[mesmark]

I've found that getting young learners to talk (in English) can be a challenge but one of my techniques to get them to speak is just to talk about myself.

I show the students a flashcard "He's hot."

Then, I just say, "I'm not hot." (I have a hand gesture for not.)

Next a flashcard "He's happy."

Then I say, "I'm happy." and so on.

Usually by the second or third card some of the students are starting to say whether they're happy, sad, cold, hot ... Make sure you acknowledge the students who speak up and praise them. Soon (cross your fingers) you'll be bombarded with students screaming out about themselves.

This works with grammar like:
I like...
I don't like...
I have.../I don't have...
I can .../I can't...
I want to.../ I don't want to...
and more but it helps if they are somewhat trained to do this from the beginning,

What are some ways you're able to get them talking?

[simplyesl]

I shake my head and emphasize the negative part of the answer (not/can't etc) for negative answers.
I think flashcards are great (especially since most of my drawings look nothing like the real object), but I like to use the whiteboard and slowly reveal the language.
If the students are being quite I will hold my hand up to my ear and ask "what?" This gets the students to say it louder, as well as getting the quieter ones to join in, too. If they aren't loud enough after you've said 'what?' the first time, say it until they are loud enough/have all the students speaking.