"tree sparrow","gridForm":"TREESPARROW"},{"id":"w14","display":"starling","gridForm":"STARLING"},{"id":"w15","display":"wren","gridForm":"WREN"},{"id":"w16","display":"dunnock","gridForm":"DUNNOCK"},{"id":"w17","display":"nuthatch","gridForm":"NUTHATCH"},{"id":"w18","display":"treecreeper","gridForm":"TREECREEPER"},{"id":"w19","display":"magpie","gridForm":"MAGPIE"},{"id":"w20","display":"jackdaw","gridForm":"JACKDAW"},{"id":"w21","display":"woodpigeon","gridForm":"WOODPIGEON"},{"id":"w22","display":"collared dove","gridForm":"COLLAREDDOVE"},{"id":"w23","display":"song thrush","gridForm":"SONGTHRUSH"},{"id":"w24","display":"mistle thrush","gridForm":"MISTLETHRUSH"}],"bingo":{"gridSize":3,"freeCenter":true,"cardCount":3}} Garden Birds Word bingo · Card PT-6975732F-001 Mark each word as it is called. Ask the host to check your win. robin jackdaw coal tit magpie FREE house sparrow nuthatch long-tailed tit woodpigeon PuzzleKitLab · https://puzzlekitlab.site · support@puzzlekitlab.site Page 1 / 4 Language: en · Version: pt-engine-1.0.0 · Seed: birds-session-01 Three different 3 × 3 bingo cards, plus the call list for this set. Words used robin · blackbird · blue tit · great tit · coal tit · marsh tit · long-tailed tit · chaffinch · goldfinch · greenfinch · bullfinch · house sparrow · tree sparrow · starling · wren · dunnock · nuthatch · treecreeper · magpie · jackdaw · woodpigeon · collared dove · song thrush · mistle thrush
Call list nuthatch · jackdaw · marsh tit · great tit · long-tailed tit · magpie · woodpigeon · house sparrow · starling · coal tit · blue tit · dunnock · goldfinch · song thrush · tree sparrow · robin · chaffinch
Make Garden Birds bingo cards→
During the search, readers can check a spelling before looking for it in the grid. In the scramble, the list helps them rebuild each word. Some letters can make more than one English word, so use the theme and answer sheet to check the intended answer.
Check the answers together Keep the answers aside until the group is ready. For bingo, explain the winning pattern before the first call and check off each word on the host list. Pause when someone claims a line, then compare the words on the card with the calls you have marked.
Read the word bingo hosting guide →
Print one copy to check the size before making a set. Keep the word list available for all three games. Set the answer sheets and bingo call list aside for the host. Leave a little time to talk about a few words at the end. Make your first activity pack →