You know when you want to cheer your students up at the same time you teach grammar or vocabulary? My workmate Diego Trujilo had a very simple and effective idea: using flyswatters (mata-moscas) in class! He has bought ten of them (each one costs about R$1,00), and they can be used in many situations. Here are some ideas:

1) To teach the irregular verbs in English: the teacher displays a set of irregular verbs on the floor (they can be in the past, in the participle or both) and each student receives a flyswatter. Then, the teacher calls out a verb in the infinitive and the students have to quickly hit the correct verb form on the floor.

2) To teach kids: the teacher may call out a word in the students’ native language and they have to hit the correct translation on the floor. You can also use it to review vocabulary with teens and even adults in elementary levels.

3) The teacher can display pictures on the ground (animals, for example) and the students have to hit the picture when the name of the animal is mentioned.

4) For adults: The teacher can read a sentence with a blank, and the students have to hit the correct word/expression to fill in the blank.

I’m sure you can create other types of activities with the same material. I’ve tried it with kids, teens and adults, and all of them had lots of fun. It’s a good way to start/finish a class.