In the kitchen · Board game

Two to four players per board. One board per group of two to four, one die, a counter each — coins or buttons work. In bigger groups the wait between turns is too long and children stop listening.

Play one turn for the class. Roll, count the spaces aloud in English — “one, two, three” — and say the word you land on. Can't say it? Go back. That is all the English the game needs, and the counting is free number practice.

Raise the bar for older children. From about seven, a player has to say a sentence with the word — “I like cats.” — not just the word. The rest of the group decides whether it counts.