One of the useful skills you can learn as a teacher is the art of adaptation. I still get surprised at the interesting ways I see that others have creatively adapted activities to use in the classroom in order to make them far more powerful, relevant to a particular group or context, or just more engaging for the children.
For example, I recently saw a teacher using one structure (musical chairs), and adapting it so that students could practice writing skills. Its something I never would have thought of, however, with each new way I see others adapting activities, it supports my own creative process.
I think that the easiest way to learn how to adapt games and activities for very young learners is to look at how others do this. Another way is to ask other teachers how they play games or activities that you’ve learned. You’ll likely discover they have slight twists to games or activities that they’ve added themselves.
For the purposes of learning adaptation, one of my trainers referred me to Carol Read’s book 500 Activities for the Primary Classroom. Even though that book is targeted at Young Learners, it still gives you some insight into how activities can be adapted.
Finally, Herbert Puchta’s book on teaching very young learners could also assist in this regard. You can read my book review of Activities for Very Young Learners by Herbert Puchta and Karen Elliott, here. His book is a great one to have on your bookshelf, anyway.
