Welcome to our listing of classroom games!
Hope you can find some ideas to add some fun to your classroom!!
Grapevine
This game is intended for a large group of 15 or more. Have the group sit in a
large circle. The kids should be spaced about an arm's length apart. Have one
child or the teacher be the "originator". The originator will think of a message
or statement and whisper it into the ear of the person sitting to the right of
her. Tongue twister are really fun to try! The message is whispered once. The
new messenger then whispers the message into the ear to ear of the child to his
right, and so on and so on. When the message reaches the person sitting to the
left of the originator the message is said out loud. Seldom does the message
arrive in its original form. The person to the right gets to be the next
originator.
Heads Up Seven Up
Have seven students stand in front of the class. The rest of the students lay
their heads on their desks. Have the seven students each touch a person. That
person sticks his or her thumb up. Then the seven students say "heads up seven
up". The "touched" students get one chance to guess which of the seven touched
them. If a student guesses correctly, she changes places with the student who
touched her. If a student does guess correctly, the same person remains with the
seven.
OR
All students put their heads down on their desks and extend one thumb. The
teacher chooses one person as "It." It goes around touching the thumbs of six
people. If a student's thumb is touched, he goes to the front of the room. When
this has been accomplished, "It" yells, "Seven up!" Everyone raises their heads
and has to guess which of the seven people is "It."
Simon Says
One child is chosen to be "Simon", and the others stand in a strait line in
front of Simon. Simon then calls out a direction for the children to follow in
this way, " Simon Says touch your nose, Simon Says stand on one foot", etc. When
giving a direction, Simon can simply state her command without saying "Simon
Says". For example, she might say, "Touch your nose". Any child who follows the
command without Simon saying "Simon Says" is out. The game continues in this way
until there is only one child left standing. That child is the winner of the
round and can then be Simon for the next round.
Balls To Beanbags
Supplies: one small ball (squishy balls work well), one beanbag, paper, pencil,
container, and music
Print out slips of paper that you will pull out of a container. Each slip will
be labeled differently as follows: "before the ball", "the ball", "after the
ball", "before the beanbag", "the beanbag", and "after the beanbag" . Place the
slips in a container and mix them up. Have the students stand in a circle. Give
the ball to one person and the beanbag to another student across the circle,
then start the music. The students need to pass the ball and beanbag clockwise
until the music stops. When the music stops, pull out a slip of paper and read
it. If the paper states "before the ball" or "before the beanbag" that student
is out. If the slip states "after the ball or beanbag" that student is out. If
it just states "ball or beanbag" the student holding the ball or beanbag is out.
You can also try to substitute different objects. Anything safe, small, and easy
to pass will do!
Ten Questions
One child is "it" and leaves the group while the other players choose an object
in the classroom. The child who is "it" returns and tries to guess the object.
She can ask a maximum of 10 questions of the group members, all of which must be
answered by yes or no. Have the "it" child call on children and ask one question
of each person until she has asked 10 questions. Depending on your group size,
the "it" child may ask more than one question of some members. If your group is
comprised of more than 10 children, you may increase the number of yes/no
questions so each child has a chance to answer a question. The "it" child may
take a guess at any point, but after 10 questions, the "it" child must take a
guess. Whether she is right or wrong, another child takes a turn at guessing.
Who Am I?
Have the children sit in a circle. The player designated as "it" leaves the
room. While he is away, the others decide what he should be when he returns. If
they decide on an Astronaut, for example, they call him back, and he has to ask
each child in the circle what he has to buy for himself to be the character the
group has decided on. One child may say a rocket ship, another a helmet, another
some oxygen and so on. If the "it" child goes all the way around the circle
without guessing what he is, then the group tells him and another child takes a
turn. If you only have a few children playing, then you can do many rounds.
Another option is to have the "it" child continue to be "it" until he finally
makes a correct guess. This can lengthen the game quite a bit if you have lots
of children playing.
Toss The Smile
Children can sit in circle or throughout the room as long as everyone can see
each other. Identify one child as the "smile tosser". All children are to keep a
straight, serious face while the smile tosser smiles. The smile tosser will
smile at all players trying to get them to crack a smile or laugh. If anyone
smiles or laughs, they are out of the game. Those out of the game must be
absolutely quiet during the rest of the game. The smile tosser can wipe off his
smile with his hand and throw it to another player if he wishes. The receiving
player will put on the smile and be the new smile tosser. You can even set a
time limit on how long your smile tosser is allowed to keep his role.
Stations
Supplies: Have cards made up (one for each player) with the names of nearby
towns/cities in your area. Have a paper handy listing all the town/cities used
in the game.
Have the children sit in a circle and give each a card with a town name. Have
one child be the "station master". She will stand in the middle of the circle
holding a paper with all the town/city names. The station master then calls out
town names at random. For example, she might say, "Springfield, Holbrook". The
two children holding cards that say Springfield and Holbrook then have to get up
and exchange seats. In the meantime, the station master has to try to jump into
one of these seats. More than two destinations can be called out and the
ultimate “All Change” when everyone has to change seats is a great laugh. The
child left standing then takes over the roll as station master.
Name That Word
Choose two students to be guessers. Have the two students go out of the
classroom for a few seconds while you show the rest of the class a secret word.
When the students come back into the classroom, have them stand at the front of
the room facing the class. The rest of the students can give the guessers
one-word clues to help them figure out the secret word. Have the guessers take
turns calling on children until one of the guessers correctly names the secret
word. The guesser who figures out the secret word remains at the front of the
class while the student who gave the final clue replaces the other guesser.
Four Corners
Number the corners of the classroom from 1 to 4. Select one student to be "It."
It closes his eyes while the rest of the students go to one of the four corners
in the classroom. When all the students are situated in a corner, It calls out a
number. All the kids standing in the corner with that number are out and must go
back to their seats and sit down. It closes his eyes again, calls out a number,
and more students sit down. When the game gets down to four people or fewer,
each must choose a different corner. If It calls out a corner where nobody is
standing, It must choose again. The game continues until only one student is
left. That student becomes It.
Silent Ball
You need a nerf ball or very soft ball. Have students sit on desks and toss the
ball around. If any students talk, they are "out" and must sit down.
If any students drop the ball, throw it so it is uncatchable, or interfere with
a throw or a catch, they are out and must sit down. If any students drop a
catchable ball, they are also out. Soon, all but 1 student is left as the
winner.
Who is missing?
Pick one student to be "it." Have that student sit in a chair and face away from
the class, closing his eyes. You need a closet, cabinet, or wall that a student
can "hide" behind and not be seen by the person in the chair. You quietly point
to a student to "hide." While she is
hiding, you count to 10. The rest of the students change desks. At 10, all must
sit down. Ask the person who is "it" to turn around and guess
who is missing. If he guesses right, he can continue to be the "guesser". The
person who was hidden picks the next hider. If he guesses wrong, he picks the
next student to hide then sits down. You can decide on a maximum number of right
guesses allowed so a good guesser does not remain guesser for too long.
Exchange Change (For a
small group)
Supplies: one die for each group of kids and change coins: Math Skills
A learning game that will children in early grades learn money combinations.
Have each group of 2-3 students start out with 10 dimes, 6 nickels, and 15
pennies. The first player rolls the die. Depending on the number that comes up,
from 1-6, he will take that many coins. If he rolls a six, for example, he can
take six pennies, but then he has to exchange 5 pennies for a nickel. After a
few exchanges, the student will learn to pick a nickel and one penny. The next
player will do the same and take the allotted amount. On the player's next turn,
she takes the allotted coins, but if she ends up with five pennies, she should
exchange them for a nickel. If she has two nickels, she has to exchange them for
one dime. When all the dimes are gone, the game is over and all players count
out their change. The person with the highest number wins. For the next level of
learning money combinations add 10 quarters and then add dollar bills.
Stranded (Teambuilding)
Form groups of about five to ten students and give the following instructions:
“You will be stranded on a deserted island for an indefinite amount of time. You
may only bring one item to the island, and you only have a few minutes notice.
What will you bring? Share with your group your object, why you chose it, and
what you plan to do with it.” Have each child briefly share her item, why it is
important to her, and what she plans to do with it. After everyone has shared,
have the groups figure out how they can improve their chances of survival by
combining each student's items in creative ways. Allow ten to fifteen minutes of
group brainstorming, and then have each group present their ideas.
