Total Physical Response is a learning system developed to teach a second language but it can be adjusted to illustrate the meaning of vivid verbs. In TPR, students act out the meaning of a word which enables them to remember it better. As a class activity, you can choose a short phrase that includes one vivid word and ask a student to act the sentence out in front of the class. After the performance, the class has to figure out what word or phrase was expressed. The child who guesses right is the next one to act out a new verb.
In this variation of the classic Hangman game, write a common verb on a blackboard and draw a gallows beneath it. Decide upon a vivid verb that fits your chosen word and count its letters. Draw as many spaces as there are letters in the word and ask the class to figure out the vivid verb you imagined by picking letters from the alphabet. For each letter they get wrong, a body part, including head, arms, body and legs, is added to the gallows. Correct letters contained in the vivid verb are written in its correct space beneath the gallows. The student who guesses right will be allowed to choose the next synonyms.
Choose a basic text from a book that does not include vivid verbs or has only a few that you can easily replace. Give the text to the students and ask them to improve the story by finding exciting vivid verbs to replace the boring words. Depending on the age and proficiency of the children, you can either hand out a list with vivid verbs they can choose from or let them find the words by themselves. After about half an hour ask the children to read their version of the revised text.
In this game, the class is divided into four groups that are each given a category of common verbs in need of being spiced up. The first group gets the verbs "say," "said" and "tell," the second receives "like," "love" and "want," the third team takes "walk," "run" and "jump" while the final group works with feelings, including "laugh," "cry" and "mad." The group has to find vivid verbs suitable for their categories within 15 to 20 minutes. The first group then says out loud one of their chosen vivid verbs, and the other groups each have to make a sentence using the word. The first group chooses the best sentence and the team that made it up will receive a point. The game can continue for an unlimited amount of time or until all vivid verbs found by the groups are used up. The group with most points wins.