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Games you can start in the next two minutes with nothing but the students in front of you. Each one includes how to play.
Yes-or-no questions that practice narrowing down by category.
Think of a person, place, animal or term from the unit. The class has twenty yes-or-no questions to work out what it is. Writing the questions on the board helps students build on each other's answers instead of guessing at random.
Fast head-to-head practice for math facts or vocabulary.
One student stands beside a seated classmate. Show a flashcard or ask a question. Whoever answers first moves on to stand beside the next student; the other sits. The aim is to travel all the way around the room.
A counting game for practicing multiples.
Pick a number, say 3. Students count around the circle, but anyone who lands on a multiple of 3 says "buzz" instead. Saying the number, or hesitating too long, means sitting down. Add a second number and "fizz" to make it harder.
A quick word game that works in any subject.
Give a category such as animals, verbs or elements, and a letter. Teams have one minute to write as many matching words as they can. Words that no other team wrote score double.
Acting out words, good for verbs and for young or beginner learners.
A student picks a word card and acts it out without speaking while the class or their team guesses. Use action verbs, animals, jobs or story characters.
A memory and deduction game for a spare fifteen minutes.
Everyone secretly writes a famous name, or a term from the unit, on a slip. Read all the slips aloud twice, then put them away. Students take turns guessing who wrote which. A correct guess brings that person into your empire and you guess again. The last empire standing wins.
A movement game that doubles as a multiple-choice review.
Label the corners of the room A, B, C and D. Ask a question, give four answers, and students walk to the corner they think is right. Reveal the answer; those in the wrong corners sit down, or simply start the next round so nobody is out for long.
The classic quiet game for the last five minutes.
Seven students stand at the front. Everyone else puts their head down with a thumb up. Each of the seven quietly presses down one thumb, then returns to the front. The chosen students stand and each gets one guess at who picked them. A correct guess swaps them in.
Vocabulary review where the class does the explaining.
One student sits facing the class with their back to the board. Write a word or term on the board. The class gives clues without saying the word until the student in the hot seat guesses it. Play in two teams and time each turn to keep it moving.
Drawing vocabulary on the board for a team to guess.
Split into two teams. One student from a team draws a word from your list on the board while their team guesses within a time limit. No letters, numbers or talking from the artist.
Calms a room down while keeping everyone involved.
Students sit on or stand by their desks and throw a soft ball to each other in complete silence. Talking, a bad throw or a dropped catch means you sit down. To add learning, the catcher must answer a question before throwing.
A whole-class spelling game that needs only a word list.
Students stand in a circle. Call out a word. Each student in turn says the next letter. After the last letter the next student says "sparkle" and the student after that sits down. A wrong letter also means sitting down. Last one standing wins.
Review questions with a shot at the bin as the reward.
Split the class into teams and ask review questions. A correct answer earns a point and a throw of a paper ball at the bin from a marked line for a bonus point. Teams answering on mini whiteboards keeps everyone working on every question.
A get-to-know-you game that also works as a fact check on a topic.
Each student writes three statements, two true and one false. The class votes on which is the lie. For content review, students write the statements about the unit instead of about themselves.
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