5 Ways to Take Your Gaming Outdoors

Outside Review Activity 1 – Four Square Stand There

The materials you will need:

Several pieces of sidewalk chalk

How to prepare for the activity:

Draw four large squares on the ground and label with A, B, C, and D.

How your class does this activity:

Group your students into 4-6 groups. You will ask multiple choice questions, and one representative from each group will run to the square representing the answer. Each time you ask a new question, the group will select a new representative to answer the question.

To make the game more interesting (and to hold the students accountable for not just running to the same square), have the students repeat back the correct answer to gain their point. After four or five questions, select a new team to answer your questions.

How you can vary this activity:

A) Instead of using chalk squares, use places on the playground or on the field to designate answers. For example – a slide can be the answer space for choice A, and the monkey bars can be the answer space for choice B.

B) Draw two spaces or choose two locations and ask true/false questions. When the answer is “false,” a student must correct the statement to gain a point for the group.

Outside Review Activity 2 – Chalk Drawing Competition

The materials you will need:

Sidewalk chalk

Two-minute timer

Review questions and answers on slips of paper

How to prepare for the activity:

Divide your class into two teams.

Select an artist for each team.

How your class does this activity:

An artist for each team will choose a slip of paper. When you say, “Go,” the artist will draw the answer to the question, while his or her team figures out what he or she is drawing. The team that figures out the art first wins two points. To keep their points, the team must tell you the definition or the question that goes along with the answer. If the other team can answer their question, then they can earn a point.

How you can vary this activity:

You (the teacher) take the place of the artist, and the class works together as a team. The class can earn points for a group reward.

Outside Review Activity 3 – Question Hopscotch

The materials you will need:

Hopscotch board or chalk, if no board is available at your school

Beanbag, rock, or other marker that can be thrown on the board

Several printed lists of review questions and answers

How to prepare for the activity:

Draw hopscotch activity boards if your school does not already have them on your playground.

How your class does this activity:

Students team up in groups of three or four. One student is the questioner, while the other students take turns moving through the hopscotch board. The student will toss the beanbag or the rock and then hopscotch to the space. When the student arrives at the space, the questioner will ask the student the question that corresponds to the number on the space. To progress, the student on the board must answer the question correctly. The student will continue to move up and down the game board until he or she misses a question. The student who can answer all the questions correctly, or who stays on the board the longest, wins the round and becomes the questioner for the next round.

How you can vary this activity:

To review math facts, you can create a hopscotch board with equations, and the students must answer the equations to proceed.

Outside Review Activity 4 – Review Obstacle Course

The materials you will need:

Any playground equipment you have available in your classroom

Printed questions and answers, cut into strips with one question and answer on each strip

One cup or bin for questions at each obstacle

How to prepare for the activity:

Set up two obstacle courses with 5-8 obstacles each. Obstacles can be anything from running around cones and jumping over hula hoops to running in a circle around playground equipment. Then, leave a cup or a bin of questions at each obstacle.

How your class does this activity:

Place a student at each question bin, and then divide the remaining students into two teams. When you say, “Go,” the first student in each team will run the obstacle course. While running the course, the child will have to stop and answer a question at the end of each obstacle. If the child misses the question, he or she will have to redo the obstacle. Once the student completes the course, the next student may go. The team that finishes first wins. The students then reverse roles, and the runners are given question stations, while the students asking questions in the first round have a chance to run. Depending on your class size and obstacle number, it may take several rounds for each student to have a chance at running the course.

How you can vary this activity:

Instead of answering questions at each obstacle, place questions after two or three obstacles or only one question at the end of the course.

Outside Review Activity 5 – Racing Review Relay

The materials you will need:

Four cones or place markers

Printed list of questions and answers

How to prepare for the activity:

Place cones or markers to set up running lines for two teams.

How your class does this activity:

Divide your class into two teams. Each team will choose a student to ask questions, while the rest will line up at the starting line. The chosen students will take the question list and take a position at the finishing cone. When you say, “Go,” the first student at the starting line for each team runs to the finish cone. The student with the question list will ask a question off the list, and the running student must answer the question to return to the starting line. When the student answers the question correctly, he or she may run back to the starting line and tag the next person in line for that person’s turn to run.

If the student is not able to answer the question correctly, then he or she must run back to the starting line and run back to the finish cone for a new question. If the student cannot answer the second question correctly, then they may run back to start and tag the next person in line. The team with all students back across the starting line first wins the round. At the conclusion, the student asking questions asks the full team any questions that were not answered correctly during the game.

How you can vary this activity:

You can set this activity up with more than two teams, or you can run the activity with one race course. You would take the position of the student asking questions, and the class can race against their own times for the relay. At the end of the activity, you can review all the questions with the class, and the students who answered correctly during the race can answer during the whole class review.

Credit: Teaching with Jennifer Findley https://jenniferfindley.com/