A2 ESL / EFL Kids - 2 Uno Type Card Games with Verbs & Characters from Alice in Wonderland

2 separate card games, both follow the rules just like the game ‘Uno’. Suitable for young learners of English from about age 5 to 12.

Game play for both is suitable for 2-8 players. I have used them successfully with both individual pupils where game play was only myself and my pupil, up to groups of 8 in a classroom.

Deck 1:
Print 2 or 3 copies (depending on size of the group) double sided per group, cut out cards and shuffle.
Deal 5-7 cards, depending on size of the group and age*
Pupils must put down a card with either the same character or same pronoun. Only one card can be put down at a time (I know, this varies from the proper Uno, but makes it work better). When they put down a card, they should say the full sentence to get some speaking practice.
If a player does not have a card, he/she must pick up one card. If that card can be played, then he/she can put it down. If not, he/she misses a turn and it goes to the next player. As a variation with older children, it also works to have to pick up until you can play. It gets a bit crazy sometimes with one person having 10+ cards in their hand, thus not suitable for the little ones.
Chesire Cat - wild card. Can be played on any card and any card can be played on it.
Draw 2 - can only be played on the correct character or another Draw 2 card. It makes the next player take 2 cards. That player then takes his/her turn - if he/she puts down another Draw 2 card, the next player takes 4 and so on.
Winner - first person to get rid of his/her cards.

Deck 2:
This is a much bigger set than Deck 1, so only one copy per group is necessary.
Print pages 1-7 single sided, then reload and print page 8 seven times on the reverse side, or use card stock so pupils can’t see through the cards.
Game play proceeds as with Deck 1, except pupils put down cards with the same pronoun or same verb. Balloon cards are wild.

*Dealing: younger children up to about 7 tend to do best with a maximum of 5 cards due to their small hands. Also, if you have a large group it’s best to only start with 5 cards so that there will be enough for a discard pile.

**These cards are meant to accompany Alice in Wonderland (A2 reader). They use words and grammar found throughout this story. Look at my other resources for more games and activities part of this unit.