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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Chicken Evolution Active Game
A whole class active game that encourages cognitive processing skills, physical activity, and social skills.
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The Bean Game
A fun active game to play at any time.
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Drama Game Task Cards
A set of 17 activity cards with instructions for drama games.
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Vocabulary Dice Roll Activity
6 vocabulary activities to use with a range of words.
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Elapsed Time Interactive Word Problems Game
Practice solving elapsed time word problems with an interactive quiz game for 3rd and 4th graders.
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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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Choices and Consequences Board Game
Encourage your students to think about the choices they make with this printable SEL board game.
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Everyday Stress Coping Strategies Interactive Game
Develop your students’ ability to effectively cope with everyday stress using this interactive learning game.
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Road to High Self-Esteem Board Game
Help students understand what self-esteem is and how to boost their own self-esteem with this board game.
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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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Rainbow Affixes - Prefix and Suffix Game
Define words with prefixes and suffixes with a self-checking interactive game!
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Build It! End of Year Interactive Engineering Activity
Bring engineering into the digital classroom with an interactive design project.
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End of Year Scoot and Glyph Activity
End the school year with an activity in which students get to share their summer plans, get moving, and create a work of art.
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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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Money Bingo (US Currency)
32 different bingo cards using bills and coins.
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How to Make a Pizza Interactive Activity
Use this “How to Make a Pizza” procedural writing interactive activity to model the purpose, structural elements and language features of procedure texts.
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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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3rd Grade - Time to the Minute Quiz Game
Practice telling time to the minute with an engaging 3rd Grade Telling Time Quiz Game.
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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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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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Animals and Their Babies Memory Game
Play a fun Memory-style animal game for kids to learn about animals and their babies.
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Would You Rather? Animal Adaptations Game
Discuss and debate the best animal adaptations with the Would You Rather? Animal Adaptation game.
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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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Calculate the Perimeter Interactive Activity
Teach students how to calculate the perimeter with this drag-and-drop digital activity, perfect for whole-class and individual learning.
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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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What Would You Do? Empathy Board Game
Challenge your students to think about the feelings of others and how to appropriately respond with the empathy board game.
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Let's Look at Self Esteem Interactive Activity
Boost your students' self-esteem with this fun and engaging interactive activity.
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Team Building Games – Upper Grades
Encourage communication and cooperation with this set of 10 team-building games.
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Kindergarten Counting 1-20 Matching Game
Use this matching game in your primary classroom to teach students to count quantities and match them to numbers (1-20).
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Bump! Subtraction to 10 Math Game
Practice subtraction facts to 10 with a fun printable subtraction board game.
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Find The Imposter! Interactive Suffix Game
Practice using the suffixes -s and -es to pluralize words with an exciting FInd the Imposter Interactive activity.
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Algebraic Expressions – Google Slides Interactive Activity
Practice writing, reading, and solving algebraic expressions with this set of interactive activities.