Fun classroom games for kids are a great way to keep them engaged and learn creatively. If you have a classroom full of hyper-energetic and mischievous kids, getting them to focus and pay attention is a difficult task. However, introducing them to some fun games may be a creative way to involve them in the lessons and activities. If you are looking for some games that children will enjoy playing in the classroom while also gaining knowledge, find below our curated list of classroom games that you can use. In addition, some of these games specifically focus on improving their language, art, and memory skills.
Fun Classroom Activities For Kids
Education is a serious business, but kids just want to have fun. So here are some fun ways to educate the children, seriously!
1. Buzz
There’s no buzz word here. Only a buzz number or letter. Buzz is an excellent game for younger kids who need to recite long lists such as a series of numbers, letters of the alphabet, and days of the month. Number of players: Ten or more You will need: A little preparation How to play: For example: 1, 2, 3, buzz, 5, 6, 7, buzz, 9,10,11, buzz… Anyone who misses replacing the buzz word or number is out of the game.
2. Blind artist
This game is played in pairs and engages a child’s imagination and ability to describe things. Number of players: Four or more You will need: Sheets of white paper, pencil, pen or sketch pens, drawings or images How to play: The idea is to see how accurate the drawing can be, when recreated without seeing.
3. Don’t answer
When asked a question, the ideal thing to do is answer. But not when you are playing this game, which older kids and teens will enjoy playing. Number of players: Ten or more How to play: The game gets hilarious when students get imaginative and creative with their answers. ‘Don’t answer’ is ideal for high school students.
4. Crazy train
Ideal for primary and kindergarten kids, the crazy train is a choo-choo train with added fun. Number of players: Ten or more You will need: Space to play How to play: Younger children will love playing this one.
5. Four corners
Four corners is a simple game of chance that can energize students and keep them awake after the lunch hour. Number of players: 12 or more You will need: A room with four corners and enough space for a group of students to stand How to play:
6. Bleep
Bleep is a memory game that prevents children from using certain words. Number f players: Ten or more You will need: Reading material How to play:
7. Jumping the line
This is an energizer that can be played towards the end of the day and is a great game for revising the day’s lessons. Number of players: 10-15 You will need: Sticky tape or chalk, set of True/False questions, space to play How to play: Kids who make a mistake have to go back and sit.
8. Blindfold conversation
This game is an interesting way to make children listen and focus on the voice of another person. Number of players: Ten or more You will need: Cloth for blindfolding and space to play How to play: If ‘It’ rightly guesses who the student is, the student becomes ‘It’.
English Or Word Games For Classrooms
Reading and writing aren’t the only activities or tools for learning a language. There are some fun games as well, which can be used to review and improve a child’s vocabulary, grammar, and speaking skills.
9. Dictionary deception
Dictionary deception is a rather challenging game that compels kids to think about a word’s meaning. It is great for developing high school students’ vocabulary. Number of players: Six or more You will need: Sheets of paper, pens, and a list of words How to play: The student with the highest number of points wins. Some words you can use include Aplomb, Brackish, Acumen, Chicane, Diffident, Epiphany, Facetious, Fiduciary, Filibuster, Hubris, Incognito, Jejune, Kowtow, Laissez-faire, Lexicon, Nihilism, Nomenclature, Oligarchy, Paradigm, Pecuniary, Quotidian, Sanguine, Soliloquy, Tempestuous, Totalitarian, Unctuous, Usurp, Vortex, Wrought, and Xenophobe.
10. Board race
Board race is a team building that also works on the child’s vocabulary. Number of players: Six or more You will need: Board and two different colored markers How to play:
11. Chain spelling
This is like interlinking two unrelated words, based on their spellings. Number of players: Six or more How to play: Avoid -ing or -ion words. You can increase the complexity of the game by restricting them to a particular theme or topic.
12. The mime
The mime is a fun game to revise verbs or action words. It can be played with primary or middle schools kids. Number of players: Ten or more You will need: A list of action words How to play:
13. Sentence race
Sentence race is a vocabulary review game that works best with higher classes with more than ten students. Number of players: Ten or more You will need: List of 10 vocabulary words, 20 pieces of paper, pen How to play: The team that writes the maximum correct and meaningful sentences with the chosen words, wins.
Memory Games For Kids
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.
14. Card recall
This memory game involves the use of flashcards to recall something from the short term memory. Number of players: Ten or more You will need: Flashcards on chosen subject How to play: The student with the highest number of cards wins the game. This game can also be played at home, with two or more people.
15. I’m going on a trip
This is a memory game that involves making lists. Variations of this game can be played by changing ‘on a trip’ to ‘to the market’. Number of players: Eight or more How to play:
16. What’s missing?
A simple game that works well with younger children, ‘What’s missing’ helps the children try and recall things they have seen recently. Number of players: Four or more You will need: Flashcards How to play: This game may seem too simple for higher classes, but the younger ones will enjoy exercising their memory.
17. Picture this
Picture this is suitable for students in high school or middle school. It involves paying attention to details. Number of players: Two or more You will need: Two or more images with a lot of detail How to play: 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.
Art Games For Classroom
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.
18. Pass the drawing
Yes, pass the drawing. Not the salt or the butter! This game works with all age groups. Number of players: Eight or more You will need: Drawing paper, pencils or sketch pens How to play: Pass the sheets around for three or four rounds and see the result. It could be a collaborative masterpiece for all you know.
19. All about me hats
With this game, everyone can be a mad hatter. The game encourages creativity using mundane things, or even things considered useless. Number of players: Five or more You will need: Hats of different shapes and sizes, stickers, decorative paper and pins, old scraps of fabric How to play: They could also spell their names on the hats to wear them to a class party.
20. Art bingo
Bingo is played for money. But art bingo is played for fun. Number of players: You will need: Letter sized paper, pens or pencils How to play: Write numbers one to 40 on slips of paper and put it in a bag. Pick the numbers randomly to play bingo. Students have to mark the corresponding words, and one who marks all the words first wins.
21. The combination man drawing game
This is an engaging art activity that you can try at beginner level or even advanced art classes. The game works well with kids who can draw human shapes and combine two shapes to form a new one. Number of players: Six or more You will need: Papers, color pens or pencils How to play: Six to eight In the end, unfold the paper to see the resultant picture – we guarantee there will be laughter!
Do you know of any classroom games for kids? Let us know about them here.
