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IELTS Speaking Part 2: IELTS Cue Card/ Candidate Task Card.

Describe an indoor game that you enjoyed as a child.

You should say:

• what the game was
• where you played it
• who played this game with you

and explain why you enjoyed playing this game.

Model Answer 1:
I haven’t thought about this in years. Erm, I did play games inside quite a lot as a child, everything from board games like snakes and ladders to hide and seek, but that was when I was a bit older. However, I think probably one of my favourite games – or things to play with at least – was when I was really little. Maybe about four? Let me tell you all about it.

The game involved playing with a set of simple, pale wooden bricks. I’d had these for as long as I could remember, there were maybe fifty or so differently sized rectangular (cuboid) and square (cube) blocks of wood, and they were stored in a dark green canvas duffle bag which had a white rope handle. I don’t know what the wood type was, but it was pale and they were quite light, so I could manage them even with my tiny hands. The bricks provided me with hours of creativity and fun, even though they don’t sound at all promising. From an early age, I’d toddle over to the bag, find a spot on the floor at home, and just upturn all the bricks in a messy pile on the floor. The ‘game’ was simply to build things. Sometimes I might make a tower as high as I could before it toppled over. Other times I’d create creatures or whole worlds with different bricks perhaps representing a different building or animal. I just used my imagination, the bricks could be absolutely anything I wanted.

Playing with bricks sounds like it might be a solitary activity. It’s true, sometimes I did just play on my own, absorbed in my own thoughts. However, sometimes I’d play with my sister too, and together we would create our own universe which we might control, or at least interact with. If friends came around we could work together to construct more complex creations. A tower might be built even higher with two minds at work trying to fathom out how to make it stable. Or we would develop each other’s ideas in the way that only small children with boundless imaginations can do. We had no limits to our creativity, and we were so small at that age that everything we saw was new and unexpected, so it was just as easy to imagine a goat as a dinosaur – both were equally unfamiliar in my world, so why not have dragons and unicorns too? It is amazing what a little rectangle of wood can represent if you have an open mind, and believe everything is possible!

Why did I enjoy it? Thinking back I just remember feeling content and absorbed with this game. I suppose when you are so small, maybe four years old or thereabouts, there isn’t much you get to control in life. However, with this game, I could do whatever I wanted and in my imagination travel wherever I pleased. It was something I could do with other playmates too – though I wonder how co-operative we really were at that age. I also can still remember the sense of satisfaction of building an enormous tower of bricks that was even taller than me… and then the seemingly endless joy of knocking it all down again and watching the many bricks scatter across in all directions! I don’t think I’ve ever felt quite so powerful since!

I don’t remember exactly what age I was when I outgrew playing with such simple bricks, but I do feel a bit nostalgic when I look back at that time. Nowadays children’s construction kits are much more sophisticated, with models coming with instructions on how they should be built. I wonder if we have lost a little there, a construction kit with a picture showing how the finished model is ‘supposed’ to look, might help you build a replica of an existing building perhaps, but your imagination might use the same materials to create a whole new world!  I know which I would prefer to do…

[ Written by - Lucy Marris: Careers Adviser (UK), TEFL teacher (Vietnam) ]
 

Model Answer 2:
I actually don't play indoor games nowadays because I don't have enough free time. These days whenever I get free time I like to do reading and cooking. But I miss my childhood days when playing indoor games were so desirable and fascinating.  

The indoor game that I used to play when I was a child was a dumb charade! I played this game with my parents. We used to play this game on weekends mostly. Especially when my parents had free time as both of them were very busy with their works.

I enjoyed this game very much because we used to play in 2 teams. One member of each team has to make different gestures or do some movements and other team members have to guess it. As a child, that was a great challenge for me. I had to make the right gesture to help my partner understand what I was trying to say. On the other hand, we had to perform really good to beat the opponent team. As I played with my parents and close family members, I loved their companionship. The game required a bit if psychological effort and brainstorming while it was so challenging and enthralling.

I really enjoyed this indoor game than any other indoor games I played at that time. At the end of each game, a chocolate pack was given as a gift and that made the game more challenging and competitive. Some of my very fond memories of my family members were rooted in this game. I still remember my mother making some funny gestures to let my father understand what she was trying to mean. My mother’s lovely face, funny gesture and loud laughter made me cherish this game more than any other one. Sometimes it was very relaxing for us to take part in this game and I guess my parents also liked to play this game with me as they found that I enjoyed it a lot.

Sample Answer 3:
I am not much interested in participating in outdoor games and sports since my childhood. Rather the indoor games attracted me most than any other forms of games and sports. I was fond of the 'hide and seek' at my home when I was a child. I am happy to have the opportunity to describe the event here.

Hide and seek was a very popular indoor game in our days and in fact, this is still a popular indoor game among the kids of today in different parts of the country. In this game, someone needed to hide while one of the players had to seek out the hiding kids. This was really an interesting game and it continued until the last one of the players was discovered by the seeker. The game really gave us pure entertainment and we started playing the game in the evening.

I used to play the game at my residence. In fact, it was a large two-storied building in a corner in Mumbai. In those days, most of the buildings were large in size and shape. Besides, there were ample spaces inside each room. So, we used to hide in corners of the rooms. Besides, there were many other places to hide and it was really hard for the seeker to seek out all the players. The seeker had to seek us inside each of the rooms. The game turned more interesting when the seeker asked us all to know about the hideout of the remaining players but we did not disclose the places. So, the seeker had to seek around the house but when he failed and surrendered, the hiding children would come out. Then he had to start seeking again as he could not be successful in his term. So he had to serve as the seeker again.  

I used to play the game with my cousins and siblings. In fact, we had a moderately large group to play the game. There are 12 or 13 members – I cannot exactly remember as I was a kid of seven or eight then when we played the game. Some of the adults also took part in the game. With their participation, the game would turn more interesting as they hide in places beyond our imagination. Later, we also started hiding in the places but kept that secret. But the seeker knew some of the usual places and he easily could discover them. So, each of the days, we started inventing some special places. As I said before, the house we lived in had huge spaces to hide and it really was difficult to reach all the places for the seeker. The seeker used to find us under the bed, or from the corner of the room, behind the curtain etc. But it was hard to discover the special places like in the bathroom or inside the wardrobe etc.    

I enjoyed the game for many reasons. It was the only source of recreation for me and other players. In fact, we had to follow some hard and fast rules and regulations in our days. Parents were strict on some issues and did not allow us to play out of the home. Considering all the aspects, the kids of our joint family started the hide and seek. We all waited eagerly for the evening to start the game. It gave us immense pleasure. But the evening was bad for the seeker as the role was to find out everyone. We all laughed at his misery when he had to serve twice or thrice in a single term. Really the game was an outstanding one for us all.

Similar Cue Card Topics

Your ability to talk about this Cue Card would enable you to talk about the following Cue Cards as well:

1. Describe a game or sports you played in your childhood.
2. Describe an indoor game you played.
3. Describe something you enjoyed doing.
4. Describe a memory from your childhood.

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