![http://wisehat.com/random/main/dougnutinwig.png](http://wisehat.com/random/main/dougnutinwig.png )
Furthermore, we have about 50% of the world's wealth but only 6.3% of its population... In this situation, we cannot fail to be the object of envy and resentment. Our real task in the coming period is to devise a pattern of relationships which will permit us to maintain this position of disparity without positive detriment to our national security.
George F Kennan (1904–2005)
Policy Planning Study 23
US State Department, 1948
Snake
![Choice Card: Snake](/img/choice/snake.png)
memory
focused
listening
Use this simple whiteboard activity to introduce new vocabulary. To prepare the game you'll need a playing piece. Recently I've been using a "Great!" card. See above.
Start by drawing a circle. This is the snake's head. Draw two eyes on top (mine often look like ears). Next draw another circle inside the first. This is the snake's open mouth. Next draw the body and divide it into segments. For 5-6 flashcards I use around 10 segments. But experiment - find what works best for you. The game is ready to start.
Take the playing piece and make a show of telling the group that it is their piece - that it belongs to them - that it is them. Put the piece in the final tail segment. Show how the piece can move up the snake and out of the mouth. Mime the mouth closing. Make snake enjoying dinner noises. Oh no! This gives the group some idea of the game objective without explaining it in Japanese.
The game works like this: show a flashcard. Allow a few seconds and then simply tell the answer. Go through the flashcards. Make two piles - one for the cards the group can name and another for the ones they can't. After going through all the cards, count up. For every card that is missed draw a triangle in the mouth. This looks like a tooth and represents the mouth closing. For every card the group get right move the playing piece one segment up the snake. Shuffle the cards and begin again. Can the group escape before all the triangles are drawn and the mouth closes?
I don't explain this game or the need to study the cards. I like players to discover game rules for themselves. Play the game at a fast pace. If the players learn the cards very quickly then stop showing the cards and instead give hints or gestures.
With small groups it's possible to go round players individually. Encourage them to help each other - the objective is to learn the vocabulary. With large groups encourage spontaneous responses. Make it accepted practise that everyone has to call out the answer.
![](/img/animate/snakecover.gif)
- Top Page
- Splog!
- Articles
- Games
- Across The Table
- Add One More
- Anaconda
- Be A Monster!
- Black Hole (board game)
- Bombs Away!
- Catch!
- Catch-Caught-Caught!
- Centipede
- Charades
- Co-operative Quiz
- Crocodile
- Dice Stack
- Fast Food Tag
- Find My Number
- Find The Penny
- Football
- The Happy Game
- Line Up!
- Maze Challenge
- Natty Narration
- Nose Nose Nose
- One Step Forward!
- Pair Fluency Match 7 - Death Wish
- Pair Fluency Match 7 - Go Green!
- Parrot Parade
- Passport Control
- Reach The Top!
- Snake
- SockIt!
- Tickle Time
- What Cards
- Which One?
- Whose Shoe?
- World Cup Football 2018
- You, You, Me!
- Wake Up
- Packs
- Sheets
- Songs and Music
- Strips (songs and otherwise)
- Stories
- Techniques
- Video
- Environment
- Japan
- The 75th Anniversay of the bombing of Hiroshima
- The 75th Anniversay of the bombing of Nagasaki
- Cars in Japan
- Coronavirus Olympics
- Forest Bathing
- Japan and the Summit
- Japan and World War Two
- Multiculural Japan?
- Olympics Two Tokyos
- Plastic in Japan
- Return to Fukushima
- The Anniversary too Important to Cancel
- Typhoon Jebi
- Yayoi Kusama's Infinity
- Other
- This Week In History
- January, February, March
- April, May, June
- Sub Menu Item
- This Week in History: April 8-10
- This Week in History: April 12-15
- This Week in History: April 19-24
- This Week in History: April 24-26
- This Week in History: May 6-11
- This Week in History: May 11-14
- This Week in History: May 18-23
- This Week in History: May 25-31
- This Week in History: June 1-5
- This Week in History: June 11-14
- This Week in History: June 22-27
- This Week in History: June 15-21
- This Week in History: June 29 - July 5
- July, August, September
- This Week in History: July 6-12
- Sub Menu Item
- This Week in History: July 14-19
- This Week in History: July 27-31
- This Week in History: August 2- 6
- This Week in History: August 17-21
- This Week in History: August 27-30
- This Week in History: August 31 - September 6th
- This Week in History: September 7-13
- This Week in History: September 22-27
- This Week in History: September 14-20
- This Week in History: September 28 - October 4
- October, November, December
- Quizes
- Vocab