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Doctor Doctor!

NEW: Make the lesson even better, try the Doctor, Doctor song!!


The simplest, no preparation game to do is...

1. The kids shout out "Are you OK?"

2. One kid shouts out "No, my ..... hurts" whilst saying a part of their body.

3. Then they run away whilst all the other kids try and touch this body part!

Here it is with our kids in India - it's even fun when you can't run away!



Or try the more complex version:

Target English: Body parts
Target grade: 1 to 6
Preparation: A (new) roll of toilet paper (or kitchen towel)





I was shown this game a while ago but never used it in my classes. Then  the other week I saw a really good demonstration and it worked great! So here it is,  Doctor Doctor!

First of all teach the names of various body parts and the phrase "Doctor, my ...... hurts!" e.g. "Doctor, my leg hurts!". The "Doctor, Doctor!" song is a great way of doing this. Then...

1. Split the kids pairs. One is the doctor, one is the patient.

2. Give each doctor a metre or so of toilet paper.

3. The teacher, or the students, choose a body part.

4. Everyone shouts out together "Doctor, Doctor my (body part) hurts!" e.g. if you chose "head", everyone would shout out "Doctor, Doctor my head hurts!".

5. Each doctor wraps their patient's corresponding body part!!

6. Patients and doctors exchange roles.

7.Repeat from 3

You can also give awards for the best doctor!! This game is good for maybe 10-15 minutes and the kids get really into it, making some really intricate dressings!!

One idea for the "Heads and Shoulders" song that I heard was to get the kids to write their own lyrics! Put them in groups and they have to think of other body parts to use, for example "Hand, head, nose and leg" or something! Each group then performs their new version!

For other body parts practice, try the Body Building Game or the Monster Drawing Game

I heard of the "Doctor Doctor" idea from Gary and Ed! Thanks guys!



Readers' Comments
by Josh Katz

I've played this game with some slight alterations, to make it more "competitive" and funny / scary.  I made a stack of cards, each having one picture of a body part.  You put students into pairs, and give each pair of students a pile and a lot of toilet paper (I wouldn't do this in a big class; it's a lively game and a waste of paper).

They do janken, and the loser picks a card freely from the pile you gave them.  The janken loser then tells the doctor to fix this body part.  They leave the toilet paper on him, and they do janken again.  The loser picks a card, gets bandaged accordingly.  It goes on like this, leaving the paper on, until one of them is a mummy!  They complain, but laughingly, so I'm sure this is a great break from reading the textbook!

More notes: if they say "my eye hurts" or "my arm/leg/foot etc hurts," teach them to use left and right.  You can make the conversation longer, like "My arm hurts!"  "Which one?"  "This one [holding left arm up]." or "My left arm."  You can also have a "where?" or "Where does it hurt?" and the student can point and say "here."  It gives advanced students a chance to practice a more conversational conversation, instead of an exchange of one sentence each.

Josh Katz


Reader's Comments

This is really fun yet simple and educating game. I will definitely use this in my class and your other games too. by  rgribbon

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