Games have the power to provide much needed relief during the school day. They can bring a class together with fierce determination to achieve the goal. They can serve as outlets of creativity and playfulness. They can even give you, the teacher, a break.
I’ve written about my favorite no-prep games, but I didn’t want you all to miss out on some of the most fun and giggle-inducing games, even if they involve a little bit of preparation. You might agree with me that the small amount of work is well worth it.
Why I use games to change things up in the classroom
I’m all about rhythms in my classrooms– cycling through different modes to keep the kids moving and engaged. I don’t like to keep students working at their desks too long– even if it’s written in the sub plans. Large chunks of focused work time can be broken up successfully with games.
Games introduce movement, chances for collaboration, and latitude for young minds to think about something else for a bit.
Low-prep K-5 classroom games
Here is my list of favorites– many are old standy-bys from teaching and subbing that have rescued me from filling blank minutes with blank stares or utter mayhem. This list includes age range recommendations that are based on my personal experience and opinion, which is not scientifically rigid by any means– feel free to color outside the lines. Each game description will also have a list of supplies– if you can make it work by improvising or adding in your own materials, please do so. My last note on this list is that it is ordered from low-tech to high-tech: The games at the end will need certain devices in order to play.
Charades (Kindergarten and up)
Supplies:
Charades tasks on prepared slips optional
Timer optional
This game could technically be no-prep if you came up with the charades tasks and whispered them in the actor’s ear. (You may have to do this for students who can’t read.) But the game also moves along nicely with some simple preparation.
Make several (let’s say at least ten) folded slips of paper with various charades tasks typed or written on them. These tasks can be general or can fit a category, like animals. To give the game an educational boost, you could create tasks related to the class’s current topic of study. If they’re learning about the rainforest, for example, you could assign slips with terms like sloth, tree frog, and canopy.
Collect the folded task slips in a container. Divide the room into teams and explain the rules. Each team will rotate through students as actors. The actors will attempt to model the word on the slip, and his or her team will try to guess. If the team guesses correctly in the time limit, they can earn a point, and the other side can take its turn. If incorrect, the other team can have a chance to guess for that same round, in the time limit, to earn a point. The side with the most points at the end wins.
Pictionary (Kindergarten and up)
Supplies:
Pictionary tasks on prepared slips optional
Timer optional
Drawing surface and tool such as whiteboard, dry-erase marker, and whiteboard eraser
This game is very similar to Charades, except instead of actors, you’ll have drawers and artists. And boy, will you collectively be witnessing some fine art.
If you are not supplied with the actual board game, no worries. A little bit of prep can equip you for an enjoyable game regardless. Prepare slips of paper with certain concepts (think nouns). These can be within a certain category or even a current topic of study. Just make sure they are age-appropriate. (For example, “buttress” may be an interesting architectural concept, but you’ll lose the entire class to uproarious laughter over “butts.”)
Explain and model the rules. Split the class into two teams and ready the timer. Select a person from the first team to randomly choose a prepared slip from a bowllike container and draw it on the board. If the artist’s own team guesses the drawing correctly within the time frame (try one minute), that team earns a point. Track points on a tally chart. If the team fails to guess correctly, the other team has a chance to “steal” by guessing correctly within one minute. No points are awarded for incorrect or untimely guesses.
Symbols and letters are not permitted in the drawings, or in the version I like to play. Classmates must decipher the heiroglyphics of their fellow students without the aid of alphabetic clues. Once one student has drawn, a student from the other team should be selected, alternating teams evenly. The group with the most points wins, and can earn anything from the sheer satisfaction of victory to a prize predetermined by the teacher.
Hinky Pinky (3rd/4th grade and up)
Supplies:
Prepared list of hinky pinky pairs optional
Here is a fun word game the older students will appreciate. Hinky pinkies are pairs of rhyming words that are synonymous with each of the clue words. For example: A misty canine would be a…. foggy doggy! As another example: a comical rabbit would be a funny bunny. Both of those examples, you could tell the students, would be hinky pinkies (because the words have two syllables like hinky and pinky also do. For one syllable answers, tell the students it is a hink pink as a clue. Three syllable answers are hinkety pinketies.) For example:
light red beverage = pink drink (This is a hink pink)
sunshine-colored man= yellow fellow (This is a hinky pinky)
confused exercise= quizzical physical (This is a hinkety pinkety)
Though these riddles can be thought up on the spot, but I tend to lose my ability to furnish any effectively with 20 pairs of eyes on me. I like to prepare a list of hinky pinkies. They are readily available on the Internet.
Trivia (3rd and up)
Supplies:
Set of whiteboards, dry-erase markers and erasers for each team
Age-appropriate trivia questions
Who doesn’t like a random smattering of questions in a low-stakes competition format? (Fun fact: I invited my fellow adult friends over for my 30th birthday, and we played ’90s trivia as a homage to my birth era. It’s fun and cool!)
Prepare age-appropriate questions ahead of time (these can be found on the Internet if you search “kids trivia questions.”) For example, instead of “Who penned The Odyssey?” for a class of first graders, instead try “What kind of animal is an alligator?” (Answer: reptile.)
Split the class into teams. If they are already sitting in table groupings, let these be the teams, for simplicity’s sake. Have team members sit together for maximum brainstorming power and stealth communication. They will not want other teams overhearing their genius answers.
Equip each team with a handheld whiteboard, dry-erase marker and eraser. Designate one writer for each team who can record the group’s agreed-upon answer. Pose trivia questions, one by one, to the class. After a minute or so, ask students to raise the whiteboards all at once so that no one can spy and adjust answers. I like to say, “1, 2, 3– showdown!” at which point boards must be revealed and answers submitted. Teams with correct answers gain a point. The team with the most points in the end claims sweet, sweet victory.
In order to avoid soul-crushing despair and heated arguments, I do not count spelling against teams. Do what works for you. I track points using a tally chart written on the board. Use your favorite method of recording and displaying this data. For maximum fun, I like to spend a few minutes before starting letting the teams come up with team names– you’ll likely get a kick out all the bizarre titles they choose. Have fun with this one!
Crossword (3rd/4th grade and up)
Supplies:
Large display screen such as a Smart board
Writing implement for display screen
What’s a 9-letter word for “Creamy cacao-based confection?”
(Answer: Chocolate)
If you grew up grappling with the newspaper’s daily crossword, you can share this simple joy with the youth of today.
You’ll need to look up a children’s crossword puzzle online and display on whichever large screen is available. Be sure you have a way to write on the screen in order to add answers to the boxes.
Once you esttle on a puzzle, display it for the class and go through the puzzle together, either taking volunteers or making it a competition with whiteboards in groups. You can write in the letters or have students do this (the younger ones tend to view writing on the board with awe and dignified responsibility).
This is a group game, where you’ll all be working together to solve the crossword. I love it because it’s a classic and gets the mind revving a bit thinking of words that fit the definition and parameters. You could try to incorporate movement by allowing the kids to wiggle out one dance move or stretch after each correct answer, or have a dance party as a celebration once complete.
Quick, draw! (2nd grade and up)
Supplies:
Large display screen such as a Smart board
Writing implement for display screen
This game also requires technology, and it’s so fun. I actually used this all the time when I had to teach a group of fourth-graders in-person and online. We would do this over Zoom and I’d share my screen so the e-learners could see and even interact with it, with the game displayed on the classroom board as well.
You will need a responsive way to write on the screen. So projecting while writing with a dry-erase marker on the board would not work. (I have a touch screen on the laptop I was using, so I was projecting but also drawing directly on my laptop screen.)
Go to this website: Quick, Draw!
The game will give you an object to draw within a time limit. As you doodle, the game’s robot (apparently A.I.) will make guesses at the object. When the robot/A.I. guesses correctly, the next challenge flashes onto the screen. As of now, the game doesn’t track points or anything, but it’s surprisingly thrilling and fun to try to beat the clock and draw something recognizeable enough for the robot to identify. After modeling the first couple challenges myself, I call up student volunteers to draw, which is always a coveted position. We’re usually all holding our breath as the drawer scrambles to depict the item and the robot throws out ideas, some laughably incorrect. This game usually ends in uproarious laughter.
Bonus: Host a board game day with your class
This is a tip mainly for classroom teachers or long-term substitutes— you’ll need to be in the same classroom for a while to pull this off. But it’s one of my favorite strategies. It’s fun for the students and virtually no work for the teacher.
Prepare the students a week before by telling them you’d like to give them a board game day. Ask them to ask their parents and caregivers if they can bring in board games to play with the class. Give multiple reminders and send communication home with students in the days leading up to board game day. The goal is to end up with enough board games that small groups of kids (3-5) can play. So if you have a class of 20 students, I’d aim for at least 5 board games.
When board game day finally comes, collect all of the games from students first thing and pile them in a stack you can monitor. Label the games with the student’s name. When it’s time to play, go over expectations and model appropriate behavior. Model how students should behave even in the face of disappointment or losing. Model how students should be respectful of their classmates’ items. We don’t want anyone going home with ripped up Monopoly money if we can help it.
To start playing, I usually appoint the student who brought in the game to be the leader and instructor of that game. They get to explain the rules and mediate if needed. Then I designate areas of the room to host each game, and I split the class into small groups and dismiss them to their first game area, with their student instructor. After a period time, (maybe about 15 minute), I give a signal and have the groups rotate to a new game while the instructors stay in place and facilitate their game with a new crew. After all of the rotations, students should help clean up the games and return them to my stack, where I can disperse them to the owners safe and sound.
It’s as simple and sweet as bubble gum.
Low-prep games are worth adding to your teaching toolbelt
Combine these low-prep games with my list of no-prep games, and you’ve got a healthy stash to cycle through. The power of these games rests in their ability to grant a whole class (and their teacher!) reprieve and fun. May you never be in need of an entertaining way to give the students a break. Teachers, substitutes– do you have any favorite games or brain break activities I didn’t mention? I’d love to hear your ideas!
