Learning should be exciting and fun for students. It should not be limited to reading textbooks and doing practice questions. One of the best ways to make learning interactive is to introduce fun activities and games in the classrooms. So that your students never get bored of learning. Besides, it is also helpful in motivating and encouraging students to be more creative and provoke the imagination. Therefore, we have dug deep to find out the best educational games for school students.
Regardless of the subject, you can incorporate the following best educational games for school students to engage students in learning.
Top 5 Educational Games for School Students
1. Hangman
It is a fun and interactive game to help your students improve their subject knowledge and spelling. For this game, you need a whiteboard, a marker, and a list of your subject-related words to start playing.
To begin, divide your class into two to three groups equally. Then, ask a student to stand in front of the class and either guess a word related to your subject or provide him with a word yourself. He will then draw spaces for each letter of the word.
The students in each group should guess the word – a letter at a time. Each letter that a group guesses wrong gets a line resulting in a hangman being drawn. The first team to guess the word will win the game if the hangman is yet not completely drawn.
Then, the game repeats with another student standing in front of the class and guessing a word.
In addition, if a hangman is not suitable, you can also replace it with something more creative such as a snowman.
2. Bingo
It is one of the best educational games for school students to motivate them in their learning. To play this game, you need a whiteboard and marker or paper and pen with a list of subject-related words such as keywords, formulas, historical figures, phonics, and numbers.
To start the game, ask students to draw 6×6 grids on their papers or whiteboard. Then, select 6 words from the list randomly, Next, describe the words one by one and ask students to guess the word. If any student guesses the word correctly, they can draw a cross on the grid. Keep describing words and students have to guess the word until a student successfully guesses the 6 words and shouts “Bingo!”.
Moreover, if any student guesses three words consecutively, they win the game even if all six words are yet not guessed.
In addition, students can also add their words in the grid and you have to describe them so students can guess and complete the grid. However, this can be a little confusing and time-consuming yet challenging. If you have more time and want the game to be more challenging, then it is a good idea that students add their own words to the grid.
3. Charades
It is a simple but fun game. Besides, the good thing about this game is that it encourages students to leave their seats and participate in the class. To start playing Charades, you need a list of words related to your subjects.
Initially, select a student randomly to start the game. And ask the student to stand in front of the class and give him a word. He should act the word out while other students have to guess the word. They can either shout out or raise their hand s which depends on the teacher’s preference. Besides, the student who is acting out the word is not allowed to talk.
Any student who guesses the word right will get the chance to act on the next word.
4. Draw swords
This game is good to check your students’ speed in finding a piece of information. Besides, it is promotes thinking and healthy competition amongst students.
To play this game, you need either a long list of words or a dictionary. Then, divide your class into small groups. Each group should select one student who will get a dictionary or a long list of words. Next, you will give them a word which they have to quickly find out in the dictionary. The first student to find the word earns a point. Then, the game continues with some more students from each group.
The group that earns the most points wins the game.
Alternatively, if you have a dictionary or a list of words for each student, then the entire class can play the game together. You can repeat the game a fixed number of times and the student who has found more words wins the game.
5. Hot Potato
This is a fun and challenging game that makes students give answers as quickly as possible to win the game. You need an object and a list of words to play this game. Then, you need to divide your class into small groups.
In each group, randomly select a student and give him the object. Then, name a theme or title. For instance, name the first group “Prime Number”. Then, the student who has the object has to guess 5 prime numbers such as 2, 3, 5, 7, 11 and others will keep passing the object.
If the student names the five numbers before the object is passed around and returns back to him, he wins the game. Otherwise, he will fail. Nevertheless, the game continues with another student.
This is the best game to help students think and respond quickly. Also, they can learn how to answer the questions under stress and pressure. Besides, students who feel shy and do not usually participate in the class can get courage and have fun.
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