Game Ideas

The game procedures are always the same, but the way the students earn points is changed every time we play a game. Since the procedures are the same, the transition into a game is quick. Having different ways to earn points, keeps the games from getting boring. Below you will find the common game procedures, question tracker, rules for each game, and pictures to guide set-up.

Students work in pairs.
BOTH students work out the same problem on their own whiteboard.
BOTH students bring their whiteboards to the teacher to check their answers.
If their answer is correct, the students play the game to earn points. One one students is able to earn the points each round. If their answer is incorrect, the teacher can give them hints to fix their answer.
Each pair writes the number of points they earned under the correct question number. If the student misses the opportunity to earn points, the pair earns 1 point.
The pair with the most points win.

CAUTION: Make sure your game is designed in a way that the fastest students are always winning. There has to be an element of chance.

Question Tracker

The question tracker keeps students accountable. Students write the number of points that they earned under the number of the question that they answered correctly.

Question Tracker for Game

Examples of Ways to Earn Points

Bowling

TO MAKE: Put about 1/2 cup of sand in the bottom of empty soda or water bottles. Add red tape to make the bottles look more like real bowling pins.

TO PLAY: Students roll a soft ball (Nerf works the best) after each question that they answer correctly. The number of points earned is equal to the number of pins knock over.

Sling Shot

TO MAKE: Put medium or large binder clips on the bottom of playing cards. Pick random numbers. Set up the cards in a line. Have a few rubber bands available.

TO PLAY: Students shoot the rubber bands at the cards. The number of points earned is equal to the number on the first card knocked over.

Snowman Tumble

TO MAKE: Use a Sharpie marker to make a smiling snowman's face on the side of a Styrofoam cup. Have a few pom poms available.

TO PLAY: Students throw the pom pom at the snowmen cups. The number of cups knocked over is equal to the number of points earned.

Water Guns

TO MAKE: Cover flower arranging foam or Styrofoam blocks in duct tape. Poke golf tees into the foam. Write 10, 5, and 2 on two ping pong balls each. Have an inexpensive water gun filled with water available.

TO PLAY: Students shoot water at the ping pong balls. The number on the first ping pong ball that is knocked off the golf tee is the number of points earned.

Fish Bowls

TO MAKE: Put fish stickers on the outside of a four glass containers. Fill with water (tint water blue with food dye).

TO PLAY: Students bounce ping pong balls into the containers. 10 points are earned if the ping pong ball lands in the container.

Golf

TO MAKE: Cut a whole in a small box to make window for the ball to go through. Cover the box in duct tape. Tape two index cards on top of each other on the end of a meter or yard stick. Use blue painter's tape on the floor to indicate how far back the students have to be to earn 2, 5 or 10 points. Have plastic golf balls available.

TO PLAY: Students putt the plastic golf ball into the whole. If the ball goes in the hole from the closest line, 2 points are earned. If the ball goes in the hole from the middle line, 5 points are earned. If the ball goes in the hole from the line farthest away, 10 points are earned.

Dice

TO MAKE: Put a die in a small plastic container. No more chasing dice around the room!

TO PLAY: Student shake the container with the die. The number on top of the die is the amount of points earned.

Minute to Win It

TO MAKE: Tape various sizes of cups to the side of a tape. Write 2, 5, or 10 on the tape or cup. Have straws and ping pong balls available.

TO PLAY: Students use the straw to blow a ping pong ball into a cup. They may not touch the ball. The number of points earned is equal to the number on the cup where the ball lands.

Ring Toss

TO MAKE: Purchase plastic rings (bracelets) and decorative containers. Place different number of points on each container.

TO PLAY: Students toss the rings into the containers. The number of points earned is the container where the ring lands.

Zonk!

TO MAKE: Write different numbers on ping pong balls using a Sharpie. Vary the points from 1 to 10 with most of the balls having the lower numbers. On two ping pong balls write Zong! Put ping pong balls into a bag.

TO PLAY: One student picks a ping pong ball or plastic golf ball from a bag. The number of points earned is equal to the number on the ball. If the Zonk! ball is picked, the student must cross off all of their previous points.

Whole Class Competitions!!

Fortress Battle

TO MAKE: Grab a box of dixie cups and a handful of rubber bands. Place both items near you!

TO PLAY: Students work in pairs within a "team." Each team of 2-4 pairs of students are working against one another. The objective is to build the tallest and strongest fortress. Each pair will receive a cup for every correct answered question. Once a pair has answered 4 questions, they have a decision. They can obtain another cup to continue to build their fortress or take 1 shot at another teams' fortress using a rubber band.

Trivia Crack!

TO MAKE: Varies on how much time you want to spend on creating the game. The easiest way is to project a set of sliced pies at the front of the room for each side and grab a handful of different colored markers to correlate with the different topics.

For example, balancing equations is a purple card, so if answered correctly they would color in their pie piece with a purple marker.

TO PLAY: Split the class into two teams. Each team works together to fill up as many entire pies as possible. Each pie must contain a slice from 6 different topic. So you should have 6 different colored pieces for each completed pie. Once a team completes a pie, they receive a "crown." The crowns are the points. Students must spin the wheel or roll the dice in order to get their next topic. They do not get to choose which topic they get to answer next.

To make things a little more interesting, add in a "Steal-a-Crown" as a choice when choosing the next topic. If they get this as their topic, students can choose whichever topic they'd like to answer and if it is correct they can steal another team's crown!

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