If you’ve got a few minutes to spare then this counting game is always a good time filler.
Explain to the class that they will simply be counting from 1 to 40, one at a time from one end of the class to the other. The only catch is that they must replace all multiples of 5 with the word ‘cat’ and all multiples of 7 with the word ‘dog’. A multiple of both 5 and 7 (i.e. 35) must be replaced by ‘cat-dog’.
It might sound easy but once you get the speed up it can be easy to make a mistake. It can be difficult for native speakers of English to keep track of the numbers but it’s even tougher when English isn’t your first language.
Get started and see how far your class gets before they make a mistake, can they make it to 40? If the activity is too easy for them then feel free to make any number that includes a 5 or a 7 also require the word ‘cat’ or ‘dog’, increase the goal to 100 or just give them less and less time to say the next number. You can also try eliminating students that make a mistake in order to find your classroom’s Cat Dog Counting champion!
Just to be sure, this is how the basic version of the game should go:
1, 2, 3, 4, cat, 6, dog, 8, 9, cat, 11, 12, 13, dog, cat, 16, 17, 18, 19, cat, dog, 22, 23, 24, cat, 26, 27, dog, 29, cat, 31, 32, 33, 34, cat-dog, 36, 37, 38, 39, cat.