While most English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers include games for kids as part of their lesson plans, adults can also benefit from these types of interactive activities. For each activity you choose for your adult ESL classroom, be sure it has a clearly defined educational goal as well as more entertaining components.

The First Line
Provide each student with a book on her reading level, or allow her to choose her own. The students may take a few minutes to read the title, blurb and first few pages of their book, taking notes if necessary. Each student takes a turn presenting his book to the class, showing his peers the title and reading only the first line of the book. The other students debate on what the book is about, including what genre, whether it is serious or humorous and what the main characters might be like. Afterward, the presenting student reads the jacket flap blurb aloud so students can see who was the closest to guessing the summary.

Dictionary Dorks
This activity is meant to focus adults' attention on how the English dictionary presents words so that they feel more comfortable using it as a resource. Write a word on the board that students are familiar with from the dictionary, including the part of speech, pronunciation and definition formatted as in the dictionary. Next, find a word students most likely do not know and write it on the overhead. Prompt them to write the word along with the part of speech, pronunciation and definition in their notebooks, encouraging them to invent their own definition. When they finish, have each student present his definition to the class. Afterward, write the true definition on the board and see which student was closest to the real meaning of the word.

Walk of Fame
This activity not only serves as a way for adults to practice asking and answering questions, but it also functions as a good icebreaker for a particularly shy class. Write the names of famous celebrities your students are sure to know about, each on a separate notecard. Pin one notecard on the back of every student and arrange them in two rows. One at a time, each student takes the walk of fame in between the rows, being sure all of his peers can see his notecard. Students interview the "celebrity," asking him questions based on what they know of the celebrity written on his notecard, and the student must figure out his secret celebrity identity.