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.
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Design a Donut Persuasive Writing Interactive
Explore persuasive writing with this fun donut-themed interactive activity.
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Odd and Even Properties Interactive Activity
Engage students in odd and even numbers with this interactive activity.
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Cooperation Social Stories - Interactive Activity
Help your students differentiate between uncooperative and cooperative behavior in social situations with an interactive activity.
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Classifying 3D Shapes - Interactive Activity
Classify 3D shapes according to their properties with this digital drag-and-drop activity.
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Food Chains - Interactive Activity
Review producers, consumers and decomposers in food chains with this interactive digital quiz.
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Comparing Fractions Board Game
Improve student understanding of how to compare fractions with the same numerators or denominators with this comparing fractions game.
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Spring Riddles Bingo
Bring spring into your classroom with a fun game of Spring Riddle Bingo!
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Build a Multiplication Gnome – Multiplication Fluency Game
Have fun recalling multiplication facts and building a cute gnome with this math game.
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Math Bowl - Mixed Operations Word Problem Game
Score a mathematical touchdown with by solving addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division word problems with an exciting football math game.
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Graphing Numerical Equations – Google Slides Interactive Activity
Recognize and analyze patterns in graphs, input-output tables, and equations with this interactive activity.
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Ratio Match-Up!
Match ratio models with numerical representations and written scenarios with this match-up activity.
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Rhyming Word Memory Game - Apple Edition
Bring a bit of fall into the classroom with an apple-themed rhyming word game for Preschool and Kindergarten.
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Producers, Consumers, and Decomposers – Interactive and Printable Activity
Sort producers, consumers, and decomposers, with this printable and interactive activity.
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Order of Operations Bingo
Review vocabulary and solve expressions with this Order of Operations Bingo game!
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I Have, Who Has? - Time to the Minute
Practice telling time to the nearest minute with this set of “I Have, Who Has” game cards.
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Google Interactive L-Blends Word Building Activity
Engage young readers to tackle L-blend words with an engaging and inviting Google Interactive activity.
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Let's Research! Digital and Print Poster Project Templates
Conduct, organize, and display research about books, people, planets, animals, states, and countries with a versatile set of printable and digital poster templates.
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Move It! - Long and Short Vowel 'O' PowerPoint Game
An active PowerPoint game to practice reading and identifying long and short vowel ‘o’ words.
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2-D Shape Match
A fun match-up activity to consolidate your students’ knowledge of 2-D shapes and their attributes.
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Fill the Grid Active Game
An active game that allows students to practice their multiplication facts.
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Backyard Bingo
A set of 6 bingo cards for kids to use when outside in nature.
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Segmenting and Blending CVC Words Interactive PowerPoint
An interactive PowerPoint for students to practice reading CVC words.
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I Have, Who Has? Fact and Opinion Game
A whole class game to help students understand the difference between a fact and an opinion.
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Human Rights Match-Up Activity
A match-up activity to consolidate the students' knowledge of how human rights affect their own lives.
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Vocabulary Dice Roll Activity
6 vocabulary activities to use with a range of words.
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Vertebrate or Invertebrate? Game
Have fun classifying vertebrates and invertebrates with an exciting Google Slides Interactive Science Game!
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Unit Fractions Kaboom Game
Practice unit fractions with this fun whole class Kaboom card game.
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Comparing and Ordering Decimals Interactive Activity
Get students to compare and order decimals this grocery-themed interactive digital resource, perfect for lesson introductions and wrap-ups.
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Donut You Love Arrays? Interactive Task Cards
Help your students relate multiplication facts and arrays with this set of 24 interactive task cards.
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3-Digit Interactive Clip Cards
Practice knowledge of 3-Digit numbers with this interactive clip card resource.
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Area Model Multiplication Interactive Activity
Help students understand how to use the area model of multiplication when solving multi-digit multiplication problems with this interactive activity.
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Consonant Digraph CH Interactive Activity
Engage students in practicing their learning around the consonant digraph of ‘ch’ with this fun beach-themed interactive activity.