Games for Teachers
We don't have to tell you that fun classroom games are worth their weight in gold! Encouraging critical thinking, building social skills, and helping engage students with the curriculum? Yes, please. Get ready to bring game-based learning to your classroom with helpful printables, escape rooms, and more educational fun for elementary school students.
With a long list of benefits of learning games on hand, the teachers at Teach Starter have spent hours creating classroom card games, board games, scavenger hunts, and more that can help students build core competencies while having a whole lot of fun!
Game-based learning has gotten a lot of interest in recent years, but what exactly, is it? We know you've got a lot to do in your classroom and not a whole lot of time to do it, so our teacher team has put together a quick guide to gamification in education.
(Know all you need to know? Feel free to jump ahead to our printable and digital learning games!)
What Is Game-Based Learning?
In essence, game-based learning allows you to borrow from the gaming world to allow your students to engage with their lesson material in more dynamic ways. They can help improve student motivation and help students achieve learning objectives.
We like to think of it a bit like the parents who hide the broccoli inside the tasty hamburger. A little bit of gameplay helps the medicine — or core curriculum — go down!
Games aren't just fun, after all. They have failure baked into them, along with repetition, and the chance to accomplish goals along the way. Playing games in a classroom fosters many of those social and emotional learning skills, even when the topic at hand comes from the science curriculum or is focused on an ELA standard.
Why Are Classroom Games Good for Kids?
We hinted at some of the benefits earlier, but let's dig deep into the benefits of playing educational games in your classroom!
- They motivate students.
- Students develop critical thinking skills.
- They're student-centered.
- They build teamwork and leadership skills.
- Games encourage creativity and thinking outside of the box.
- They encourage students to challenge themselves.
- They improve student concentration.
Learning Games Ideas
Good teachers can make just about any lesson fun, but maybe you're looking for learning game ideas to mix things up. We thought you'd never ask!
Check out a few of our teacher team's favorite (and fun) ways to inject gameplay into your students' education:
- Digital escape rooms
- Card games
- Dominoes
- Active games
- Scavenger hunts
- Would you rather? games
- Bingo
- Board games
How to Use Games in the Classroom
Looking for a few fun ways to use games in the classroom? Our teacher team has a few quick ideas for you to try on for size!
- Play active games to help students get their wiggles out.
- Add a board game to your reading center or math center activities.
- Use flashcard-type or trivia games for material review.
- Explore new concepts in fun ways with games like 20 questions.
- Help students get to know one another at the beginning of a school year with teamwork games.
- Explore difficult concepts with skills-based games.
- Plus Plan
Escape From the Alien Invasion – Math Escape Room (Basic Fractions)
Save the planet from the alien invasion by identifying fractions, comparing fractions, creating models, and more with an exciting digital escape room.
- Free Plan
Roll and Read – Sight Words – Kindergarten
A fun game for students to practice reading sight words.
- Free Plan
Roll to Create a Creature - Drawing Game
Use a die and a chart to create a creature to include in a narrative text or a comic strip.
- Free Plan
Digraph Coding Robot Mat
Practice identifying digraphs with the help of a coding robot and mat.
- Free Plan
Perimeter and Area Dice Game
Use this area and perimeter dice game as a math center activity when teaching area and perimeter to your 3rd and 4th graders.
- Free Plan
Roll It! Operations Game
Use this fun game to practice all four operations and/or order of operations.
- Plus Plan
The Lost Library Card – Whole Class Escape Game
Use inference and problem-solving skills to decipher the puzzles and uncover the hidden code.
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Is It True? Listening Activity
Practice your students' listening skills with this listening activity.
- Free Plan
Would You Rather? International Women's Day Active Game
Engage your students in thought-provoking discussions with this set of International Women’s Day-themed "Would You Rather" questions.
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Collective Nouns Memory Game
Practice identifying collective nouns with a set of 30 match-up cards.
- Free Plan
Back To School - Listening Skill Refresh Activity
Refresh student listening skills with a Back to School Listening Skill Refresh Slides and script.
- Free Plan
Spring "Numberpillars" — Kindergarten Math Center Activity
Match numbers 1-10 with their various visual representations to build a fun mathematical caterpillar!
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Drama Game Task Cards
A set of 17 activity cards with instructions for drama games.
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Unit Fractions Interactive Activity
Explore everything there is to know about unit fractions with your students using this engaging interactive activity.
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Lucky's Loot - Digital St. Patrick's Day Math Activity
Save time lesson planning with a St. Patrick's Day Digital Math Activity that reviews multiple math concepts at once!
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Order of Operations Dice Game
Practice order of operations with this set of 6 dice activity mats.
- Free Plan
Last One Standing Active Game
An active game that allows students to build their vocabulary knowledge.
- Free Plan
Roll and Write - Simple and Compound Sentences
Practice writing simple and compound sentences with our Roll and Write activity.
- Free Plan
Fact Family Find and Flip - Addition and Subtraction Up to 20
Addition and subtraction game cards demonstrating the relationship between fact families.
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Animal Adaptations Digital Learning Activity Slides
Discover a variety of structural, behavioral, and physiological adaptations with an Animal Adaptations Digital Learning activity.
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Unit Fractions Game Show Interactive
Play a game of unit fractions with your students with this fun engaging interactive slide deck.
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Converting Units of Time Match-Up Game
Convert time units, including seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, and months by completing a match-up activity.
- Free Plan
Group It Many Ways – Multiplication Activity
Promote hands-on learning with this activity, where students will practice making equal groups to represent multiplication.
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Which One? – Listening Comprehension Exercise
An Interactive PowerPoint where students listen to a description and choose the matching image.
- Free Plan
Roll and Read – Sight Words – Grade 1
A fun game for students to practice reading sight words.
- Free Plan
Roll and Read – Rhyming Words
A fun game for students to practice reading rhyming words.
- Free Plan
Roll It, Make It, Expand It! - Place Value Worksheet
A worksheet for students to use when learning to write two-digit numbers in expanded form.
- Plus Plan
Addition and Subtraction Word Problems - Match Game
Practice reading, modeling, and solving addition and subtraction word problems with a matching activity.
- Free Plan
Decimal War Card Game
Get your students comparing decimals with this fun card game for two players.
- Free Plan
Animals and Their Babies Memory Game
Play a fun Memory-style animal game for kids to learn about animals and their babies.
- Free Plan
Never Have I Ever Questions for Kids ... Getting to Know You Game
See fun "Never Have I Ever" questions for kids to break the ice in your classroom and help students get to know one another.
- Free Plan
Multiplying with Decimals Bingo Game
Get your students multiplying decimals by whole numbers with this engaging Bingo game.