Games to play in class: 15 fun ideas that need no prep
Ten minutes left before the bell, a class that has stopped listening, or a Friday afternoon that needs some energy: a good classroom game fixes all three. These fifteen games need little or no preparation, work from primary school to high school, and many of them double as a quick review of what you have been teaching.
Games with no materials at all
1. Twenty questions
One student thinks of a person, place or thing, and the class has twenty yes-or-no questions to guess it. Tie it to your topic by limiting the answers to a unit: a historical figure, an animal, an element.
2. Would you rather
Read out two choices, such as "Would you rather live without music or without books?", and students move to one side of the room. Ask a few of them to give a reason. It is a good warm-up for persuasive writing.
3. Two truths and a lie
A student says three things about themselves, and the class guesses which one is false. It works well at the start of the year, and as a review game with three statements about a topic.
4. Four corners
Label the corners A, B, C and D. Read a multiple-choice question, and students walk to the corner of their answer. Everyone answers at once, and you see at a glance who has understood.
5. Charades
Students act out a word without speaking while their team guesses. Vocabulary, historical events and book titles all work.
6. Heads up, seven up
Seven students stand at the front. Everyone else puts their head down with a thumb up, and the seven each press down one thumb. Then the seven go back to the front, and the students whose thumbs were pressed try to guess who did it. A calm classic for younger classes.
7. Word chain
Go round the room: each student says a word that starts with the last letter of the previous word, within a category such as countries or animals. Hesitate too long and you sit down.
Games with paper or the board
8. Pictionary on the board
Split the class into two teams. One student draws a word from your topic on the board while their team guesses, with a one-minute limit per drawing.
9. Categories
Call out a letter and give students two minutes to write one word for each of five categories, all starting with that letter. Points for answers no one else wrote.
10. Hot seat
One student sits with their back to the board. Write a word behind them, and the class gives clues without saying it until the student guesses.
11. Trashketball
Ask review questions to teams. A right answer earns a shot at the bin with a scrunched-up piece of paper, from a near or far line for one or two points.
12. Bingo review
Students fill a grid with answers from a list on the board. You read out questions, and they cross off the answers. The first full line calls bingo.
Games for laptops, tablets or phones
13. Wiki race
Everyone starts on the same Wikipedia article and races to reach a target article using only the links inside it. Open a free room at hyperhop.app/race, put the four-letter code on the board, and students join in the browser with their name, no accounts. Choose two articles from your lesson, and afterwards look at the routes together: the discussion about how two ideas connect is the best part. Our wiki race lesson guide has pairs for each subject.
14. Quick quiz
A five-question quiz on the last lesson, answered on mini whiteboards or devices. Keep it fast and show the answers straight away.
15. Daily puzzle together
Put today's wiki race on the projector and solve it as a class: students suggest which link to follow and vote. With five to ten links allowed, it fits in ten minutes.
Choosing the right game
- To calm a class down, try heads up, seven up, categories or a wiki race.
- To wake a class up, try four corners, would you rather or charades.
- To review a topic, try trashketball, bingo review, hot seat or a wiki race with two articles from the unit.
- For older students, who often find classic games childish, games with a bit of competition and reasoning work better: would you rather with real dilemmas, two truths and a lie about a topic, or a wiki race.
Tips that make any game work
- Explain the rules once, clearly, and play a practice round.
- Keep rounds short and stop while the class still wants more.
- Avoid games where students are knocked out early and then sit with nothing to do, or bring them back in the next round.
- Mix teams so the same students don't always win.
Common questions
What games can you play in class when you're bored?
Twenty questions, would you rather, four corners and word chain need nothing at all and start in a minute. If students have devices, a wiki race takes two minutes to set up.
What are good classroom games for middle school?
Games with a little competition and some thinking: four corners with real questions, two truths and a lie, trashketball for review, and a wiki race on the topic you are teaching.
Are there free online games to play in class?
Yes. A wiki race room on hyperhop.app is free, runs in the browser and needs no accounts, and up to 60 students can join one room.