ESL Future Tense Game: Interactive 'Going To' and Time Words Activity

Master the language of planning with our Future Tense game. This interactive activity is designed for ESL students to practice the 'going to' form alongside essential time vocabulary like days, months, and seasons. By building schedules and forming sentences, learners improve their ability to describe future intentions and upcoming events in English.

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How to Play: Planning the Future

Our online future tense activity uses a two-part system to help students move from recognition to production:

• Step 1: Action Scheduling – You are shown a schedule and a sentence (e.g., "He is going to play tennis on Monday"). Drag the matching action image to the correct time slot on the calendar.
• Step 2: Sentence Construction – Look at an image of a character performing an action with a time sign. Click on the words in the correct order to form the full sentence, such as "On Monday, he is going to fly a kite."
• Step 3: Progress Through Sets – Complete all six rounds to master different types of time expressions, from daily parts to yearly seasons.

Future Tense Vocabulary and Time Words

The phrases in this game are divided into 5 sets of content, grouped according to the time vocabulary they use:

Why Teachers Choose This Future Tense Resource

Teachers recommend this ESL 'going to' game because it provides a clear, visual context for future plans. Unlike exercises that only use text, this game connects actions to a physical schedule, helping students internalize how time words function within a sentence. It is an excellent tool for preparing for Cambridge A2 Key (KET) exams, where discussing future plans is a key speaking and writing requirement.

Classroom Tips

After finishing the game, have students create their own "Future Week" schedule on paper and present it to a partner using the 'going to' structure. For practice with current actions, try our Present Continuous game, or use the Daily Routines activity to compare habits with future plans.

What are you 'going to' do this weekend? Let us know in the comments below!