Practise key words from the rhyming picture book 'Brown Owl's Birthday Tea' with these game cards.

Includes: birthday tea, cake, family, friends, presents, pizza, Brown Owl, tree, three, drum, frog, hat

There are four cards of each picture and they can be used for different games:

1) SNAP (2-4 players)

Shuffle the cards and deal them between all players.

Players put their cards in front of them, face down.

Each player turns over a card and lays it in the middle. If two cards on top of each other are the same, players shout snap and place their hands in the middle. The fastest player wins the cards!

The winner is the player with all the cards at the end of the game.

2) PAIRS

Mix the cards and spread them out face down on the table. Each player takes it in turns to choose two cards. If they are the same, they take the cards and turn over another two. The winner is the player with the most pairs at the end of the game.

3) OLD MAID (3-4 players)

The aim of the game is to have as many pairs as possible.

Remove THREE Brown Owl cards. Brown Owl is the old maid (schwarzer Peter)

Shuffle the remaining cards and deal them between all players.

Players look at their cards and place any PAIRS in front of them.

Each player chooses one card to pass on and places it in front of them. Players count 3,2,1 and pass the card to the player on their left.

If a player has a new pair, they place it on the table in front of them.

The game carries on until one player has no cards left. The player with the most cards has won.

Any player with Brown Owl tries to pass it on as it does not have a pair.

4) HAPPY FAMILIES (3-4 players)

The aim of the game is to have as many sets of four animals as possible.

Shuffle and deal all the cards between the players.

If a player has a set of four, they can place it on the table in front of them.

Any player starts and can ask another player for an animal they need: Have you got a birthday cake?

The other player responds with Yes, I have! OR No! I Haven't!

The player can continue asking until someone says no.

Play then passes to the next player.

The game is over when one player has no cards left.

The winner is the player with the most sets of four (Quartett)

4) CHANGE PLACES (whole class)

Choose enough sets so that each child has a card.

Remove one chair and stand in the middle of the circle.

Choose a key word and shout it out. E.g. "CAKE!" 

All the children with a cake card change places.

Now a new player is in the middle and chooses another key word, e.g. Brown Owl!

If the person in the middle shouts "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!", then everyone changes places.

Have fun reading and rhyming with Brown Owl!

If you'd like to know more about the rhyming picture book the words are taken from, you can check out some sample pages here.