Top 5 Classic Classroom Games and Activities

Learning should be made exciting for students. To motivate students fun element should be incorporated with the academic material. Games and activities not only offer a chance of participation but also draws out the potential and creativity of the students.

Try these 10 best activities to keep your students indulged in the class without them even realising it.


1. Hangman

A very interactive classic game to scaffold the vocabulary and subject knowledge.

Pre-requisites:

blackboard/whiteboard, list of words from specific categories

Method:

Divide the students into two groups with an equal number of students. You may assign a row as a team. Now call a student to come forward from one team let him think of a word related to the topic that is being taught or the teacher can suggest the word. The student then draws spaces according to the number of letters in the word. The rest of the members from the opposite team guesses the word, one letter at a time. For each wrong guess the hangman will be drawn, one line at a time. Once the team completely guesses the word, the hangman is completely drawn and the leftover lines to complete the hangman is the points scored by the team. If you feel hangman is not appropriate you may go for a different figure like a snowman.

2. Charades

A simple, classic game to encourage your students to participate in the class.

Pre-requisites:
A list of words, names or concepts related to the ongoing chapter.

Method:

The class can be divided into two or three. Then one is called out to the front of the class and a word/concept is given. He/She should then act out the word to his team (no speaking is allowed). The team members have to guess the idea. A maximum of 3 wrong guesses can be made. The question words can be selected by the opposing team making it more competitive. 

3. Heads Up, Thumbs Down

This is an excellent behaviour management tool and energiser.

Method:

A few students are called to the front of the classroom (3 or 4). The remaining students put their heads on the table facing downwards and hold their thumbs up. The students who are standing tip-toe around the class without making noise and pinch one thumb each of the students facing down. Then they come back to their position. Then the whole class raises their heads and the students who were pinched will stand up and guess who pinched them. Those who guess correctly will then swap with the student who pinched. Now he can continue pinching. To make this more competitive and academic ask a subject related question to the student who got pinched. If he can answer, no need of guess. He automatically gets qualified for pinching in the next level.

4. Buzz Word

An exciting game for practising series of concepts or numbers. Buzz is a very energising game for younger kids who have to read long lists such as a series of numbers, letters of alphabet etc.

Method:

Decide a series for the kids to list out like numbers from 1-100, even numbers, odd numbers or any other series of words or numbers. Choose what the buzz word or number is going to be. For example, you can decide that every fourth number or letter is going to be the buzz word. You can also choose words starting with a specific letter or numbers divisible by a particular number. The word ‘buzz’ will replace the figures or letters. Now the kids may start reading the items on the list or the series in the order while replacing the chosen letter/number with the buzz.

For example 1, 2, buzz, 4, 5, buzz, 7, 8, buzz, 10, 11, buzz…

5.Crazy train

Suitable for primary and kindergarten kids, the crazy train is a choo-choo train with added fun.

Pre-requisites:

Space to play

Method:

Line up the kids to form a human choo-choo train. Then shout-out commands such as ‘slow’, ‘fast’, ‘slow-motion’, ‘turn right’, ‘move backwards’, and ‘stop’ randomly to make the train go ‘crazy’! Younger children will love playing this one.

Take extra care when you execute classroom activities. It should not be a distraction rather a helpful academic tool. Some students may get into the thrill of activities and may find difficult to track back to serious academic portions. So, homework on how to properly handle the activity is recommended.