As explained in my previous post, many games like Pictionary use prompts that don’t suit the context of rural Indian children, To solve this problem, I created our own version of Pictionary and a custom memory card game for the girls at school. Both these games employ a common vocabulary set of 100 words. These words range from very basic English nouns and verbs that are universally relevant to more specific words that describe common aspects of our students’ lives in Indian villages.
Below, I reproduce the rules and vocabulary set, should you wish to recreate these games that our girls relate to and love playing. All you need is some paper and pens; it’s a very inexpensive and enjoyable way to improve the vocabulary of rural Indian children. Making the game with your students is also a fun and educational craft activity.
The Vocabulary Set
| Places | Professions | Objects | Times & Events | Nature |
| Bank | Doctor | Ball | Breakfast | Beach |
| Bus Stop | Factory Worker | Bicycle | Dinner | Bullock Cart |
| City | Farmer | Car | Evening | Cow |
| Hospital | Judge | Clock | Harvest | Dog |
| Park | Nurse | Computer | Lunch | Elephant |
| Playground | Pilot | Flower | Morning | Fish |
| Post Office | Plumber | Fruit | Night | Forest |
| School | Police Officer | Mirror | Monsoon | Goat |
| Supermarket | Scientist | Phone | Summer | Hen |
| Train Station | Tailor | Vegetable | Exams | Pig |
| Village Life | Activities | Family | Home | School life |
| Cowherd | Art | Aunt | Bed | Book |
| Crop | Cooking | Brother | Chair | Backpack |
| Farm | Dance | Daughter | Flat | Classroom |
| Firewood | Music | Father | Firewood | Exam |
| Paddy Field | Reading | Grandfather | House | Library |
| Pump | Sleeping | Grandmother | Hut | Playground |
| Rice | Speaking | Husband | Kitchen | Pencil |
| Rain | Sports | Mother | Roof | Pen |
| Tractor | Studying | Sister | Sofa | Student |
| Well | Writing | Wife | Table | Teacher |
Pictionary Rules: Cut a sheet of thick chart paper into several small cards. Write one word on each card, leaving one side blank. Place the cards blank side up.
Form two teams. Have each child pick up a card and try to draw what it is. Let her other teammates guess the word. Time the child with either a stopwatch or a sand timer. The team with the most correct guesses wins.
Memory Game Rules: Cut a sheet of thick chart paper into several small cards. Only choose 10-15 words from the vocabulary set and create 20-30 cards i.e. double the number of words you have chosen.
Write one word each on half of the cards, leaving one side blank. On the remaining half of the cards, draw a picture that illustrates each word, leaving one side blank.
Arrange the cards in rows, blank side up. Choose 2 players. Allow each child to pick up two cards per turn. If the word and image match, the child gets to keep the cards. The child with the most matched pairs when the card runs out wins