14 Classroom Games to Play with Students

Combining serious and fun elements in lesson plans is incredibly valuable. It's all about creating an engaging and enjoyable learning experience. By infusing education with elements of excitement and playfulness, we can kindle students' curiosity and get them interested and invested in a given subject. 

This approach not only breaks the monotony of traditional teaching methods but also cultivates essential skills like critical thinking, problem-solving, and collaboration. So, to help with the fun element, we have compiled these fun games that will help you improve the learning experience of any class. 

What are the benefits of fun educational games?

Engaging and Enjoyable Learning: Games make learning fun and exciting, making students genuinely interested and eager to participate.

1. Remembering and Understanding: Playing games helps me remember information better because it's a hands-on experience that allows me to apply what I've learned in a practical way, leading to a deeper understanding of concepts.
2. Developing Problem-Solving Skills: Games challenge me to think critically and solve problems within the game's context, which helps me sharpen my problem-solving skills and become a better thinker overall.
3. Collaboration and Teamwork: Many games involve working with classmates towards a common goal, allowing me to collaborate, communicate, and develop teamwork skills while having a great time together.

Examples of fun classroom games 

Classic school games

These games need no introduction and there is a reason why they have been a staple of many classroom lessons for decades. 

• Hangman 

Perfect for teaching English or any foreign language, Hangman can also be used in your next science class for periodic elements or parts of the body. You just have to be creative!

• Pictionary 

An excellent game to play in teams, Pictionary will require students to think creatively and hone their explanation skills. Perfect for small groups you can easily introduce a competitive element.

• 20 Questions 

A classic game for history classes, 20 Questions can be used for any subject as students guess their way to the correct answer.

• Bingo

A classic game that everyone and their Grandmother knows. It’s easy to customize this for any subject and to twerk the rules to make it easy and fun or challenging and competitive.

Classroom Quizzes

A quiz is a great way to break from the norm and gives students something to compete for. Pop quizzes can send shivers down the spine of many students but we know that quizzes need not be daunting. They can be enjoyable and,  more importantly, interactive. 

Games by subject

Math games

• 101 and Out

Roll a dice and get as close to 100 as possible. Students will need to calculate odds, think strategically, and work together to come out successful.

English / ESL games 

• The Minister’s Cat

Students standing or sitting in a circle go one by one and must describe the eponymous Minister’s Cat using adjectives beginning with the same letter. This game is perfect for expanding students’ vocabulary words.

‘The Minister’s Cat is a rowdy cat.’ ‘The Minister’s Cat is a rough cat.’ So on and so forth. The round ends when a student uses a word already said or cannot come up with a word in time. 

• Chinese Whispers

Split into teams and play a good old game of Chinese Whispers. For English create sentences with interesting tenses, clauses, or new words. For ESL classes, focus on words that could be tough to spell, new tenses, or some unique or interesting word or phrase. 

• Dictate This

Read a passage, play an interview or video, and let teams of students dictate what is being said. Spice up the game by providing hints for tough words and let your students write down answers on pieces of paper.

History games

• Jeopardy!

This classic game show is the perfect History class game. Divide the board into a variety of historical subjects, periods in history, or famous figures. Let students team up to play or let them go it alone. Honestly, this may be the best game for any social studies subject. 

• Last Man Standing

Choose a historical topic and ask students to name something related to that topic. If they repeat a response or can’t come up with one, then they are out.

Science games

• Taboo

This game is designed to help students retain and understand important information. Trying to describe photosynthesis without saying photosynthesis can be quite a challenge but is far easier if students can understand the process and explain it in their own words. 

Geography games

• Mentimeter Pin-on-Image Quiz

Here we have an interactive geography quiz that will require students to be fast and accurate. What’s great is that you can customize it to test their knowledge of cities, countries, and continents. 

Find the Country

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• Where are we going?

Pick a destination and give your students a series of clues about the destination - landmarks, historical figures, and more. The first to answer correctly is the winner!

More than online classroom games

Most of these games work well in the classroom but what about online games or interactive games? We don’t just mean educational video games - or which there are now plenty. 

But why not bring some interactivity to all of your lessons? And not just a fun quiz or game to help students retain information. See how Mentimeter can help to create a more engaging and tech-friendly learning environment.