Draven Jackson
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Picture this: it’s nearing the end of the term and your students have finished up all their exams and tests, but there are still a few class periods left. You don’t want your students to just sit around bored for the hour that your lesson runs, but you’re also tired of using the same activities to help fill those extra days. You need to find some new, creative games to help keep them preoccupied and happy while they wait for the year to finish.

If you’ve experienced this dilemma as a teacher and aren’t sure what kinds of activities you should introduce your kids to during those extra lessons in order to keep them happy and thinking, then this article is for you! Not only are these games great for the end-of-the-year extra classes, but they’re also perfect for after-school programs, in-class learning activities, and simple at-home fun!

Shouting in Silence

One of the best creative games that you can incorporate into your lessons both after exams and as a study tool is “Shouting in Silence.” Shouting in silence is a word recognition and repetition game that you can play in pairs. All you need is a book of words and headphones!

For each pair, one student will be the word-giver and one will be the guesser. Each student will be wearing a pair of headphones and listening to music loudly in order to make it difficult for them to hear each other. A third student will stand behind the guesser and show the word-giver the word or phrase on the card.

The word-giver must then use their voice and expressions in order to get the guesser to repeat the word on the paper back to them. Each word is one point, and the pair that can get the most words at the end wins!

This game is silly and loud, but it’s also a great way to practice vocabulary or memorization as students will have to do their best to recognize the word they are trying to guess based on their partner’s expressions and mouth movements, so they will practice the words they may need to remember for their test!

The Liar Game

Another one of my favorite creative games to play with students (and another excellent word game), “The Liar Game” challenges students to try and pretend they know the special “code word” without getting caught by the class! This game is also super easy to prepare quickly as all you need are slips of paper with one word written on them (and a few blank slips for the liars).

Depending on the size of your class, you will want enough pieces of paper for each student to choose one at random. Each slip will have the same word written on it – this is known as the “code word”. There will also be 3-4 blank slips of paper – these are for the “liars” who won’t know the code word.

Each student in the class will say a word or phrase to secretly describe the code word on the paper (for example, if the code word is “cookie,” students might say “dessert,” “chocolate” or “sweet”). The liars will do their best to blend in with the other students, giving their own word that they think matches the code word.

After all the students have spoken, everyone will try to guess who the “liars” are. Each correct answer will get a point. The liars will also have the chance to guess the code word and will get one point if they get it right!

The Best Friend Game

“The Best Friend Game” is one of the best creative games for those days when you have a small class size and need a way to pass the time during those extra lessons. Much like “The Newlyweds Game,” this game challenges students to try and guess their partner’s answer to a series of questions.

Have the students split up into pairs and designate one as the “blue” player and one as the “green” player (any color is fine). Then, use the two color designations to ask questions about the students that their partners will have to guess (i.e. “Does the green player like horror movies or comedies?” or “Does the blue player prefer paints or markers?”).

If the student’s guess matches their partner’s answer, they get a point. You can make this game specific to your lessons (discussing preferences in the topics they’ve been learning or students’ study habits), or you can simply choose fun questions that will have your students laughing about all the wrong answers! Not only is this game a fun activity, but it’s also perfect for encouraging your students to be more comfortable with each other and get to know one another better.

Werewolf

“Werewolf” is always on my list of creative games to play in a group because there’s never a dull moment! This game is great for classes that like to debate or enjoy discussions as the students will work together to discover the werewolf in their midst before all the citizens are kidnapped.

There are four types of characters in “Werewolf”: the werewolves, the citizens, the doctor, and the police officer. Before the game begins, have all the students put their heads down so you can designate specific roles for different people. There is always one doctor and one police officer, but I would suggest having at least 3 werewolves (maybe more depending on the size of your class) while the rest will be average citizens.

The game will take place over a series of days and nights – each night, all of the students will put their heads down and the werewolves, doctor, and police officer will be called one-by-one to look up. The werewolves can then decide to kidnap one person (though they have to choose this person together). After that, the doctor is allowed to “save” one person and keep them from getting taken, and finally, the cop can “inspect” one person and ask the teacher whether that person is a werewolf.

During the day, the citizens will discuss who they believe is a werewolf. Based on a majority decision, the citizens can kick out one person for possibly being a werewolf and send them away from the village. People who have been kidnapped or sent away can no longer participate in the game, but they can watch at night to see what is happening while everyone is “asleep.”

Werewolf is a super exciting game to play and your students are sure to love all the surprising twists and turns!

Categories

As an English teacher, many of my classes’ creative games are word-centric, and “Categories” is no different! This game is played in teams, so you can split your class up however you want to – small teams of four or two big teams are both completely fine.

For each round, the teams are given a category: it could be countries, words that start with “a,” fruits that you eat in the summer, etc. The students then have two minutes to work with their teams and write down as many words that fit that category as they can. They will then get one point for each word they write that makes sense.

However, there’s one challenge: if any other teams have the same word, all the teams must mark it off their lists and no one can get a point for that one (for example, if the category is “fruit” and team A wrote “Apples”, but team B also wrote “Apples,” then neither team gets the point).

Any words that are left after all the matching words are marked off can then be counted as points, and the team with the most points at the end of the game wins! This is another great game that works well for vocabulary practice, but it can also be good for gauging how much your students know about a specific subject (if you’re planning to teach them about famous painters and want to learn how many they already know, you can use “Famous Painters” as the category and see how many answers you get.). Plus, the game is just a lot of fun!

Do you know of other creative games that are good to play with the whole class? 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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