Days of the Week ESL Lesson Plan for Kids

The days of the week are usually introduced early in beginner English courses, and for good reason. They are part of everyday life and naturally fit into classroom routines. Once students know them, you can start each class by asking, “What day is it today?” and later build up to questions about dates, schedules, and even making plans.

This days-of-the-week lesson plan uses songs, flashcards, and interactive games to help learners remember all seven days and use them in simple sentences. It is designed primarily for kids but can be adapted for older beginners as well. By the end of the lesson, students will be confident asking and answering questions like, “What day is it today?” → “It’s Monday.”

Introduce Days of the Week

A great way to introduce the days of the week is with a song. There are many versions on YouTube for different ages and levels, but one that always works well with kids is The 7 Days of the Week Song by The Learning Station. It has a catchy rhythm and a simple dance that students enjoy. Start by playing the song once and asking students to listen carefully. Afterward, ask them what words they recognized and try to elicit some of the days of the week.

Next, write the days in order on the board. Begin with Sunday and ask students which day comes next until you have all seven days. Say each word clearly and have the class repeat after you. Once students are familiar with the words, teach them the song and dance and sing and perform it several times together.

Tip: For an extra challenge, once they’re confident, try speeding up the video and see if they can keep up. Kids usually find this really fun and will enjoy singing the song again in future lessons.

Practice Asking and Answering “What day is it today?”

Use these days of the week flashcards to introduce the key expressions. Show the flashcards one by one and ask the class, “What day is it today?” and have them answer, “It’s Monday,” “It’s Tuesday,” and so on. Next, divide the class into two groups and have one half ask the question while the other half answers. Then switch roles. This gives students plenty of practice asking and answering about the days of the week.

Once they are confident, play a simple guessing game with the same flashcards. Choose one at random but don’t show the students. Ask, “What day is it today?” and have them raise their hands to guess. This encourages students to recall the vocabulary actively, which helps reinforce it in their memory.

Activity 1: Days Of The Week Memory Game

This Days of the Week PowerPoint Game is a fun way to review the vocabulary. To play, divide the class into two or three teams. Teams take turns choosing two numbers, and you click to reveal the days hidden underneath.

• If the two cards match, that team earns a point and plays again.
• If they don’t match, click the red circle to hide them and move on to the next team.
• The game continues until all pairs are found. The team with the most points wins.

Tip: Each time you reveal a card, ask the class, “What day is it?” and have them answer, “It’s Monday,” “It’s Tuesday,” etc. This keeps the focus on speaking practice as well as memory.

Activity 2: Days of the Week Race

For this game, you’ll need to print and cut out these small flashcards, and give one set to each pair of students.

1. Ask students to place the cards face down on their desks and mix them up.
2. The game begins when students ask the teacher, “What day is it today?”
3. The teacher replies with any day of the week.
4. Students quickly turn over their cards to find the correct one.
5. When they find it, they place the card at the top of their desks and put their hands on their heads. The fastest student scores a point.

This activity is a great listening exercise that also helps students quickly recognize the days of the week.

Activity 3: Days of the Week Speaking Activity

This speaking game gets students moving and using the target question in real interactions.

1. Give each student a day of the week card (you can reuse the cards from the previous activity).
2. Tell students not to show their cards to anyone.
3. Students walk around the classroom asking each other, “What day is it today?” and answering with the day on their card.
4. When they find a classmate with the same card, they both go to the teacher, show their cards, and then sit down together.

For a larger class, you can make the task more challenging by asking students to find three or four classmates with the same card before coming to the teacher.

Review

To wrap up the lesson, work together to put the days of the week back in order. Place the Sunday flashcard on the board (or write it on the board) and ask, “What comes next?” Continue until all seven days are on the board in order.

Finally, ask a few quick review questions to check understanding:

• “What day is it today?”
• “What day is it tomorrow?”
• “What day was it yesterday?”

This quick review reinforces the sequence of the days and gives students a final chance to practice the target expressions before the lesson ends.