Torch hunt
A game of discovery. The field is dark and you only see what the torch lights up, and the torch moves with your finger. At the top is the English word with its sound buttons, or you only hear it, and you have to find its picture among the hidden ones. To choose, the picture must be lit: the first tap moves the torch, the second chooses. Get it right and the sun comes up so you can see them all.
What children practise
- Reading English words by sounds
- Picture vocabulary: animals, things at home, food
- Telling similar words apart: hat, hen, hot
- Listening for and recognising a word
- Exploring and noticing: attention and remembering what you have seen
Levels and settings
Early years
The word is only heard (on hard it is also shown); four or six hidden pictures.
Year 1
The word is seen and heard, then only read; four or six pictures, three- and four-sound words.
Years 2 and 3
Read only; four sounds and digraphs, with six or eight pictures and a smaller torch.
How to play it in class
- Choose the year and difficulty, or in More options the words, how the word is shown, how many pictures are hidden and the points.
- Press Start: each team has its own dark field with the same pictures in the same places.
- Move the torch over the field with your finger until you find the picture for the word.
- With the picture lit, one tap chooses it. The first team to get it right wins the point; a wrong one is crossed out and that half stops for a moment.
Ways to play
In teams, at the same time
The screen splits in two and each team plays on its own half at the same time.
For one player
One child plays on the whole screen at their own pace: on the whiteboard, a computer or a tablet.
Frequently asked questions
How do you choose a picture?
Tap it once it is lit. If it is not, the tap just moves the torch there; the next tap chooses it.
Can you play without reading?
Yes: with “Heard”, the voice says the word and it is not shown. Good for early years.
Is it free?
You can play 5 free games without signing up. After that, a one-off payment of €9.99 unlocks all 78 games for ever, on all your devices. There is no subscription.
Do I need to install anything?
No. It opens in the browser of the interactive whiteboard, panel, computer, tablet or iPad. Once loaded, it also works offline.
More English games
Sentence BuilderIt starts from zero: the voice says a word or a sentence in English and children tap the matching picture, with no reading needed.
I am, you arePronouns and the verb to be, learnt the way English schools teach them: with pictures and whole sentences, not conjugation tables.
PhonicsEnglish schools teach reading through sounds, not letter names.
In, on, underPrepositions make sense when you can see them: a cat on the table, a ball in the box.Torch hunt
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