Family Lesson Plan for ESL Kids

This family lesson plan is perfect for teaching kids and beginner English language learners about family members in English. Talking about family is one of the most relatable topics for ESL students because everyone has relatives, so it’s something all learners can connect with. By learning family vocabulary and simple expressions, ESL learners gain practical language they can use to talk about themselves and the people closest to them, making lessons both meaningful and memorable.

On this page, you’ll find a complete step-by-step ESL family lesson plan with all the materials you need to get your students talking confidently about their families.

Introduce Family Vocabulary and Expressions

Before teaching new words, it’s important to set the lesson in context so students understand what they’re about to learn. This also activates their existing knowledge of family vocabulary. A simple way to do this is by showing your students pictures of your own family. Young learners in particular find this very engaging.

Hold up a photo and ask them to guess who the people are. For example, show a picture of your brother or sister and ask, “Who do you think this is?” This can often lead to funny answers, as children don’t always have a clear sense of age. In my classes, students often guess that my older brother is my dad, or that my dad is my grandfather!

After this warm-up, practice the keywords using these family member flashcards. Show each card, ask students to repeat after you, then go through them again and have students say the words on their own. Once students are comfortable with the vocabulary, introduce a few key expressions. These can be adjusted depending on your learners’ age and level. Examples include:

• Who’s this/that? → This is my father.
• Who’s he/she? → He’s my brother. / She’s my sister.
• What does your father/mother do? → He’s a pilot.
• How many brothers and sisters do you have? → I have two brothers and one sister.

Activity 1 – Nice to Meet You Game

This whole-class activity is energetic and fun, and it gets students moving while they practice the new family vocabulary and key expressions. For this game, you’ll need a set of family flashcards.

How to Play:

1. Place the flashcards in a horizontal line on the board.
2. Divide the class into two teams. Have each team line up at opposite ends of the line of flashcards.
3. Tell students the aim of the game is for them to make it to the opposite end of the line of flashcards. If they do, their team scores a point.
4. To start, the first student from each team moves down the line, touching each card and saying the key sentence (e.g., “This is my father,” “This is my mother”).
5. When the two students meet, they stop and have a short dialogue using the target expressions. For example:
   • Student A: “Who’s this?”
   • Student B: “This is my father.”
   • Student A: “Nice to meet you.”
6. After the dialogue, the two students play Rock–Scissors–Paper. The winner stays where they are; the loser goes to the back of their team’s line.
7. The next student from the losing team starts again from their end of the line, while the winner continues forward from their spot.
8. Once a student makes it to the end of the line, award a point for that team and start again. First to 3 or 5 points is the winner.

Activity 2 – Guessing Game (Speaking Practice)

This activity works well in pairs or small groups of 3–4. It encourages lots of speaking practice, helps students memorize family vocabulary, and gives them repeated practice with the target question-and-answer pattern. Each group will need a set of these family student cards (smaller flashcards).

How to Play:

1. Give each group a set of about 8 cards. Students place them face down and mix them up.
2. One student points to a card and asks a classmate: “Who’s this?”
3. The other student makes a guess, e.g., “This is my mother.”
4. Turn the card over to check:
   • If correct → the student keeps the card.
   • If wrong → the card is turned back over and mixed in again.
5. Continue until all the cards have been taken. The student with the most cards at the end is the winner.

Activity 3 – Level Up Game

This energetic speaking game gets students moving around the classroom while practicing family vocabulary and expressions. It works especially well with kids, but can be adapted for older learners too. You’ll need one family student card per student (re-use the cards from Activity 2).

How to Play:

1. Give each student a family member card.
2. Assign the four corners of the classroom as Level 1, Level 2, Level 3, and Level 4.
3. All students start at Level 1. There, they pair up with a classmate and have a short dialogue based on the card they’re holding. For example:
   • Student A: “Who’s that?”
   • Student B: “This is my uncle. Who’s that?”
   • Student A: “This is my sister.”
4. After the dialogue, the two students play Rock–Scissors–Paper.
   • The winner moves up to the next level.
   • The loser stays where they are.
5. At each new level, students repeat the process with a new partner.
6. When a student reaches Level 4, reward them with a point, sticker, or high-five. Then they return to Level 1 to start again.
7. After about 5 minutes, the student with the most stickers/points is the winner.

Review – Family Tree Diagram

At the end of the lesson, review the key vocabulary and expressions with a simple family tree activity. Start by drawing a family tree on the board with “Grandpa” at the top, and then elicit the rest of the family members one by one as you add them to the diagram. As you build the tree together, recycle the target Q&A to check understanding. For example, point to a character and ask, “Who’s this?” and students can reply, “This is my brother.” To finish, you can ask students to label a mini family tree in their notebooks or say two sentences about their own families.