This article is sponsored by Scholastic Printables. Learn more about their amazing teaching resources HERE.

 

Games in the classroom are one of the most effective means of engagement and behavior management. Every teacher scours the Internet for ways to mix up their lessons and teach material in an entertaining way. High-paced games and mindful activities have actually been proven to reinforce material you may have already taught, or to introduce new material without losing the attention of your students after five minutes!

With all the technology at our fingertips, teachers can find new and engaging activities all over. One of the most trusted places to find great teaching materials is Scholastic Printables. They have over 20,000 award-winning lesson plans, coloring pages, awards, craft activities, games, puzzles, flash cards, and skills sheets. Better yet, you can sign up to get access to all these high-quality teaching materials when you try Printables RISK-FREE for 30 days! It's all prepared with instructions and ready to download and print for your class. So you'll have your nights and weekends to relax, instead of working all those extra hours. Sounds good to me! If you teach PreK-6, it's definitely worth checking out. Hey after all, it's FREE!

1. PICTIONARY

Materials needed:

• Whiteboard
• Dry-erase markers
• Timer
• Vocabulary list

How to Play:

1. Split the class into 2 teams
2. Taking turns, students from each team come up and choose a vocabulary word
3. Set the timer to 30 seconds
4. The student draws something on the board while only their team tries to guess the word
5. If they guess before time runs out, they get a point and a new student from the same team draws
6. If the same team guesses correctly 3 times  in a row, let both teams guess
7. The winning team gets a prize, a bonus point on the test, a privilege, etc.

2. WHITEBOARD BULL'S-EYE

Materials needed:

• Whiteboard
• Suction-cup ball (above)
• Dry-erase marker
• Vocabulary list/test review questions/flashcards

How to Play:

1. Split the class into 2 teams
2. Draw a target on the whiteboard, labelling each circular ring with a different point value.
3. Quiz students individually on anything you want
4. If they answer correctly, they get to throw the ball at the target for points 
5. The winning team gets a prize, a bonus point on the test, a privilege, etc.

3. HUNGRY CATERPILLAR'S

This game gives children (K-G2) practice in addition facts with sums from 11 to 18.

(Click on any of the images to find out how to download the printout)

Materials needed:

• This game from Scholastic Printables (FREE with 30-Day Trial)
• Scissors
• Glue sticks
• Tape

How to Play:

4. JENGA VOCABULARY CHALLENGE

Materials needed:

• Jenga Blocks (above)
• Vocabulary list/test review questions/flashcards/etc.

How to Play:

1. Split the class into 2 teams
2. Choose a student from each team and quiz them
3. If s/he answers CORRECTLY, s/he takes a Jenga block from the tower and leaves it on the table. A student from the opposing team must place it on top of the tower, and answer the next question
4. If s/he answers INCORRECTLY, s/he takes a Jenga block from the tower and leaves it on the table. But a student from their OWN team must place it on top of the tower and answer the next question
5. The team that makes the tower fall loses, and has to rebuild it for the next game
6. The winning team gets a prize, a bonus point on the test, a privilege, etc.

5. TRUE OR FALSE?

Materials needed:

• 2 sets of Yes/No Sound Buzzers (above)
• Vocabulary list

How to Play:

1. Split the class into 2 teams
2. A student from each team faces off with the 'Yes/No' buzzers
3. Read out a word and a definition, saying sometimes the correct definition, and sometimes the incorrect definition
4. Students must hit the YES buzzer if they think it's a correct definition, and the NO buzzer if they think it's incorrect
5. The first student to hit the right buzzer gets a point for their team and 2 new students play
6. If the definition is incorrect, the first student to hit the NO buzzer gets a chance to say the correct definition for an extra point
7. The winning team gets a prize, a bonus point on the test, a privilege, etc.

6. SPINZONE TRIVIA

Materials needed:

• Whiteboard
• Spinzone Magnetic Whiteboard Spinner (above)
• Dry-erase markers
• Vocabulary list/test review questions/flashcards/etc.

How to Play:

1. Draw a circle on the whiteboard with different sections inside (i.e. different subjects, categories of a single subject, numbers for points, etc.)
2. Place the magnetic spinner in the middle of the circle
3. Split the class into 2 teams
4. Have each student spin the spinner
5. Depending on what they land on, ask them a question
6. If they answer correctly, they get a point for their team (or multiple points if you make the different sections of the spinner into various points)
7. The winning team gets a prize, a bonus point on the test, a privilege, etc.

7. SUMS AT SEA

This game gives children (G1-G2) practice in addition facts from 1 to 18.

(Click on any of the images to find out how to download the printout)

Materials needed:

• This game from Scholastic Printables (FREE with 30-Day Trial)
• Scissors
• Glue
• 1 paper clip
• 1 brass fastener
• or 1 thumbtack

How to Play:

8. SECRET DETECTIVE

This game gets students to repeat vocabulary words, practicing pronunciation and committing them to memory.

Materials needed:

• Whiteboard
• Dry-erase markers
• Vocab list

How to Play:

1. Write the vocab list on the board
2. Choose 1 student to be the "detective"
3. Ask him/her to leave the room, while you choose 1 other student to be the "secret student"
4. Have the "secret student" come up with a signal (i.e. raise eyebrows, blink eyes, etc.)
5. Call the "detective" back in the room
6. Instruct the rest of the class to chant the first word in the list (on the board) until you get the signal from the "secret student" to change to the next one
7. The "detective" moves around the room, trying to find the "secret student"
8. If s/he guesses before the end of the list, then the "secret student" becomes the "detective"

9. N0-HANDS CUP-STACKING RACE

This game trains motor skills, and teaches critical-thinking, patience, and teamwork!

Materials needed:

• Paper cups
• Rubber bands
• String

How to Play:

1. Split the class into teams
2. Each student in the group ties a string to the rubber band 
3. Set 6 or 10 cups on each table
4. Each student holds on to one of the strings attached to the rubber band
5. Students work together as a team, stretching the rubber band around the cups, in order to lift them, and carefully stack them into a pyramid
6. First team to finish wins!

10. SPEAK, CLUE, ACT!

Great game for building confidence, concentration, and an AWESOME way to get students to remember vocabulary. 

Materials needed:

• Small Pieces of Scrap paper
• Pencil/pen
• Bowl or hat
• Timer

How to Play:

1. Write down 20-30 words on small pieces of paper (i.e. places, animals, vocabulary, etc.) 
2. Each paper represents 1 point
3. Put them all into the bowl or hat
4. Split the class into 2 teams
5. Students individually come up to the front of the classroom from each team, to play for their team
6. Set the timer
7. Each student that comes up gets 30 seconds to go through as many as s/he can, keeping the strips of papers when his/her team guesses correctly
8. In the first round, players can only explain what's on the paper in words, NO actions or gestures!
9. When 30 seconds are up, a student from the other team goes
10. Each team takes turns going until there are no more pieces of paper in the bowl/hat
11. Count the amount of papers (points) each team has at the end of the 1st round and keep score on the board
12. Put all the same papers back in the hat/bowl
13. In the 2nd round, using the same papers, players can only give their team a 1-WORD clue! (They're the same words as the 1st round, so if they pay close attention before, they'll be easy to guess!)
14. In the 3rd round, using the same papers, players can only make gestures, NO words or noises!
15. The team with the most points after 3 rounds wins
16. The winning team gets a prize, a bonus point on the test, a privilege, etc.

11. BEAT THE BUZZER!

Materials needed:

• Timer (above)
• Index cards
• Vocabulary list

How to Play:

1. Split the class into 2 teams
2. Two students from one team come up to the front of the room
3. Give them a list of vocabulary on an index card
4. Set the timer
5. The first student starts by describing the first word on the list to the rest of their team, who tries to guess the word
6. If his/her team guesses the word, s/he passes the card to the 2nd student, who describes the next word on the list, and the cycle continues until time is up
7. If their team guesses all the words before the buzzer goes off, they get a point (or they get 1 point for every word they were able to guess correctly)
8. Then the other team goes
9. The winning team gets a prize, a bonus point on the test, a privilege, etc.

12. PASS THE CHICKEN! 

Materials needed:

• A rubber chicken (above)

How to Play:

1. All students sit in a circle
2. Choose one person to be the "chicken holder"
3. You give the person holding the chicken a task (i.e. "Name five American States"). Then say "Pass the chicken!"
4. As soon as you say, "Pass the chicken," the student holding the chicken passes it to the right
5. Students quickly pass the chicken around the circle
6. If it returns to the "chicken holder" before s/he can name the five American states (or whatever), then s/he is still "the chicken holder"
7. If s/he finishes, the student who has the chicken at the time s/he finishes, will be the new "chicken holder"

**Tip: It's a good idea to prepare topic cards before the game. Topics can relate to your curriculum or be general topics (i.e. foods, animals, sports, celebrities, etc.)

 Have fun playing these with your students! And if you have any suggestions for other great games, let us know in the comments!

SHARING IS CARING!

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