H.1. Preamble

Games
H.2. When I Went to Israel
H.3. Shinui Shinui
H.4. Name Game
H.5. Israeli Hopscotch
H.6. Hebrew Clothes Relay
H.7. Agrees/Disagrees
H.8. Find Your Partner
H.9. Find Your Partner (Variation)
H.10. Homa Umigdal
H.11. Aleph to Taf
H.12. Shiriah
H.13. Eretz, Pri, Perach
H.14. Buzz
H.15. Related Games Contents

Preamble

This section is designed to help the leader or educator teach Hebrew in a fun manner. When put together, these games can also comprise an evening activity. Separately, they can be used in Chugei Ivrit or in any situation where teaching Hebrew is a goal. The emphasis in playing these games should be on having fun, and on giving participants a chance to use Hebrew at the same time.

Hebrew word and song games have four purposes in the formal and informal setting, which are not necessarily about communication, vocabulary or language skills:

• To create or raise motivation to learn Hebrew, often by changing the image of language from foreign and unattainable, to familiar and useful;
• To give participants a hands-on experience with, or feel for the Hebrew language with a few words;
• To offer enhancement to study that is fun and interactive;
• To create an in-group code that will encourage group members to use Hebrew terms.

"Teaching Hebrew through Song" is available from the Bookshop on bookshop@jafi.org
FAQ on Ivrit is at http://www.jajz-ed.org.il/faq/ShowCategory.asp?categoryid=7
Lashir Ivrit links to music websites http://www.jajz-ed.org.il/festivls/ZKATZ/ATZ/music.html

H.2. When I Went to Israel

The leader asks all the participants to sit in a circle.
The first person (or the leader) says:

(When I went to Israel, I took with me…)
and supplies the name of an object in Hebrew.

The next person in the circle repeats the sentence, saying what the first person took and adding an object of his/her own.

Continue around the circle.

H.3. Shinui Shinui

The leader gives each person in the circle a word, or a number in Hebrew.
A volunteer is asked to stand blindfolded in the middle of the circle and be the tag.
The leader calls out two of the participants’ Hebrew words. Those two have to switch seats without being tagged by the blindfolded person.

When the leader calls out “Shinui, shinui,” all participants must move to another seat without being tagged.
Any person who is tagged gets into the middle and is blindfolded and a new round is played.

Variation:
Use Hebrew or English names.

H.4. Name Game

This game is played sitting in a circle.

The first person says his/her name in Hebrew and a Hebrew adjective which begins with the same first letter as his/her name.
E.g.,
The next participant says the name before his/hers and adds his/hers, and so on, around the circle.

H.5. Israeli Hopscotch

The leader prepares a hopscotch board on the sidewalk with chalk. In each block the leader or participants write a Hebrew word.

When playing Hoscotch, each participant who lands on a word must say the word and translate.

This can be done with expressions, names of places, numbers, etc.

H.6. Hebrew Clothes Relay

The leader splits the group in half and lines the participants up into two lines at the front of the room with two bags full of clothes (for which there should be a list in Hebrew!).

The leader now calls out the Hebrew name of an article of clothing. The first member of each team runs up to the bag of clothes, takes out the appropriate article, dons it, and repeats the Hebrew word, returning the garment to the bag.

The team that returns the clothing to the bag first gets a point.

The leader proceeds to call out the next Hebrew name.

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H.7. Agrees/Disagrees

Read statements in Hebrew which reflect personal opinions; e.g.,

(Diaspora Jews should go on aliyah to Israel)
Participants who agree stand up, those who disagree remain seated.

The difficulty of the statements can be varied according to the group’s knowledge of Hebrew.

H.8. Find Your Partner

The leader hands out cards to each participant, with half of a Hebrew expression.

Participants mill around trying to find another person with a word that fits their part of the expression.
Examples:

H.9. Find Your Partner (Variation)

Group members get cards with half a phrase. The leader calls out words.
When a member has a suitable word s/he calls it out and gets a card (one point).
The person with the most points wins.

H.10. Homa Umigdal

All participants tap two fingers continuously on the table (or if in a bus, on the seat) in front of them. (The group as a whole is now making the sound of pitter-patter).

The leader faces the group and taps his/her fingers as well. When s/he chooses s/he calls out either “homa” or “migdal.”

Upon hearing the word “homa,” participants place their hands on the table one foot apart from each other, palms facing each other.

When the leader calls out “migdal,” participants place two closed fists on the table, one on top of the other.

After a word is called out all return to tapping their fingers on the table.

The leader also tries to confuse the group by calling out a name and making the wrong sign with his/her hands. Anyone who makes the wrong sign for “migdal” or “homa” is out.

H.11. Aleph to Taf

The leader calls out the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Anyone in the group can call out a word in Hebrew that starts with aleph. The first person to call out a word gets a point.

The game continues that way throughout the alphabet.

The game may be played in categories, e.g., names, food, places, fruit and vegetables.

H.12. Shiriah

The leader prepares beforehand a list of words commonly found in Hebrew songs, e.g.,

The group is split into teams of 6-10 and they sit separate circles in the room.

The leader calls out a word and the first group sings a song with that word in it.

Once the first song is sung, the leader calls on the next group with the same word, and so on, until the groups don’t have any more songs to sing.

The last team to sing a song gets a point.

The leader goes on to the next word until songs with that word are exhausted, etc.

Variations:
Scoring can take many forms. E.g., if the whole team knows the song, more points are gained. If only one or a few, fewer or no points are given.
Alternatively, each team scores one point for every song sung.

H.13. Etz, Pri, Perach

The group leader walks around the inside of the circle and points to one of the players and says either “Etz, Pri, Perach… Pri”; “Etz, Pri, Perach… Perach”; or “Etz, Pri, Perach… Etz.”

The leader then begins to count to five. The player must name either a fruit, a flower or a tree, depending on what the last word was, either pri, perach or etz respectively. If s/he manages this, s/he becomes the game leader. (Only flowers, fruits or trees found in Israel are allowed.)

Variation
Use another three groups of words (i.e., mispar, ot, shem -number, letter, name). This should also be played in Hebrew.

H.14. Buzz

The game is played sitting in a circle and needs to be run at a fast pace.

The leader first reviews the Hebrew numbers from one to one hundred.

The first player begins to count; each player counts one number aloud, in Hebrew, but the seventh player does not say seven, s/he says “buzz.” Every time a number has a seven in it, “buzz” is substituted for the seven (i.e., buzzesray).

Any player who makes a mistake is eliminated.

Variation:
Substitute “buzz” for all sevens and multiples of seven.
In addition to using “buzz,” use “fizz” for the number five.

Related Games