Holiday Survival Guide: Fun ESL Activity for Teaching Must, Have to & Should
Modal verbs are often a sticking point for English learners. Many textbooks approach them with long grammar charts and endless rules, which can leave students feeling overwhelmed. But teaching modals doesn’t have to be abstract – it can (and should!) be practical, interactive, and rooted in communication.
That’s exactly what this Holiday Survival Guide activity does. It gets students using must, have to, and should while coming up with creative “rules” for funny travel situations.
Teaching Tip: Start with Context, Not Rules
Instead of presenting “must = obligation,” give students a situation:
“You’re camping with your in-laws. What rules would you make for survival?”
This way, students meet the modal verb in action before they see a rule.
Activity: Holiday Survival Guide
Students invent survival rules for funny travel scenarios (camping with in-laws, road trip with coworkers, strict beach resort, etc.). They must use must, have to, and should to make their sentences.
Free Activity Cards: Holiday Survival Guide
Download the printable PDF. For class level B1, 15 minutes.
Free via Lemon Squeezy. Instant download.
At The Lesson Loop we believe in zero-prep teaching. That’s why we prepared ready-to-use activity cards that you can bring straight into your classroom.
This post is part of our Modal Verbs Activity Series. Don’t miss Good/Bad Advice for Life and Excuse Challenge.
When you frame modal verbs as survival tips, students stop seeing grammar as rules to memorize – and start seeing it as a tool for communication. Download the free cards, and then check out the next activity: Good/Bad Advice for Life.
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