15 English Speaking Activities for Kids That Get Even Shy Children Talking

The best English speaking activities for kids are short games where talking is the only way to play: a mystery bag that must be described before it is opened, a toy that needs teaching, a shop that sells nothing until the customer asks in English. Below are 15 English speaking activities for kids grouped by age (4–6, 7–9 and 10–13), each with what you need, five steps, the sentences to aim for and a harder version. None takes more than ten minutes.

Why children understand more English than they say

Most parents know the gap: the child follows cartoons and clearly understands the question, yet will not produce a full sentence. It is normal, and it has two causes.

The first is the silent period. Children learning a new language usually spend weeks or months listening and storing before they are ready to speak, just as a toddler understands "Where is your shoe?" long before saying the word. Pressure rarely shortens this phase; it mostly makes English uncomfortable.

The second is fear of mistakes, which grows with age. A four-year-old happily says "me go park"; a nine-year-old knows it is wrong and says nothing. So if you are asking "how do I get my child to speak English?", the honest answer is: you cannot make a child talk, but you can make talking the easy option.

The three conditions that unlock speech

• Low stakes. Nobody is grading and a wrong word costs nothing. Games, toys and silly voices do this automatically.
• Repetition. The same structure comes up again and again ("Is it a...?", "I think it's...") until the child produces it without thinking.
• A reason to talk. The child must say something to get something: open the bag, win the point. If a nod would work, the child will nod.

Every activity below is built on these conditions. Pick two or three for your child's age and run them for a week.

English speaking activities for kids aged 4–6

The goal is single words growing into chunks: "It's a red car", "Can I have...?". Five minutes a session; stop while the child still wants more.

1. Mystery bag

You need: a cloth bag and five familiar objects.

1. Hide the objects in the bag.
2. The child feels one without looking.
3. Ask "What is it?" and accept any guess.
4. Pull it out together: "It's a spoon!"
5. Swap roles: you feel, the child asks.

Target language: "What is it?" / "I think it's a..." / "It's soft."

Make it harder: one adjective before every guess: "It's soft. It's a sock."

2. Picture-card interviews

You need: ten picture cards or photos on your phone.

1. The child draws a card and hides it.
2. Ask three yes/no questions: "Is it an animal? Can it fly?"
3. The child answers "Yes, it is" or "No, it isn't".
4. Guess, then reveal together.
5. Swap: the child asks, you hide.

Target language: "Is it...?" / "Yes, it is. No, it isn't."

Make it harder: you get two questions, so the child gives a clue first: "It's an animal and it's green."

3. Teach the toy

You need: a favourite soft toy and objects from the room.

1. The toy speaks no English and needs lessons.
2. The child shows it an object: "This is a cup."
3. You voice the toy and get it wrong: "A hat?"
4. The child corrects it: "No! A cup!"
5. The toy repeats properly; the child praises it.

Target language: "This is a..." / "No, it's a..." / "Good job!"

Make it harder: the toy asks "What do you do with it?": "You drink from it."

4. Daily weather report

You need: a window and thirty seconds each morning.

1. Look outside together.
2. Ask "What's the weather like today?"
3. The child answers in one sentence.
4. Add a feeling: "Do you like it?"
5. Decide what to wear: "So I need a jacket."

Target language: "It's sunny, rainy, cold." / "I need a..."

Make it harder: report yesterday too ("Yesterday it was rainy") or predict tomorrow.

5. Role-play shop

You need: a table, food packets with prices, some coins.

1. Set up the shop and choose the shopkeeper.
2. The customer greets: "Hello! Can I have an apple, please?"
3. The shopkeeper names a price: "Two coins, please."
4. The customer pays: "Thank you."
5. Swap roles after three purchases.

Target language: "Can I have..., please?" / "How much is it?"

Make it harder: the shop runs out: "Sorry, we don't have any bananas. We have oranges."

Speaking practice for children aged 7–9

Children at this age can hold a short conversation but are starting to care about being right, so choose content that is funny or personal, where the message matters more than the grammar. For pictures and worksheets, start with our free materials.

6. Story dice

You need: picture dice, or a die and lists of six characters, places and objects.

1. Roll a character, a place and an object.
2. Say the first sentence together: "Once upon a time, a dragon lived in a supermarket."
3. The child adds a sentence; you add the next.
4. Continue for six sentences each.
5. Finish with "The end!" and retell it in one breath.

Target language: "Once upon a time..." / "Then... Suddenly..." / went, saw.

Make it harder: the child tells the whole story alone and must include a problem.

7. Two truths and a lie

You need: nothing.

1. Each person prepares three sentences, one false.
2. The child says all three: "I have a cat. I can swim. I don't like pizza."
3. You guess the lie and say why.
4. The child confirms or denies: "No! I can't swim!"
5. Swap; the child asks questions to find your lie.

Target language: "I have... I can..." / "Number two is the lie because..."

Make it harder: the lie must be about the past, or every sentence must contain a number.

8. Photo narration

You need: five photos from a recent day out.

1. Open the first photo: "Where were we?"
2. The child describes it in two sentences.
3. Ask one follow-up: "What happened next?"
4. Repeat with the next photo.
5. Finally, the child retells the whole day in order.

Target language: "We were at..." / "First... then... after that..."

Make it harder: narrate it for a grandparent who was not there, with one feeling per photo.

9. Would you rather

You need: ten "would you rather" questions written in advance.

1. Read one: "Would you rather fly or be invisible?"
2. The child chooses and gives one reason.
3. You take the other option and argue for it.
4. The child tries to change your mind.
5. Move on after one minute, decided or not.

Target language: "I'd rather... because..." / "But you could..."

Make it harder: the child writes three new questions and asks the family at dinner.

10. Spot-the-difference partners

You need: two nearly identical pictures (printed, or two quick drawings).

1. Give the child one picture; keep the other hidden.
2. The child describes part of it: "There's a cat on the table."
3. You answer: "In my picture, the cat is under the table."
4. Note the difference and move on.
5. Find every difference by talking only.

Target language: "There is... There are..." / "on, under, next to, behind"

Make it harder: the child describes the whole picture first, then you ask about details.

English speaking activities for kids aged 10–13

Older children can speak for longer but are the most self-conscious. Give them topics they know better than you, and a time limit.

11. 60-second expert talk

You need: a timer and a topic the child loves.

1. One minute to prepare three points.
2. Start the timer; the child talks for 60 seconds without stopping.
3. Listen without interrupting, even for mistakes.
4. Ask two questions at the end.
5. Repeat the same topic tomorrow; it will be smoother.

Target language: "The first thing to know is..." / "Another point is..." / "For example..."

Make it harder: two minutes, or include one opinion and one comparison.

12. Voice-message diary

You need: a phone with a voice recorder.

1. Each evening the child records a 30-second message about the day.
2. The rule: no script, no retakes.
3. Once a week, listen to the first and latest message together.
4. The child picks one sentence they would now say better.
5. Record that sentence again.

Target language: "Today I..." / "The best part was..."

Make it harder: the message must answer a question you set that morning.

13. Mini-presentations

You need: three slides, or a sheet of paper with three pictures.

1. The child chooses a topic and prepares three "slides".
2. They rehearse once alone.
3. They present to the family for two or three minutes.
4. Each listener asks one question.
5. The child answers and takes a bow.

Target language: "Today I'm going to talk about..." / "As you can see..."

Make it harder: no notes, or the presentation must persuade rather than inform.

14. Agree or disagree

You need: five statements on slips of paper ("Homework should be banned").

1. Draw a statement and read it aloud.
2. The child says "I agree" or "I disagree" with two reasons.
3. You argue the opposite for 30 seconds.
4. The child responds to one of your points.
5. The rest of the family votes.

Target language: "I agree because..." / "That's true, but..."

Make it harder: the child must argue the side they do not believe.

15. Sell me this object

You need: any ordinary object and a timer.

1. Hand the child the object.
2. One minute to invent three reasons to buy it.
3. The child pitches it to you for 60 seconds.
4. Raise one objection: "But it's just a sock."
5. The child answers and names a price.

Target language: "This is the best... because..." / "It's perfect for..."

Make it harder: the customer is somebody specific (an astronaut, a dog).

Parent prompts that invite longer answers

Most of us ask yes/no questions without noticing. These swaps need a full sentence.

Instead of	Try	What it practises
"Did you have a good day?"	"Tell me one good thing and one boring thing about today."	Past tense, opinions
"Do you like this book?"	"Who is your favourite character, and why?"	Giving reasons
"Are you hungry?"	"What would you like for dinner, and what do we need to buy?"	Requests, planning
"Was it fun?"	"What was the best moment? What would you change?"	Superlatives, conditionals

How to respond to mistakes: recast, don't correct

When your child says "I goed to the park", the instinct is to stop and fix it. Resist. Instead, repeat the sentence correctly inside your reply: "You went to the park? Who did you go with?" This is a recast: the child hears the right form, the conversation keeps moving, and nobody feels caught out.

Save explicit correction for the "make it harder" rounds and limit it to one point per session. A child corrected every third word learns one thing fast: to say less.

How a small group class multiplies speaking time

Home activities build the habit. What they cannot give is talking to other children, in English, about something that matters right now. The number to watch in any class is speaking minutes per child: share a 45-minute lesson equally among twenty children and each talks for about two minutes; in a group of six, each gets seven or eight, and pair work pushes it higher.

A small group also adds peers at the same level (mistakes are less frightening beside someone making the same ones) and a teacher who recasts automatically. When comparing classes, ask how many children are in the room and how much of the lesson the children, not the teacher, are speaking.

Frequently asked questions

My child only answers in our home language. What should I do?

Accept the answer, recast it in English, and ask one more question. Do not pretend not to understand; that turns English into a wall. Make the activity, not you, the thing that demands English: the toy speaks no other language, the shopkeeper only serves customers who ask in English. Children switch when the game needs it, not because a parent asks.

How long should speaking practice take each day?

Five to ten minutes every day beats an hour on Sunday. For ages 4–6, one activity is a session; for 7–9, ten minutes; for 10–13, fifteen minutes including the voice diary. Stop before the child wants to; wanting more brings them back tomorrow.

What if my own pronunciation is not good?

Your child needs a conversation partner more than a perfect model. Recordings, videos and a teacher supply the model; you supply the reason to talk. When unsure of a word, say so and look it up together: a parent who checks a word is modelling exactly the attitude a confident speaker needs.

Speaking practice at Fleydo

At Fleydo English School, children learn in live online groups of at most six with certified native English-speaking teachers, so each child speaks for a real share of every 45-minute class. See how the programme is organised for your child's age on our English for kids page or browse the current group classes. The simplest way to see whether it suits your child is to book a free trial lesson and listen to how much they say.