El matamoscas

After introducing and practicing definite articles, my Spanish 1 class played "El matamoscas." For this game, you need to purchase fly swatters. I divide my class up into two teams, and each team gets one fly swatter. On the white board in the front of the room I divide the board into two sections--one section for one team and the other section for the second team. Each team chooses a team name (in Spanish, of course) and then they write all four definite articles on the board.

(Just for fun, if the team cannot think of a name quickly enough I give them a silly name like "Las feas" or "Los perros" or "Las perezosas.")

To play the game, one member from each team lines up at one point in the room that is the same distance to the board. I say a noun and the students race to hit the correct definite article that goes with the noun. It's a great way for students to learn to listen for the masculine, feminine or plural endings.

We also played this game when we learned indefinite articles, and you can create many variations of it.