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Hebrew Games on the Fly

Try out these free, no-prep Hebrew games.

Teach Hebrew Color Words with Color Tag

Head over to your synagogue's play structure and get your students moving!

Call out a color in Hebrew. Then tell your students to "tag" an object with that color. The last person to tag an object is "out"; however, that doesn't mean they can't "help" you by calling out the next color! The last student standing is declared the winner!

Hebrew Pictionary or Charades

Reinforce Hebrew vocabulary words with Pictionary or Charades.

1. Call on a student to draw/act first

2. The student sketches/acts out the word(s) or phrase without speaking or writing down letters.

3. Students have 60 seconds to guess the word(s) or phrase.

4. The student who guesses the answer correctly in Hebrew, goes next.

Shimon Omer

As you probably already know, the game of Simon Says only has two rules: If the command begins with the phrase "Simon Says," do it. Otherwise, remain as you were.

It's easy to turn Simon Says into a Hebrew learning game. Begin by teaching your students the vocabulary words for hands, eyes, nose, mouth, ears, legs, feet, and toes, among other body parts. Then, using the (conjugated) Hebrew word for "says", begin the game. The last one standing gets to be "Simon" next.

Two Truths and One Lie

Ask your students to come up with 2 truths and 1 lie about themselves. Note that it may be easier to write them down ahead of time. First, students read their three statements. Then, their classmates try to determine which statement is a lie.

What's Missing?

Write the words to (part of) a prayer on the board. Replace two of the words with blank spaces. Students try to guess the missing words.

Unscramble the Prayer

Write words from a prayer on individual index cards and shuffle them. Students work together to unscramble the cards. Check out the example of the one I created.

Finish the Hebrew Sentence

Students cowrite a silly paragraph by adding onto each other's words or phrases.

Using Hebrew words they already know, ask a student to write down a simple Hebrew phrase on a piece of paper. Then pass it on to the next student to add on. In the end, read the "silly" paragraph out loud.

Freeze Dance

Teach the Hebrew vocabulary words for "Stop" and "Go" through freeze dance. Pick your favorite Hebrew song and call them out as you stop and restart the music.

I Spy

This game is for more advanced students. They should already know a number of descriptive adjectives. Select a student to think of an object inside the classroom. Using the phrase אֲנִי רוֹאֶה/ רוֹאָה, the student uses descriptive Hebrew words to offer clues.

To help your students learn classroom-themed Hebrew vocabulary words, you can use conversation cubes or games like Guess Who, in Hebrew. Hebrew classroom labels can assist with Hebrew language acquisition.

Have you tried out these games? Do you have any other no-prep Hebrew learning games? Share your experience in the comments.