Trying to build community?
Teaching listening skills?
Need to fill a few extra minutes?
Brain Break?
Grow your GAMES toolbox-
1) Animal Sounds
Have pre-made slips with animals listed on them (two of each). Throw them in a "hat" and let every student pick a slip. Once every student has been secretly assigned an animal, students spread across the room. On your cue, students begin making their animal sound to find their match!
INSTRUCTIONAL NOTES:
Change animal sounds to letter sounds, etc or have one student with a letter name and the other with a sound to make matches.
Assign smaller and larger "herds" of each animal group. Students are still walking around making sounds and have to find other members of their herd and start making a line to link up. Debrief by talking about what it feels like to walk around hearing members of a larger herd but unable to find their own herd. Connect this to inclusivity and community.
2) Counting to 20
You have to get your class to count to 20 (at random), but only one student can say any given number at a time. If two students say the next number at the same time, you start back at 1. No pointing or cueing allowed! You can have students put their heads down so they can't coordinate, if needed. Switch it up by timing to see how fast students can get to 20 -or- remove the goal number and see how high they can go without starting over!
INSTRUCTIONAL NOTE:
Change the number to a list of words (vocabulary, spelling, etc) and play the same way.
Add movement and call this game "Popcorn". Students have to POP up out of their seat when they decide to call out a number or word.
3) Who's Missing?
Pick a student to wait outside the door. While he is out, point to another student who will hide out of sight in the classroom. Then, have the rest of the students change seats. Have the student outside the door come in and tell who is missing within x amount of time (30 seconds for older students, more for younger!)
4) Heads Up Seven Up
Choose a group of 7 students to be the "pickers" and stand at the front of the room. Have everyone else put their heads down and thumbs up. Each picker silently taps one person with their head down and that person puts their thumb down to indicate they've been tapped. When all the pickers have tapped someone, they return to the front of the room and the teacher says "Heads up, Seven Up!" Everyone who was tapped gets to stand up and gets one guess at who tapped them. If they are correct, they trade places with their picker. If they are incorrect, the picker remains and the next person to guess. The game can begin or end there.
5) Pattern Person
One student is picked to go outside in the hall and the rest of the students form a circle. One student in the circle is named the "pattern person". Their job is to start a pattern (clapping, stomping, etc) and everyone has to copy their pattern. They can change their pattern at any time. The student in the hall is called in and has to guess who the "pattern person" is and it gets difficult as the pattern keeps changing.
6) Poisoned Frogs
Have your class sit in a circle and they are "the frogs". One student is named "the scientist" and is sent to the hall. Once the scientist leaves, another student is named "the poisoner". The scientist returns to the group and must figure out who is poisoning the frogs. The poisoner makes eye contact with a frog, sticks out their tongue (to shoot a poison dart), and the hit from passes out. The poisoner continues until the scientist figures it out. Mix is up with 2 poisoners or 2 scientists.
7) 13
Students gather in a circle and one by one count up to 13. Each student can choose to say 1, 2, or 3 consecutive numbers but whoever gets stuck saying 13 is out. When someone gets out, you start back at 1. Repeat until you get 1 winner. Watch students start strategizing! Switch it up by picking different end numbers and/or only saying 1 or 2 consecutive.
INSTRUCTIONAL NOTES:
Play this with times tables and call it "Unlucky Number" and count forward by multiples. Whoever lands on the unlucky multiple is out. For example, counting by 3's and the unlucky multiple is 33. Students can still say 1, 2, or 3 multiples at a time.
GREAT for learning numbers in a foreign language!
8) Waffle or Pancake
Have a student think of a mystery object. Then you ask the question, "waffle or pancake?" The student who's thinking of the item will say whether the item is more like a waffle or a pancake. If they say "pancake", then your next question would be "Is it more like a pancake or ______ (name something else)?" Take their answer from that question and ask another with that or a new item and continue until the mystery item is guessed.
9) Blind Artist
Pair two students back to back. One describes an image that you have provided and the other draws what he hears from his partner. Start with simple images and then challenging.
10) Apple Pie
One student stands with their back to the class while you point silently at another student in the class. On cue, that student says "apple pie". The student in the front turns around and has to guess who said the phrase. They get 3 guesses. If they guess correctly, the guesser stays for another round. If they guess incorrectly, the apple pie student becomes the guesser. Use any phrase you'd like!
11) Keepy Uppy
You need a beach ball. The whole class gathers in a group and counts their streak of keeping the beach ball from hitting the ground. The only rule is you can't hit the ball two times in a row.
12) Mystery Number AKA High/Low
Pick a number between a range (1-100 for littles up to 1-1,000,000 for older grades). The challenge is for the class to guess the number with 20 or fewer guesses. Keep a chart and write low guesses on one side and high guesses on the other.
INSTRUCTIONAL NOTE:
Great for learning numbers within 100.
13) 20 Questions
14) Mirror Mirror
Students have to silently mirror any movement that the teacher does. Great for wait in line time.
15) Scattergories
Use a random letter generator and pick a category. Students list everything they can think of that falls within the category that starts with the letter.
16) 1000 or Bust
Students make a blank 3 digit + 3 digit template. Teacher rolls a 10 sided die (or 6) and kids have to place the numbers wherever they want on their template. Then, they add up their 3 digit numbers and the winner gets the closest to 1000 without going over.
17) Eye Spy
18) The Song Game
One student says a word of their choice. The rest of the class has to sing a song containing the word. If no one can think of a song, the original student has to sing a song or lose a point.
19) Nose and Toes
Use "would you rather" type questions but instead of verbally responding, students have to silently touch their nose for option 1 or touch their toes for option two.
20) Rock Paper Scissors Tournament
Students pair up with the person next to them and face off. The loser of the match becomes the winner's hype man and follows them to the next match (turn and play whoever is available). Keep going until there are only 2 players left and the rest of the class is cheering for them.
21) Sleeping Bunnies
Everyone picks a spot to lie down and be as still as possible. The last one who doesn't move wins. Students who get out first help check on the other bunnies.
22) Group Up! ...for Math & Movement break
Call out a specific number (example: 4) and students have 10 seconds to get into a group of that size. This is not necessarily a win/lose game. Students who do not group up correctly can try again the next round.
For other students, include math facts (example: get into groups of 2x2 or 10-6)
23) One Word Story
Students sit in a circle and begin telling a story one word at a time. For example, the first students starts with a word (One) and the next student comes up with the second word (morning), etc...
24) Fortunately/Unfortunately
Students will stand in a circle and take turns saying sentences alternating between beginning with "fortunately" and "unfortunately". The first sentence can be normal.
Example:
I went to the grocery story. Fortunately, I brought my shopping list. Unfortunately, they list blew away in the wind. Fortunately, I was wearing my running shoes and chased it. Unfortunately, the wind took it up into a tree. Fortunately, the tree wasn't too high...etc
25) Word For Word: Vocabulary Tug-o-War
26) Password
This is like the gameshow on TV.
Divide your class into two teams. Each team designates a player to come up and faces their team. You will give each team the "password". Their objective is to make their partner guess the "password" using only 1 word clues before the other team's player. Teams will take turns.
27) Memory
Put a series of objects out for students to see. Give them 1 minute to study and then hide the objects. Students will write down as many items as they can remember in a notebook or on a whiteboard. Can be done in groups. Use pre-made slides for easy set up.
28) Telephone
Sit in a circle and pass a message around by whispering to each other. The last person says the message outloud. Good for some laughs!
29) Disappearing Man (AKA Hangman, without the hanging)
Start with a person (or a character like a snowman or a pumpkin head or leprechaun to fit a holiday theme) and erase the parts as students get letters wrong when trying to guess the word
30) 2 Truths & a Lie
Give think time for students to come up with 2 truths and 1 lie about themselves. They take turns coming to the front to share their three statements. Classmates will vote to guess which is the lie.
31) Alien-Tiger-Butterfly
Students stand in a circle. On the count of three, students will choose to be an alien, tiger, or cow and do the appropriate gesture. The group that has the least amount will be out. Those players step aside and a second round is played until you get down to 3 or everyone is out.
Alien- fingers on head like antennae
Tiger- claws out
Butterfly- link thumbs together to make butterfly with hands