Phrasal Verb Pictionary

The drawer picks a phrasal verb card and must convey both the verb and the particle meaning through drawing. Look up and look after look very different on paper.

Procedure

1. Prepare 20+ phrasal verb cards. Include ones with multiple meanings (take off, put on, break up).
2. Teams of 3–4. Each team takes a turn at the board.
3. The drawer has 90 seconds. No letters, no numbers, no speech.
4. The drawer must convey both the verb and the particle. Teammates shout guesses.
5. If the phrasal has multiple meanings, specifying which meaning scores double (break up (relationship) vs break up (a fight)).

Good Phrasal Verbs for This

Phrasal verb	Typical drawing cue
put up with	A person holding hands up tolerating something
run out of	Empty bowl, hand reaching, surprised face
look into	Eye + question mark over a box
come across	Arrow from a figure, landing on an object
bring up	Arrow pointing upward with a small figure
get over	Figure climbing over a wall marked flu or breakup
take after	Two figures side-by-side, same features

Why It Works

• Forces meaning-focused processing: students must visualise what the phrasal means, not just recall a translation.
• Reveals particle logic: drawing up / over / off / into makes the particle's metaphorical core visible.
• Multi-meaning awareness: the same phrasal with different meanings requires different pictures, making polysemy concrete.

Variations

• Sentence pictionary: card has a full sentence; drawer must convey the whole meaning.
• Two-round version: Round 1 pictionary. Round 2, use the same cards for charades (no drawing, only gesture). Compare which medium worked better for each phrasal.
• Learner-made cards: students write their own phrasal verb cards from the textbook; pool and shuffle.

Tips

• Discuss the particle after each round. Why did "up" work for both "bring up" and "look up"?
• Avoid rarely-used phrasals that have no good visual — they kill the game.
• Pair with Pictionary earlier in the course; this is the variant that follows.