Games classroom lesson

Once groups get the hang of hopping, you can hold a competition to see who can hop the farthest or longest. Source: Nick Cornwell. This hands-on group challenge is an exercise in patience and perseverance, not to mention a total blast!

Decide how many students you want in each group and tie that number of strings to a single rubber band, making one for each group. Each person in the group holds onto one of the strings attached to the rubber band, and, as a group, they use this device to pick up the cups by expanding and contracting the rubber band and place them on top of each other in order to build a pyramid. See detailed instructions here. This activity helps students negotiate and work together toward a common goal.

Make a list of tasks on chart paper, assigning a point value for each job. For example: Do 25 jumping jacks 5 points ; make up a nickname for each member of the class 5 points ; get every person in the class to sign a piece of paper 15 points ; form a conga line and conga from one end of the room to the other 5 points, 10 bonus points if anyone joins you ; etc. Make sure you list enough tasks to take up more than 10 minutes. Divide your students into groups of five or six and give them 10 minutes to collect as many points as they can by deciding which tasks from the list to perform.

You need a large open space for this game. Have students spread out and guide them through a few rounds of forming letters with their bodies. Start with two-letter words, then three, then four. If students want a challenge, come up with a phrase that will take the whole class to complete. Form groups of between three and five students. One person from each group the finder steps out of the classroom.

The rest of the group picks an object for instance, the pencil sharpener in the classroom for the finder to find. When the finder comes back in, they begin walking around the classroom in search of the object. The others cannot say anything, but they can give hints by using applause to lead the finder in the right direction. If the finder is far away from the object, the group will clap slowly and softly.

When the finder gets close, the group will applaud faster and more loudly until the finder picks the correct object. Divide students into groups of four. Set out four or five objects in front of the lines, such as cones, foam blocks, or balls. The goal of the game is to collect as many objects as possible by moving the caterpillar forward.

To move forward, the last player in line steps into the hoop with the player in front of them, picks up their empty hoop, and passes it overhead to the front of the line. The front player then places the hoop on the ground in front of them and steps into it. Every player then shifts forward, moving the caterpillar.

The game ends when there are no more objects on the ground. Find more detailed instructions here. Divide the class into teams of six or eight. Provide each team with a large bedsheet or tarp that has several slits cut into it, and have students hold onto the edges and spread the sheet out so that it is tight. Place a golf ball in the center of the sheet. Students must work together to maneuver the ball around the sheet without having it fall through one of the slits.

Mix up teams and start over again. For this activity, you will need a few jump ropes. Divide students into groups of six or eight. Now have all the members of each group get into their lifeboat. This should be easy the first time. Then have all players get out and reduce the size of their circle by one foot.

Again, all players need to get into the boat. Repeat this process, making the lifeboat smaller and smaller while you watch your students come up with creative solutions for making sure that everyone fits safely inside their boat. Divide your class in half and have each group choose one pretzel maker and two unpretzelers.

Direct the unpretzelers to turn their backs. Have the rest of the students in each group form a circle and hold hands. Once they are sufficiently twisted, call the unpretzelers over and have them try to direct the students with words only in order to detangle them. Students cannot drop their hands at any time. The first team that successfully unpretzels their group wins. This activity encourages creative problem-solving. Pick four or more different objects, such as a coffee can, a potato peeler, a knit hat, and a book.

Split students into even teams. Now present a situation where each team has to solve a problem using only those objects. These scenarios can be anything from students are stranded on a desert island and must find a way to get off or survive to students must save the world from Godzilla.

Give the teams five minutes to figure out an original solution to the scenario, including ranking each object based on its usefulness. When the five minutes are up, have each team present their solution along with their reasoning to the class. This game is all about focus and energy.

As students pass the energy across the circle in the form of a Zip, a Zap, or a Zop , they make eye contact with the person they send the energy to and work together to keep the rhythm going. To pass the energy, have students put their hands together in a teepee in front of their chest. To make sure everyone is picked, students can put their hands down at their sides after their turn. This team-building game will teach your students that even though they may be different in many ways, they are still connected to one another.

Gather in a circle, standing or sitting. The game begins when the first person, holding a large ball of twine, tells the group a funny or embarrassing story about themselves.

Once they finish, they will hold onto the end of the twine and throw the ball to someone else in the circle. That person grabs hold and tells a funny or embarrassing story about themself and then passes it on to another student. Play continues until the twine has been passed to each person. Friendly Feud Review any subject or skill with this classroom version of "Family Feud.

Slice of Life Students think about and graph their daily activities with friends. Language Arts, Math Grades Wacky Word Play Reinforce thinking skills with "droodles.

Rewriting History Use study skills and your imagination in this history game. Human Body Simon Says Review the names and locations of parts of the body. Who Am I? A volunteer asks questions of peers to reveal a secret identity.

Math Madness Review computation skills with this small-group game. Heads Up, Study Up Play a favorite classroom game to review math facts, spelling, and more. Math, All Subjects Grades Silence Students put themselves in order without talking.

Spin and Spell Teams of students use their spelling knowledge and some luck to win. Search Search. Newsletter Sign Up. Teaching Gratitude with All the World. Search form Search. Writing Bugs Printable student work sheets motivate student writing. Show-Biz Science Vicki Cobb's hands-on science showstoppers.

Teacher Lessons Dozens of lessons. Submit yours, earn cash. Tech Lesson of the Week Integrate technology with step-by-step lessons. Geography Build skills with these printables. Holidays and Special Days Hundreds of great themed teaching ideas. Every-Day Edits Printable sheets for daily language practice. Lesson Plans By Subject View lesson themes of special interest. Month of Fun Games and puzzles for each month's special days.

Language Arts Grades Secret Word Students give clues to a "secret word" and reinforce vocabulary skills. Health Grades K-5 "I Am Math Grades Scholarly Squares Students play tic-tac-toe to review any subject. All Subjects Grades Five-O Student teams use logic and reasoning to guess each other's five-letter words. Spelling Grades K-5 Dice-and-Math Game Students reinforce computation skills as they perform math operations with dice. Trending Report Card Comments It's report card time and you face the prospect of writing constructive, insightful, and original comments on a couple dozen report cards or more.

Here are positive report card comments for you to use and adapt! Struggling Students? You've reached the end of another grading period, and what could be more daunting than the task of composing insightful, original, and unique comments about every child in your class?

The following positive statements will help you tailor your comments to specific children and highlight their strengths. You can also use our statements to indicate a need for improvement.

Turn the words around a bit, and you will transform each into a goal for a child to work toward. Sam cooperates consistently with others becomes Sam needs to cooperate more consistently with others, and Sally uses vivid language in writing may instead read With practice, Sally will learn to use vivid language in her writing. Make Jan seeks new challenges into a request for parental support by changing it to read Please encourage Jan to seek new challenges.

Whether you are tweaking statements from this page or creating original ones, check out our Report Card Thesaurus [see bottom of the page] that contains a list of appropriate adjectives and adverbs. There you will find the right words to keep your comments fresh and accurate.

We have organized our report card comments by category. Read the entire list or click one of the category links below to jump to that list. Behavior The student: cooperates consistently with the teacher and other students.

Character The student: shows respect for teachers and peers. Group Work The student: offers constructive suggestions to peers to enhance their work. Interests and Talents The student: has a well-developed sense of humor. It can be played with primary or middle schools kids. Sentence race is a vocabulary review game that works best with higher classes with more than ten students. The team that writes the maximum correct and meaningful sentences with the chosen words, wins.

Memory games are fun. They compel you to try and recall and reinforce any information that the brain has received. Here are a few you can try in the classroom. The student with the highest number of cards wins the game. This game can also be played at home, with two or more people. This is a memory game that involves making lists. This game may seem too simple for higher classes, but the younger ones will enjoy exercising their memory. Picture this is suitable for students in high school or middle school.

It involves paying attention to details. Note that the idea is to help children jog their memory to recall something and not pose difficult questions. So pick questions about a few evident details that most kids notice, along with a couple that only a few observant ones do. Children have to pay more attention to what they are doing in an art class.

And while they learn how to do that, they can have a little fun too, with these games. Pass the sheets around for three or four rounds and see the result.