Nine Games that Don’t Compromise Student Learning

Check out the full episode to learn about the games that don't compromise learning.

Why Play Games in the Classroom?

Because they’re fun! Case closed. Moving on.

But seriously, by making the learning environment fun, you are increasing the buy-in of your students. When you increase their buy-in, they are going to learn better and more efficiently.

One thing about playing a game is the number of problems a student is going to complete. In order to learn something long term, students need to practice it between 18 and 254 times! That would the world’s worst worksheet.

Our goal as teachers is not to reduce the volume of practice. It’s about making that volume exciting, engaging, and meaningful.

So why not make the process fun?

Nine Games to Play in Your Classroom

1. Spoons

One thing I have found by having my students play SPOONS is this: They become quick to recognize the solution by quickly doing the math in their head. That’s a good thing! You become a better mathematician by doing the same thing over and over again, just like if you were a basketball player shooting a free throw.

How to Play Spoons:

Goal: Students try to collect a 4 of a kind.

Seat students in groups of 3 or 4 with a deck of math cards.
Place the spoons in the center of the group, one less than the number of players (4 players receive 3 spoons, 3 players receive 2 spoons).
Each student starts with 4 cards. The dealer takes the top card off the deck and places it in their hand. Then they remove one card from their hand and pass it face down to the player on their left. Each student continues this cycle. The last student creates a discard pile. If the dealer’s deck runs out, the discard pile is shuffled and dealt around again.
The cards are continuously moved around until a student gets 4 of a kind. (4 representations of the same item). The first student to get 4 of a kind grabs a spoon. Then anyone can take a spoon. The student without a spoon gets a letter. If a student spells “S-P-O-O-N”, they’re out. Last student standing wins!

2. Grudgeball

Grudgeball is like Trashketball, but more competitive and even a little vicious!

Split your class into 4 to 6 teams.
Start by giving every team 10 x’s.
Give the class a question. If teams get it correct, they each get to erase an x from another team! They cannot take it from their own team.
Each team with a correct answer gets a chance to increase the number of x’s they can erase. I do this by setting up a trashcan with two lines: a two-pointer and three-pointer. If they make it from either line, they get to erase that many additional x’s. They can split that number between teams or erase them all from one team.

And if a team loses all of their x’s, they can earn them back instead of erasing another teams.

3. Ultimate Tic Tac Toe

How to Win: The first person to win three small tic tac toe games in a row, wins the game.

Player 1 will use the symbol “X” and Player 2 with use the symbol “O.
Player 1 starts by solving an equation in any one of the boxes. Then Player 1 will mark it with an “X.”

– What square Player 1 picks determines the board Player 2 can play. And then whatever square Player 2 picks, determines the board Player 1 must play.

– For example, if Player 1 placed an x on the upper right corner, Player 2 must make their move in the upper left board.
If the board you must play in is already won, then you may play on any of the boards.
If there is a tie, then the board doesn’t count for either X or O.

While up front, that doesn’t sound academic, here are two ways I have changed that.

1. I’ve created boards that have students solve a problem before they put an x or an o.

2. Put a giant game board on the whiteboard and split the class into two teams. (Or for big classes, have two boards going for 4 teams!) The using questions, have the teams compete to place a spot on the tic tac toe board.

4. The Unfair Game

This is the game that I pull out at the end of a unit to play as a review game. It’s fun, keep kids engaged, and it’s simple to prep for.

I go into more details here, but here is the TLDR:

How to Play the Unfair Game:

Have a way to randomly pick students eg. Picker Wheel, Classroom Screen, sticks, etc. (Picker Wheel is my favorite because the spinning adds a dramatic flair!)
List out the prizes on the whiteboard. (I like to do 5-7 prizes).
Give students a problem.
Randomly pick a student.
If that student has the correct answer and can explain it, they can put their name by a prize.
If the student answers incorrectly or can’t explain it, pick another student.
Once the prizes are “claimed”, students can then steal from others, just like in White Elephant.
Continue until you run out of problems!

5. Zonk

Wow, this game brings back memories! When I was in 4th grade, Zonk was a staple game!

This game is similar to ZAP (which you can read about here). However there is one big difference. Instead of being able to “zap” the other team’s points, you can ZONK or lose all of your own team’s points in a round.

This is modeled after “Let’s Make a Deal!”. When your team gets the question correct, you get to draw score cards from a bucket. They are in increments of 100, ranging from 100 to 1,000. And you can draw as many cards as you like to earn points. But here’s the catch: If you draw a ZONK card, you lose all the points you’ve earned and your drawing of points ends.

6. Math Lottery

This is a great tool to make any worksheet or activity into a game! Natalie from The Teaching Files is the woman behind this phenomenon. Read how the Math Lottery works and download your free copy here!

7. Jeopardy

An oldie, but a goodie. While Jeopardy is a fun game to play, it’s not the easiest to set up. Because of this, I like to save this game for the end of a unit.

Thanks to the generous Eric Curts here is the free Google Slides Template I use in my classroom!

8. Ghosts in the Graveyard

👇 Check out Asia’s blog post for an in-depth review on how to play this game!

9. Paper Bag Review Game

If you are looking for a way to creatively review, this is the game for you! (That rhymed!) I love this game because it embodies something I value in the classroom for engagement: movement!

How to Play the Paper Bag Review Game:

Place paper bags around the room with answers on them.
Hand each student the questions for them to solve.
When students solve the problems, they can place their question card inside the corresponding bag.
At the end of the game, pull one card form each bag. If the student was correct, they win the bag and earn a prize!

If you want to learn more about the Paper Bag Review Game or hear the variations you can do, check out the podcast episode here!

Miss Kuiper