3 Fun Guess The Country Games to Play in Class
These three Guess the Country games are perfect for teaching country names in English. In each activity, students identify the country from a visual clue such as a map outline, a famous landmark, or a traditional food from that country. No prep is required: just choose a game below and hit play.
1. Guess The Country From The Map Game
This first game has 10 rounds in which students must guess the country from a siluoette map outline. It’s a fun challenge that works well as a warm-up, review, or quick brain break in ESL or geography lessons.
How To Play
There are several ways to play this game. Here are three that work really well in class:
- Pairs or small groups – Students write down their answers for each round. Pause the video to give them time before revealing the country.
- Whole-class warm-up – Play the video and have students raise their hands when they are ready to guess.
- Raise the Flag – Prior to the game, print some small country flashcards or country flags and give them to students. To indicate their guess, they should raise the correct flag or flashcard.
2. Guess The Country From The Picture
This game uses real photographs from 10 different countries, and students must guess the country from the image. Since this can be challenging, especially if they haven’t visited or studied that country, each round includes multiple-choice answers to help guide them. It works well as a warm-up or quick brain break in your country-themed lessons.
How to Play
Just like the previous activity, you can play this game as a whole class or in small teams. Play the video in class and pause after each picture to give students time to choose from the two possible answers. For an extra element of fun, you could assign each answer to a different side of the classroom and have students move to the side that matches their guess. This version works especially well when students have been sitting for a while and need a quick energizer.
3. Guess The Country From The Food
Be warned, this game might make your students very hungry! They’ll see 10 pictures of delicious food from different countries around the world, and their task is to guess which country each dish comes from.
How to Play
In each round, students answer two questions. First, they guess the name of the food in the picture. Then, they guess which country the food is from. For example, they might see a picture of tacos. First they say “tacos,” then they say “Mexico.” Pause the video after each question to give students time to answer.
Tip: This activity is also a great chance to review nationalities and cuisine names. After revealing the country, you can have students say the sentence “It’s from Mexico. It’s Mexican food” or, for other examples, “It’s from Thailand. It’s Thai food.”
Follow up These Games With Worksheets
After playing these games, you can review and practice the vocabulary with our Countries and Nationalities Worksheets. They are perfect for consolidating what students have learned and can be used for homework or extra class activities.