Draven Jackson
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Whether it’s the first day of classes, test season, or just another Tuesday, every teacher should have an arsenal of fun classroom games to play with their students! Students need a rest from learning every once in a while, and classroom games can be a great way to break up the monotony of difficult or dull lessons. This will ultimately help build up your students’ motivation and encourage them to enjoy their classes!

Classroom games can also be a great way to review material or test your students on their knowledge of different subjects. Many of the games on this list are also team or pair games, which can help build camaraderie and push your more shy students to come out of their shells and make friends with their classmates. With a variety of positive benefits, there are so many reasons you should include these fun classroom games in your yearly lesson plans!

Word Chains

As an English teacher, I’ve collected my fair share of classroom games centered on words and grammar. However, one of my favorites by far (and one of the easiest to play) is Word Chains. Word chains is a straightforward game to set up and explain: in pairs or teams, students will have one piece of paper to write on. On the board, the teacher will write a category (for example “types of fruit” or “sports you play with a ball”) and the first word in the chain.

As a team, students will try to write as many words that pertain to that category as they can. However, the words have to connect to form one chain – so if the category is animals and the starting word is “elephant,” the next word in their chain would have to begin with a “T.” They get thirty seconds to write as many words as they can, and each team gets a point for every word that both fits the category and is spelled correctly. After you complete all the rounds, the team with the most points wins!

Reverse Charades

As far as classroom games go, everyone knows about Charades: the class is split into teams and each person on the team takes a turn to try and get their teammates to guess a word or phrase using various gestures. However, sometimes it’s fun to change up this classic game and play it a little differently!

Reverse Charades is a pretty simple concept (but still a lot of fun!). Instead of one person trying to get their team to guess a word, the team tries to get ONE player to guess the answer! The team is allowed to talk to the guesser, but they can’t use the actual word (or words). You can either allow one person to guess for multiple words or have a new player for each word – either way, you’re sure to have a great time!

Talking Time Bomb

Sometimes classroom games are just fun ways to pass a little bit of extra time at the tail end of a class or after test season, but games can also be a great way to review difficult concepts! As an ESL teacher, I like to start grammar lessons with quick review games in order to test how much my students remember from our previous classes. One great review game is the Talking Time Bomb.

All you need is a timer and a ball that can be passed around the class – and, of course, your review questions. Start the timer, but don’t let your students see it (half the fun is in the surprise!). While the timer is going, the class will pass around the ball or object that will serve as the “bomb.” When the timer goes off, whoever is holding the bomb will have to answer one of the review questions.

This kind of game is great because it encourages students who might normally be shy to participate in review activities and adds an air of fun and anticipation to what might otherwise be a stressful or boring lesson.

Jenga Question Game

Icebreaker classroom games are a must, especially for classes with students who may not have met or interacted before. While these are normally played at the beginning of the school year, there’s no rule that you can’t play a ‘getting to know you’ game at another time during the term! This one takes more setup, but it’s still a lot of fun and you can reuse it again in the future!

First, you’ll need a Jenga game and a permanent marker. On the bottom of each Jenga block, write a question that the students will have to answer – for example, “What was the last thing you searched on your phone” or “What is the song that’s been stuck in your head all morning?” Then, have the students play the game like your average round of Jenga – however, every time they pull a block from the pile, they have to read and answer the question on the bottom! This game is a lot of fun and also has a sense of anticipation (especially as the tower starts to get a little wobbly).

Mystery Box

This is one of my favorite silly classroom games when you need a break or a fun way to pass the time. Mystery Box requires a little bit more prep as you need a cardboard box (with all the sides cut out except one) and a collection of odd and unexpected items. Students will take turns standing behind the box in pairs while the rest sit facing the open side. The students behind the box won’t be able to see what random item is inside, but the rest of the class can!

Then, the pair of students will have two minutes to try and “sell” the class on why they need the item inside the box – “It’s good for your skin,” “It’s delicious to eat,” or “It will help you get a good grade” – as if they know what it is. The rest of the class will react appropriately (if the description makes sense, they can agree, but if it seems crazy or completely wrong, they can make a comment about that). Meanwhile, the pair “selling” the item will try to guess what’s inside the box based on the reactions to their descriptions.

For every item they guess correctly, they get one point!

Do you have more classroom games we can use to pass the time? Tell us in the comments!

About Draven Jackson

Draven is an avid writer and reader who enjoys sharing her opinions on movies, books, and music with the rest of the world. She will soon be working as a teacher in Japan and hopes to use her experience to connect with other teachers and students around the globe. Draven spends most of her time at home with her family, her dogs, and her ferret.

To see more, view all posts by Draven Jackson here.

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