A spider-web game can help kids think of unusual verbs and match the verb form to the proper subject. Write a pronoun (I, you, he/she/it, them, us) on the board and circle it. Choose a volunteer from the class and have the student act as the teacher for this round of the game. Ask him or her to think of as many verbs as possible to go with the pronoun; for instance, if the pronoun is "you," the verbs the student might say would be "run," "jump," "like," "think" or "eat." Have the acting teacher draw a line and connect the verb to the main pronoun circle. This game can be played with any verb tense, and it also works well to draw beginners out of their shell and start working together. When the class runs out of steam, choose a new pronoun and have a new "teacher" oversee the game.
Use gap-fill worksheets and class contests to think of new present-perfect constructions. Make a worksheet that lists many sentences that follow a similar formula (subject + have/has + blank space + places, locations, objects), and leave the verb blank. Split the class into groups and challenge them to fill the verb space with the correct form (based on the subject) and as many different verbs as they can think of that would make sense with the location or object given in the sentence. Let them play in teams of two for an intense competition, or simply split them into groups of four or five to really get their creative juices flowing. Whoever can think of the most verbs that fit the sentence, and use the present perfect correctly, wins.
To practice the past perfect, use notecards to make new sentences. Split the class into teams, and be sure to mix abilities so all the teams are of equal strength with grammar. Give the students notecards that contain all the parts of the sentence they need to make the past perfect: a few possible subjects, have/had, been, and a few possible objects that will fit the construction. Also, include one blank notecard for them to determine their own verbs in the past participle form. The task of each team is to make a correct sentence with the notecards using the past-perfect structure; whoever does it the fastest, wins. Play in rounds and at the end of 10, awarding the prize to the team that has the most correct sentences.
To practice the continuous tense, perform a flashcard game with the class where they must describe a profession using a certain verb tense. This game works best with intermediate learners who know the present-perfect continuous. Begin by making a deck of flashcards with professions such as: nurse, doctor, fire fighter, policeman, teacher, chef, writer. Deal the students each one card and tell them not to show it to anyone else. They must now describe their "jobs" using the structure "I have been (blank) all day," filling in the blank with activities that someone with that profession would perform. The other students should guess the profession, and the person who guesses correctly can take the role of "describer" next.