The students have a set time, say 30 seconds, to say something and pass the eraser back and forward in pairs. When the timer runs down, the student left holding the eraser loses. No preparation needed for this junior high warm up activity.

Basic Info

Time: 5 mins
Level: Junior high grade 1 - 3
Works with: Works with past tense, and much more
Class size: Any size

You will need:

  • nothing


  1. Students make pairs and get out one eraser to pass between the two of them.
  2. Set the grammar point to be practiced. (See tips below.) Start the timer.
  3. Student 1 says something and passes the eraser to student 2. And so on.
  4. When the timer goes off, the student left with the eraser is the loser. (You may wish to get the loser to stand and say something.)


  • This works well for past tense grammar points - set the question "What did you do yesterday?" and the students must answer the question before passing the eraser.
    • Example: "I watched TV." - pass eraser - "I played soccer." - pass eraser - "I read a book." - pass eraser....
  • If you don't have a timer, use the clock or simply count down yourself.




  • If students can see the timer, some bad-sports will hold the eraser till the timer gets to 1 second then pass it with no time for their partner to respond. To remove the possibility of this, tell the class how long they have but don't show them the timer as it ticks down.
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