Let’s face it, most of us don’t need to know which verb tense is “future continuous perfect.” But we do need to use verbs correctly. Most children pick up verb tenses as they learn to speak, but there is some advantage to understanding and being able to name tenses, especially when it comes to irregular verbs or learning a new language. We’ve compiled a list of 30 great and easy activities to teach and practice verb tenses.
First, let’s review all 12 (yes 12!) English verb tenses.
30 Verb Tense Activities
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1. Build verb tents (get it?)
Set up “verb tents” to learn about verb tense. This smart play on words turns playtime fun into a learning activity.
As you go from one place to another (out to recess, down the hall to lunch), have students pick different movements to complete. Use those in sentences for practice: “We are going to march. We are marching. We marched to the playground.”
In the classroom, have students choose cards with past, present, and future actions on them and act them out.
Sometimes it can be just as helpful to see and hear what’s incorrect as what’s correct. Try this sorting activity, or allow kids to come up with their own examples.
What kid doesn’t love an excuse to play with LEGO bricks? Use a marker to write irregular verbs and their corresponding past or future tenses on individual bricks. Then kids match them up for practice. Want other educational uses for LEGO bricks? We’ve got them!
This is a terrific visual to show kids how helping verbs actually link sentences together. Cut strips of sentences and have students link two parts of a sentence with the correct verb tense.
Fire up your imagination and take trips to the past, present, and future with these cute (and free) printable armbands. They’ll really help kids relate tenses to time.
Get some helping-verb practice by rolling these DIY cubes. Students roll the cubes, then write sentences with the correct verb tenses shown. Here are printable dice templates to use with this activity.
Verb tenses and timelines are a perfect match! Timelines help kids visualize the concept, especially when you get to the more complicated tenses.
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11. Form human sentences
Pass out cards with words, including verbs, on them and have kids line up to form a present-tense sentence. Then change the tense by switching a card (and student) to make a new sentence. You can talk about when we change the verb tense, what other parts of a sentence might have to change?
Give your students a booklet they can refer to as they practice verb tenses. Combine these booklets with the timeline activity to reinforce how verbs show when activities happen.
Label tap lights with arrows indicating past, present, and future. Then, pull verb cards from a bag and have kids tap to turn on the correct tense light.
Flip over a verb from the “present” pile, then start flipping cards from the “past” pile. When the correct match appears, slap it! The winner keeps the cards, and the play starts over. Get free printable cards to use for this game at the link.
Have kids study a picture and tell a story about what they see. Set the story in the past, present, or future. Start with this story about people in a city talking about what they did yesterday.
Using a pencil and paper clip for a spinner, students flip a verb card, spin to see which tense they’ll use, and write out a sentence. Download the free printable at the link.
This is a homemade version of an “I Spy” game. Bury verb cards in a plastic bottle filled with colored rice, then have students find verbs and use them in sentences or provide the different tenses.
We often don’t realize how much it helps to know the names of the different tenses until we’re studying a new language and trying to conjugate its verbs. A chart like this one for English verbs can be very helpful in learning the concept.
The beauty of this game is that you can play it over and over again using different tenses. Players plant their “ships” on the board. Each player takes turns saying a sentence using the chosen tense: “You will listen to music tomorrow.” The other player indicates hit or miss, just as in traditional Battleship.
Don’t forget irregular verbs. Help students use irregular verbs in writing assignments with an anchor chart or table students can keep in their binders.
Give students a topic, or have them brainstorm their own, then they think of verbs that go with that topic. Have students think of present, past, or future tense verbs to go with each topic.
Create stories that require students to fill in the blank with conjugated verbs (or download this free resource). It’s also an opportunity to build vocabulary and fluency.
Play a game of four-in-a-row with verb tenses. Students roll a di and complete the verb tense task. If they win the square, they win the square. When they have four in a row, they win the game.
Have students practice choosing the correct verb tense with a game like this one from CSL on Teachers Pay Teachers. Or have students make their own verb tense game.
Buy it: Verb Tenses Game for less than $5 at Teachers Pay Teachers
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30. Work with mini-books
Create a mini-book and use that as a reference for students as they learn and practice verb tenses. This is especially helpful for English language learners.
