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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2-D Shape Bingo
Engage your students while consolidate learning about 2D shapes, their names and properties with 2D Shape Bingo!
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Line Plot Bakery Interactive Activity
Assign this bakery-themed interactive activity to your students to build their understanding of analyisng and creating line plots.
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Roll, Count, and Cover - Dot Day Activities
Build fine motor skills and counting skills with a set of printable Roll, Count, and Color Dot Day Activities.
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Moving Mathematics Activity - Fact Family Triangles
A fun mathematics activity that explores the inverse relationship between addition and subtraction.
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Numerical Expressions Match-Up
Evaluate numerical expressions and find corresponding mathematical phrases with this match-up activity.
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Continents and Oceans Roll and Color Game
Learn to identify the continents and oceans of the world with a Continents and Oceans Roll and Color Game.
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Hunt & Find - Telling Time Clock Game
Tell time to the nearest minute with a Tell the Time Clock Game for 3rd graders.
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Rhetorical Questions Interactive Activity
Explore rhetorical questions with your students using this digital game perfect for your persuasive writing lessons.
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Roll to Create an Animal - Adaptations Activity
Roll to choose cool animal adaptations for a mystery animal using a fun dice game and report template.
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Long Vowel O Teams Interactive Activity
Practice identifying the different graphemes that spell the long /o/ sound with this fun boat-themed interactive activity.
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Long E Vowel Teams Interactive Activity
Practice identifying the different graphemes that spell the long /e/ vowel teams with this fun space-themed interactive activity.
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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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Environmental Factors That Affect Plants and Animals – Interactive Activity
Help your students learn about how environmental factors such as the weather affect plants and animals using this engaging and informative interactive activity.
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The Case of the Missing Football – Estimating Products Escape Activity for 4th Grade
Uncover the identity of the thief who stole the football with a printable estimating products escape room activity.
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Top Secret Scavenger Hunt – Estimating Decimal Sums and Differences
Join the decimal scavenger hunt adventure! Download our printable scavenger hunt and guide your students to sharpen their estimation skills by using decimal benchmark values when finding sums and differences.
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Prefix, Suffix, and Root Word Bingo
Examine prefixes, suffixes, and root words and identify their morphological meanings in this BINGO game.
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Area of a Triangle Matching Activity for 6th Grade
Calculate the area of triangle figures and match them with their corresponding areas with this match-up activity.
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Up, Up, & Away! Volume of Rectangular Prisms – Google Slides Interactive Activity
Practice calculating the volume of rectangular prisms with this Google Slides interactive activity.
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Rolling for Cash — Printable Counting Coins Game
Print a customizable money game for kids that requires addition and skip counting skills to count coins.
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Sit Down If… Back to School Movement Icebreaker
Have your students giggling on day 1 with this getting-to-know-you activity.
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Roll and Cover – Telling Time to the Minute
Practice telling to the minute with this roll and cover game
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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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Oblivious Orchestra – Rhythm Challenge
A fun and challenging game where students try to keep a steady beat.
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What Am I? – Music and Instruments
A fun game for students to identify various musical instruments and terminology.
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Roll and Read – Rhyming Words
A fun game for students to practice reading rhyming words.
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Snakes and Ladders Game Board Template
Create a fun activity for any subject area with this black-and-white board game template.
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Parts of an Animal Labeling Activity - Digital Learning Resource
Identify and label animal body parts with an interactive labeling activity for preschoolers.
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Planets Escape Room Activity
Navigate facts about different planets with this fun and engaging escape room style activity with your students.
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1st Grade Telling Time Game - Mystery Reveal
Practice telling time to the hour and half-hour with an interactive Telling Time Game for first grade.
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What Are Behavioral Adaptations? Digital Interactive Notebook
Discover behavioral adaptations of animals with an independent research-based Behavioral Adaptation Digital Learning Notebook.
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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.
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Choices and Consequences Board Game
Encourage your students to think about the choices they make with this printable SEL board game.