Classroom Games

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Every classroom game (33)

• Silent Ball

  5 to 10 minYears F to 10Needs: a soft ball

  1. Everyone sits on their desk or stands behind their chair.
  2. Pass the ball around the room in complete silence.
  3. A dropped catch, a bad throw or any sound means you sit down.
  4. The last two standing win.

  Change it up: One hand only, or everyone takes a step back after each catch.

• Heads Down, Thumbs Up

  5 to 10 minYears F to 6No equipment

  1. Choose four students to stand at the front.
  2. Everyone else puts their head down, eyes closed, one thumb up.
  3. The four each gently press one thumb down, then return to the front.
  4. Those whose thumbs were pressed guess who did it. A correct guess swaps places.

  Change it up: Pickers answer a times table or sight word before they may choose.

• Four Corners

  5 to 10 minYears F to 8No equipment

  1. Number the corners of the room 1 to 4.
  2. One student closes their eyes and counts down from ten while everyone walks to a corner.
  3. The counter calls a number. Everyone in that corner sits down.
  4. Keep going until one student is left. They count next.

  Change it up: Label the corners with answers (A, B, C, D) and use it for a quiz.

• Simon Says

  3 to 5 minYears F to 4No equipment

  1. Give actions to copy: "Simon says touch your toes."
  2. Students copy only when the instruction starts with "Simon says".
  3. Anyone who moves without it sits down, or does five star jumps and rejoins.
  4. Speed up until a few are left.

  Change it up: Use positional language (behind, beside, between) or another language.

• Buzz

  5 minYears 2 to 8No equipment

  1. Stand in a circle and count around from 1.
  2. Choose a number, such as 5. Any multiple of it is replaced with "buzz".
  3. A wrong call or a long pause means you sit down.
  4. The count restarts with the next person.

  Change it up: Add "fizz" for a second number, so 15 becomes "fizz buzz".

• Around the World

  5 to 10 minYears 1 to 6Needs: flash cards or questions

  1. One student stands beside a seated classmate.
  2. Show a flash card or ask a question. The first to answer moves on to the next desk.
  3. The other student sits in that seat.
  4. See who can travel the furthest around the room.

  Change it up: Use times tables, number bonds, sight words or spelling words.

• 20 Questions

  5 to 10 minYears 1 to 10No equipment

  1. One student thinks of an animal, object or person.
  2. The class asks questions that can only be answered yes or no.
  3. Keep a tally on the board. The class has 20 questions.
  4. Whoever guesses it thinks of the next one.

  Change it up: Limit it to a unit of work: a 3D shape, a character, an element.

• I Spy

  3 to 5 minYears F to 3No equipment

  1. Say "I spy with my little eye something beginning with..." and give a sound.
  2. Students take turns to guess.
  3. Give a second clue if they are stuck.
  4. The student who guesses it goes next.

  Change it up: Spy by shape, colour, rhyme ("rhymes with hair") or number of syllables.

• Two Truths and a Fib

  10 minYears 3 to 10No equipment

  1. Each student thinks of two true facts about themselves and one made-up one.
  2. They tell all three to the class or their table.
  3. Everyone votes on which is the fib.
  4. The speaker reveals the answer and the next student goes.

  Change it up: Play it about a book character or a historical figure for revision.

• Charades

  5 to 15 minYears F to 10No equipment

  1. Whisper a word to one student, or let them choose a card.
  2. They act it out with no words and no sounds.
  3. The class guesses. The first correct guess acts next.
  4. Set a one-minute limit per turn.

  Change it up: Use verbs for younger students and unit vocabulary for older ones.

• Draw It

  5 to 15 minYears 1 to 10Needs: whiteboard and marker

  1. Split the class into two teams.
  2. One student from a team draws a word on the board. No letters or numbers.
  3. Their team has one minute to guess it.
  4. Swap teams. The first team to five points wins.

  Change it up: Use science or HASS vocabulary, or have both teams draw the same word at once.

• Heads or Tails

  3 to 5 minYears F to 10No equipment

  1. Everyone stands.
  2. Read a statement. Hands on head for true, hands on hips for false.
  3. Reveal the answer. Anyone who was wrong sits down.
  4. The last student standing wins.

  Change it up: With a real coin it is pure chance, which makes a quick lesson on probability.

• Splat

  5 to 10 minYears 1 to 8Needs: whiteboard and marker

  1. Write answers all over the board: numbers, words or sounds.
  2. Two students stand facing away from the board.
  3. Ask a question. They turn and touch the right answer. First hand wins.
  4. The winner stays for the next challenger.

  Change it up: Students write the answers on the board themselves as the set-up.

• Sleeping Lions

  3 to 5 minYears F to 3Needs: floor space

  1. Everyone lies on the floor as still as a sleeping lion.
  2. One or two hunters walk around, watching for movement.
  3. Hunters may tell jokes but may not touch anyone.
  4. A lion who moves or laughs becomes a hunter.

  Change it up: Play calm music and use it as the wind-down after lunch.

• Noughts and Crosses Quiz

  10 minYears 2 to 10Needs: whiteboard and marker

  1. Draw a three by three grid on the board. Split the class into noughts and crosses.
  2. Ask a team a revision question.
  3. A correct answer lets them place their mark.
  4. Three in a row wins the round.

  Change it up: Write a topic in each square, and the team picks the square to be asked about.

• Categories

  5 to 10 minYears 2 to 10Needs: paper and pencil

  1. Write five categories on the board, such as animal, food, place, name and sport.
  2. Call a letter.
  3. Students have two minutes to write one answer per category starting with that letter.
  4. One point per answer, two if nobody else wrote it.

  Change it up: Use categories from a unit: rivers, verbs, elements, authors.

• Target Number

  5 to 10 minYears 3 to 10Needs: whiteboard and marker

  1. Write six numbers on the board, such as 2, 3, 5, 7, 10 and 25.
  2. Write a three-digit target.
  3. Students have two minutes to make the target, or get as close as they can, using each number once.
  4. Share the different ways the class got there.

  Change it up: For younger students, use four numbers and a target under 30.

• Mystery Word

  5 minYears 1 to 8Needs: whiteboard and marker

  1. Think of a word and draw a dash for each letter.
  2. Students guess one letter at a time.
  3. Write correct letters in place. For each wrong guess, add one piece to a snowman.
  4. The class wins if they find the word before the snowman is built.

  Change it up: Students must say a word containing the letter before they may guess it.

• Bingo

  10 to 15 minYears F to 10Needs: paper and pencil

  1. Students draw a three by three grid and fill it from a list on the board.
  2. Call clues, not the answers: "six times seven" for 42.
  3. Students cross off the answer if they have it.
  4. First to a full row calls "Bingo" and reads back their answers.

  Change it up: Works for times tables, sight words, definitions or a second language.

• Stand Up If

  3 to 5 minYears F to 10No equipment

  1. Everyone starts seated.
  2. Call a statement: "Stand up if you have a pet."
  3. Students stand if it is true for them, look around, then sit.
  4. Let students call the last few.

  Change it up: Use it for a quick check: "Stand up if you think the answer is more than 100."

• Silent Line-Up

  5 minYears 2 to 10No equipment

  1. Challenge the class to line up in order of birthday, January to December.
  2. No talking and no writing. Gestures only.
  3. When the line is still, check it from one end to the other.
  4. Time it, and try to beat the time with a new order.

  Change it up: Order by height, house number, or first name in alphabetical order.

• Count to 20

  3 to 5 minYears 2 to 10No equipment

  1. The class counts aloud to 20, one number per person.
  2. Nobody is told when to speak and there are no signals.
  3. If two people say a number at the same time, start again from 1.
  4. Celebrate when the class makes it.

  Change it up: Eyes closed, or count backwards from 20.

• Kim’s Game

  5 to 10 minYears F to 6Needs: a tray of small objects

  1. Put ten objects on a tray and give the class one minute to study it.
  2. Cover the tray and take one object away.
  3. Uncover it. Students work out what is missing.
  4. Add more objects, or take two away, as they improve.

  Change it up: Use word cards or numbers written on the board in place of objects.

• Fruit Salad

  5 to 10 minYears F to 6Needs: a circle of chairs

  1. Sit in a circle of chairs with one student standing in the middle.
  2. Name everyone apple, banana or orange in turn around the circle.
  3. The middle calls a fruit and those students swap seats while the caller grabs one.
  4. "Fruit salad" means everyone moves. Whoever is left calls next.

  Change it up: Swap fruit for statements: "Anyone who walked to school today."

• Greedy Pig

  10 minYears 2 to 8Needs: one dice

  1. Everyone stands. Roll the dice and call the number. Students add it to their running total.
  2. Before each roll, students may sit down and keep their total.
  3. If a 1 is rolled, everyone still standing loses their points for the round.
  4. Play five rounds. The highest total wins.

  Change it up: Roll two dice for bigger totals and a talk about chance.

• Sparkle

  5 to 10 minYears 1 to 6Needs: a spelling list

  1. Students stand in a circle. Call a spelling word.
  2. Each student says the next letter in turn.
  3. After the last letter, the next student says "sparkle" and the one after sits down.
  4. A wrong letter also sits down. Start a new word.

  Change it up: Spell the word backwards, or clap instead of saying each vowel.

• Musical Statues

  3 to 5 minYears F to 4Needs: music

  1. Play music while everyone dances on the spot.
  2. Stop the music. Everyone freezes.
  3. Anyone who wobbles becomes a judge.
  4. The last dancer wins.

  Change it up: Call a pose to freeze in: an animal, a letter shape, a character from a book.

• Odd One Out

  5 minYears 1 to 10No equipment

  1. Say or write four things, such as 9, 16, 25 and 40.
  2. Students decide which is the odd one out.
  3. They must give a reason.
  4. Reward a good reason for a different answer. There is rarely one right answer.

  Change it up: Students write their own set of four for a partner.

• Pass the Clap

  3 minYears F to 8No equipment

  1. Stand in a circle.
  2. Turn to the person beside you and clap at exactly the same time.
  3. They turn and pass it on. Send the clap around as fast as possible.
  4. Time a full lap and try to beat it.

  Change it up: A double clap reverses the direction.

• Celebrity Heads

  10 to 15 minYears 2 to 8Needs: sticky notes or cards

  1. Three students sit at the front. Put a name or word above each one where they cannot see it.
  2. They take turns asking the class yes or no questions.
  3. A "yes" earns another question. A "no" passes the turn.
  4. The first to work out their word wins.

  Change it up: Use animals, book characters, shapes or historical figures.

  Celebrity Heads guide