activities for education students

• Grades 6-12
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27 Classroom Games Students Will Want To Play Again and Again

Practice important skills … and have fun!

The classroom games you choose to play with students may become their favorite memories. (I still remember playing Heads Up, Seven Up in Mrs. Merar’s first grade class!) Classroom games are a great way to build collaboration and community and practice important skills. Plus, they’re fun!

Benefits of Classroom Games

Classroom games capture what kids are naturally good at—playing—to improve other skills. Games support kids’ executive functioning skills , things like planning, organization, turn-taking, and problem-solving are all skills that students need to be successful. Playing games, from Memory to Monopoly, gives kids experience in focus and concentration, working memory, and flexibility in safe spaces where they can grow and stretch these skills. Plus, they’re a fun way to learn more about how your students think and work together.

In addition to all the classroom games listed below, check out our lists of most loved educational board games and best board games for 6-to-12-year-olds .

Here are our favorite classroom games that you can use to teach, reteach, and engage students.

Games for Practicing Academic Skills

Classroom games can help students practice things that they need to know—like multiplication tables, vocabulary words, and science facts. They’re great ways to do a quick review or practice for a quiz.

Math (or Fact) Baseball

Divide the class into two teams. One team is “at bat” and scores runs by answering questions that are worth one, two, or three bases. You “pitch” the questions using flash cards. If the at-bat team answers correctly, they move around the baseball field and rack up runs. If the at-bat team does not answer correctly, the defending team can respond correctly to earn an out. Once the at-bat team has three outs, they switch.

You can also put students into pairs and have them play a partner version.

Why we love it:  This game is great for upper elementary students who are able to follow the game and will love the strategy of earning runs.

Beach Ball Toss

Write questions on the sides of a plastic beach ball. You can write questions about a story (plot, theme, setting, characters, structure), about math (write numbers 1 through 6 on the beach ball and students have to select a math problem based on the number they choose), or simply silly questions that students can answer. As students catch the ball, they answer the question. When they’ve answered, they throw the ball to the next player. If you’re working with material that may be new for some kids, you can give each kid one “pass” and they can share the problem-solving with another student.

Why we love it: It’s flexible and works with students’ eye-hand coordination.

Buy it: Beach Balls at Amazon

Learn more: More Than Elementary

Create a list of topics that students can visualize (think: science concepts, vocabulary words). Students work either in two teams for the entire class or in small groups that are divided into two. One student selects a card and has to draw an image that the other team uses to guess the word. The rest of the group guesses the term that’s being drawn. Add a timer for an added challenge. Provide additional differentiation by allowing students to provide one, two, or more letters in the word as well.

Why we love it: Kids who have strengths in drawing and thinking outside the box can really shine.

Learn more: Differentiation Daily

There’s the Simon Says you know from the playground and the Simon Says classroom game. In this Simon Says, tell students to do something that lets them show off what they’ve learned or practices a skill. So you might say, Simon Says spell “conundrum.” Or Simon Says solve this equation. Play either as a whole class with you as Simon or in small groups with cards of prompts that students can use when they take turns being Simon.

Why we love it: In addition to practicing skills, students also practice listening and impulse control.

20 Questions

Prepare cards with related words or topics. Group students into teams of two to four students. One at a time, students choose a card and the others have to try to guess what the card is by asking questions that can only be answered with a yes or no. Keep track of how many questions are asked, because you’re only allowed 20 questions to get to the answer. Have students put aside the cards they didn’t get for review.

Why we love it: Students practice working memory as they add new information to what they already know.

Also, Guess in 10 is a great 20 Questions–style game played around various topics, including animals, countries, and cities.

Buy it: Guess in 10 at Amazon

Memory is a game that students can do with any content—vocabulary words paired with their definitions, chemistry terms paired with images that depict them, or text structures paired with graphic organizers. First, have students create card pairs. Shuffle the cards and put them on the table. Take turns flipping cards over and finding the matching pairs.

Why we love it: Memory is so versatile you can use this game with anything from procedures to vocabulary to history facts.

Buy it: Blank Memory Cards at Amazon

In charades, students choose a card and act out the information on the card. For a unit on weather, you may have the words cloud , tornado , or hurricane for example. Scaffold this game with three rounds. In the first round, students can explain the topics using a few words. Then, in the second round, they can only use one word to describe what they are acting out. And in the third round, they have to be completely silent, using only their bodies to act out each word.

Why we love it: This game gets students up and moving around and thinking creatively about how to show what they know.

Learn more: Savvy Apple

Put students in the hot seat to review the plot points of a story, practice answering questions, or review for a science test. First, choose vocabulary to review. Then, select a student to sit in the hot seat. The other students ask questions about the topic or information. The student in the hot seat must answer as quickly as possible. If their answer is correct, they stay in the hot seat. If they get a wrong answer, they can pass the seat to someone else. (You can take the pressure out of this game, which can make some students nervous, by removing the timed aspect.)

Why we love it: Hot Seat is a great way to get students to practice information they need to have right at the tip of their tongue.

Scattergories

Scattergories can be played for academics or for fun. It also helps students improve their creative thinking. You’ll need a list of at least 10 categories—mix serious topics with silly ones. Then, select a letter of the alphabet. Have students brainstorm words to go with each category that starts with that letter. So, if the categories you have are Weather, Bees, and Favorite Places, and the letter is H, students might write: hurricane, hive, Hawaii. Give a set amount of time for students to complete their own brainstorm, then share out. Students can rack up points for the number of categories that they complete. And sharing out helps them connect their brainstorming with everyone else’s.

Why we love it: The boundaries that kids have to work in when playing Scattergories is ideal for inspiring creativity.

Get printable Scattergories sheets on Pinterest.

Fix It Relay Race

Divide the class into teams of four to six students, and prepare sentences that each have an error—it could be a factual error for content classes or grammar or spelling mistakes for language classes. Arrange students in a line, with students standing a few feet apart. The first student in each team must correct one mistake in the sentence they are given. Then, they pass the card to the next teammate. The next student corrects another mistake. This continues until each team member has seen the card and they think all the errors are corrected. Then they run the card to the front to complete the relay.

Why we love it: Teams work together to complete each task.

Buy it: Fix It Sentences at Teachers Pay Teachers

This is another classic game that can be adapted to any academic content. Each student gets a card that is taped to their back or their forehead. The card has a name of a person you’re studying or a topic on it. Then, the students circulate and ask questions of other people to try to figure out who or what is taped to them.

Why we love it: This game is easily differentiated by providing students with personalities that you know they are familiar with, and by providing them with questions to ask or a checklist of personalities that they can be thinking about as they figure out who everyone is.

Word Scramble

Each student or group has a word. The goal is to pull as many words out of the original word as possible within the time limit.

Why we love it: Word Scramble encourages flexibility, and students may be surprised at what they see in each game.

Stickyball Bingo

Create a bingo board on your whiteboard with the words that you want students to work with or the math problems you want them to do. Then, have students throw a sticky ball at the board to select their game.

Why we love it: When their aim is poor, students may have to answer questions that push them out of their comfort zone.

Musical Chairs

Prepare a list of discussion questions or prompts. Students choose a card, then walk around the room while music plays. When the music stops, they find a partner and work on the questions they see on the card. You can prepare cards with math or science problems, questions from social studies, getting-to-know-you questions, or silly questions. Changing the type of questions that students are working with keeps this game fresh.

Why we love it: Musical chairs really gets students up and moving, and if you remove the loss of a chair each time, all students can stay in the game.

Check out these school-appropriate songs kids love .

Flashcard Duel

Students each have a set of flash cards and use them to “duel.” In pairs, students show each other a flash card one at a time. If they answer the card right, they get to keep the card. If they don’t, their partner keeps the card.

Why we love it: It’s fast-paced and easy for students to pick up and play during a few minutes of downtime.

Classroom Games for Communication

Games that require students to talk and listen to each other are great ways to encourage communication.

Yes, No, Stand Up

Have a list of sentences prepared. When you read a sentence, students stand if their response is yes and stay seated if it’s no.

Why we love it: Students practice listening skills and inhibition by standing or not in response to your questions.

Blind Square

Use a long rope and blindfolds. Have students stand in groups of four, then put the blindfolds on and hold the rope between them so it creates a square. They have to work together to put the rope down on the floor in front of them.

Why we love it: This game is great for middle schoolers to learn to work together.

Odd One Out

Prepare this game with a set of words or phrases written on slips of paper. Have students work in pairs or small groups to categorize the words or phrases as they relate to each other. Students have completed the game when they find the odd one out. So, students may have a group of four people from the Revolutionary War but only three who were presidents, so the one who is not a president is the odd one out.

Why we love it: Odd One Out requires students to use critical thinking and working memory as they come to each answer.

Can You Hear Me Now?

This is a fun warm-up or cool-down for the day. It’s also a great classroom game to play if you’re teaching virtually. Play as a class or in groups. Each student takes a turn describing an item for the others to draw one step at a time. For example, if the object were “cat,” the description might be: Draw a circle. Draw two triangles on top of the circle. And so on until a cat is drawn. It’ll surprise students how their directions are interpreted, and how hard it is to get people to follow their directions.

Why we love it: This is a humorous way to reinforce that students need to be clear in their directions and listen to yours.

Classroom Games for Collaboration and Team Building

Games that require teamwork are ideal for helping kids practice collaboration in short bursts and around a common, if silly, goal.

Minute To Win It

Challenge your class to compete in tasks that can take under a minute. You could:

• Speed-stack paper cups.
• Roll a coin between fork tongs.
• Transfer pom-poms with chopsticks.
• Build a tower out of marshmallows and toothpicks.
• Pass a balloon from one person to another without using your hands.
• Put together a puzzle.

Why we love it: It’s a quick way to engage students and shift students into a positive frame of mind.

Learn more: Fun and Easy Minute To Win It Games

Over the Electric Fence

Put two chairs in a row, and tell students that they are connected by a wire that is 3 feet high. Even better, string a rope 3 feet high. Students have to imagine that this is an electric fence and if they touch it they are dead. They’ll help everyone get over the fence and work together to do so. Make it even more challenging by telling students that they have to hold hands while moving everyone from one side of the fence to the other.

Why we love it: Students will have to slow down and figure out exactly how to solve the problem.

Create a square in your classroom using tape. Then, place plastic cups or cones around the inside of the square. This area is the minefield. Break students into pairs. One student is blindfolded and the other leads them. The students have to cross the minefield without touching or knocking down the plastic cups. The non-blindfolded student gives directions and the blindfolded student must follow them to cross the minefield without blowing up a “mine” or knocking over a cone.

Why we love it: Students will get out of their comfort level while playing this game.

Start with general everyday scenes (eating dinner, brushing teeth). Have two people act out a scene while everyone else watches. After a time, stop the scene and have someone swap out for a new player. Then, they have to change how the scene is being done. They could, for example, turn eating dinner into taking care of a pet. Once students are familiar with the game, make it more challenging with prompts from the book you’re reading or history scenarios (e.g., Washington crossing the Delaware turns into the French Revolution).

Why we love it: This game gives older students the opportunity to work with a variety of people and get creative connecting scene to scene.

Check out more team-building activities for kids and cooperative games for kids .

Classroom Games for Fun

Sometimes you need classroom games that simply let students have fun and blow off steam!

Freeze Dance

This is a great brain break. Put on music and dance (challenge kids to a Floss-off or the Macarena to get everyone moving). Then, pause the music and any student who unfreezes before the music starts again is out.

Why we love it: You’ll see some students come out of their shells once the music starts.

Heads Up, Seven Up

Why we love it: This is a classroom game we remember from our elementary school years, and now we’re passing it along!

Tic-Tac-Toe

Use a version of tic-tac-toe during the dreaded indoor recess or as a brain break.

Tic-tac-toe with Hula-Hoops:

Human Tic-Tac-Toe:

Why we love it: Whichever version you choose, tic-tac-toe is a quick game that’s always a winner.

Place a number of objects (up to 20) on a table (or post on a slide with 20 words or pictures) and have students take one minute to try to memorize as many as they can. Then, cover the objects or hide the slide and have students write down as many as they can remember. Play this game once a week or so and see how students improve their memory strategies.

Why we love it: Students will sharpen their focus and memory skills trying to remember as many objects as possible.

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Teaching online check out these top online educational games ..

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35 Fun Classroom Activities to Keep Students Engaged

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The fun classroom activities to keep students engaged in your classroom are designed to spark creativity and foster a love for learning.

From interactive games to hands-on experiments, these activities cater to diverse learning styles and interests.

By incorporating engaging activities into your lesson plans, you can create a dynamic and stimulating learning environment that promotes active participation and knowledge retention.

Whether you’re looking to reinforce math concepts through games like Fraction War or ignite the imagination with Story Cubes, these activities are sure to captivate students’ attention and make learning enjoyable.

Fun Classroom Activities to Keep Students Engaged

Fraction War

Fraction War is a thrilling educational game that transforms learning fractions into an exciting competition. Students engage in friendly battles using math-inspired cards, enhancing their understanding of fractions while having a blast.

This interactive activity not only reinforces mathematical concepts but also fosters a sense of competitiveness and teamwork among students.

By incorporating Fraction War into your classroom routine, you can create a dynamic learning environment that promotes both academic growth and social skills development.

Get ready to witness students eagerly participating in this engaging game, eager to showcase their math prowess and strategic thinking. Fraction War is the perfect blend of fun and learning, making it a valuable addition to any math curriculum.

Hangman is a classic and interactive word game that adds an element of excitement to the classroom.

This engaging activity is not only a fun way to unwind at the end of the day but also a fantastic opportunity for students to enhance their vocabulary and spelling skills. By guessing letters to uncover a hidden word, students can sharpen their critical thinking and problem-solving abilities in a playful setting.

Hangman encourages active participation and collaboration among students as they work together to solve the puzzle and avoid the “hanging” outcome.

Integrating Hangman into your classroom routine can create a lively and engaging atmosphere that promotes language development and teamwork. Students will eagerly anticipate their turn to guess letters and solve the mystery word, fostering a sense of camaraderie and friendly competition.

This game is a versatile tool that can be adapted to various subjects and themes, making it a valuable addition to any teacher’s repertoire. Incorporate Hangman into your classroom activities to inject a dose of fun and learning into your students’ day.

Scavenger Hunt

Get students moving and thinking by organizing a themed scavenger hunt within the classroom.

Scavenger hunts are not only a fun and interactive way to engage students but also a great opportunity to promote teamwork and problem-solving skills. By creating clues related to the lesson material or a specific theme, students can actively apply their knowledge in a hands-on and exciting way.

This activity encourages critical thinking as students decipher clues, collaborate with their peers, and navigate the classroom to find hidden treasures.

Incorporating a scavenger hunt into your classroom activities can spark curiosity and enthusiasm among students, making learning more enjoyable and memorable. It provides a dynamic learning experience that caters to different learning styles and encourages active participation.

Additionally, scavenger hunts can be easily customized to suit various subjects and age groups, adding versatility to your teaching toolkit. By incorporating this engaging activity, you can create a stimulating learning environment that fosters creativity, teamwork, and a sense of accomplishment among students.

Encourage creativity and teamwork by playing the classic drawing and guessing game, Pictionary.

This engaging activity not only sparks imagination but also fosters collaboration among students as they work together to decipher drawings and guess the correct words.

Pictionary is a fantastic way to enhance communication skills and promote a sense of camaraderie in the classroom. By incorporating themed words related to the lesson material, you can also reinforce learning in a fun and interactive manner.

This game provides a refreshing break from traditional teaching methods and allows students to express themselves artistically while honing their observational skills.

Pictionary is a versatile activity that can be adapted to various subjects and age groups, making it a valuable addition to your repertoire of classroom activities.

Combine learning and fun with this educational twist on the traditional bingo game. Math Bingo is a fantastic way to reinforce mathematical concepts playfully and engagingly.

By incorporating numbers, equations, or math problems into the bingo cards, students can practice arithmetic skills while enjoying a friendly competition with their peers.

This activity not only helps improve numerical fluency but also boosts students’ confidence in solving math problems.

Math Bingo can be customized to suit different skill levels, from basic addition and subtraction for younger students to more complex multiplication and division for older ones.

Teachers can adapt the game to align with specific learning objectives or curriculum standards, making it a versatile tool for classroom instruction.

Additionally, Math Bingo encourages active participation and attentiveness, as students eagerly listen for the next number or equation to mark on their cards.

With Math Bingo, learning math becomes an interactive and enjoyable experience, fostering a positive attitude toward numbers and problem-solving.

This game not only enhances mathematical proficiency but also promotes teamwork and strategic thinking among students.

Incorporate Math Bingo into your lesson plans to make math lessons more dynamic and engaging for your students.

“Charades” is a classic game that not only entertains but also enhances communication skills and creativity.

By engaging in this interactive activity, students have the opportunity to think on their feet, express ideas non-verbally, and interpret gestures and expressions.

This game encourages teamwork as students work together to convey and decipher messages through actions and gestures.

Additionally, “Charades” promotes creativity as participants must think creatively to convey specific words or phrases without speaking. Through this fun and engaging game, students can improve their ability to communicate effectively, think outside the box, and collaborate with their peers.

“Charades” is a versatile activity that can be adapted to various themes or subjects, making it a valuable addition to classroom activities that promote both social interaction and cognitive development.

STEM Challenges

STEM Challenges offer a dynamic way to engage students in hands-on learning experiences that inspire critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

By integrating science, technology, engineering, and math concepts into interactive challenges, students can apply theoretical knowledge to real-world scenarios. These activities encourage creativity, collaboration , and innovation as students work together to design solutions and overcome obstacles.

STEM Challenges not only foster a deeper understanding of STEM subjects but also promote skills essential for future success in various fields. Through these engaging challenges, students can develop a growth mindset, enhance their analytical abilities, and cultivate a passion for exploration and discovery.

Story Cubes

Encourage creativity and narrative skills in your classroom by incorporating the engaging activity of Story Cubes.

By rolling dice featuring various images, students can spark their imagination and craft original stories based on the pictures they land on.

This interactive game not only fosters storytelling abilities but also enhances students’ creativity and critical thinking skills as they connect the different images into a cohesive narrative.

Story Cubes provide a fun and dynamic way for students to explore different story elements, characters, settings, and plot twists. This activity can be adapted to various subjects, allowing students to express their ideas and thoughts creatively.

By engaging in storytelling through Story Cubes, students can improve their communication skills, boost their confidence, and develop a deeper appreciation for the power of storytelling in conveying messages and emotions effectively.

Integrating Story Cubes into your classroom activities can transform traditional learning into a captivating and interactive experience that motivates students to think outside the box and unleash their storytelling potential.

Test students’ knowledge with a classroom adaptation of the popular quiz show, “Jeopardy.” This interactive game format challenges students to showcase their understanding of various subjects through engaging trivia questions and answers.

By incorporating “Jeopardy” into your classroom activities, you can create a competitive yet fun learning environment that motivates students to actively participate and dynamically demonstrate their knowledge.

This activity not only reinforces key concepts and information but also encourages teamwork, critical thinking, and quick decision-making skills.

“Jeopardy” can be customized to suit different topics and learning objectives, making it a versatile and effective tool for reviewing material, assessing comprehension, and fostering a spirit of healthy competition among students.

Paper Airplane Contest

Challenge students to unleash their creativity and competitive spirit in a thrilling “Paper Airplane Contest.”

This engaging activity not only encourages students to showcase their artistic skills but also fosters teamwork and sportsmanship.

By designing and testing their paper airplanes, students can explore aerodynamics, physics, and problem-solving in a hands-on and entertaining way.

The contest provides a platform for students to experiment with different designs, materials, and techniques, promoting innovation and critical thinking.

Additionally, the friendly competition aspect adds excitement and motivation , making learning a fun and interactive experience.

Memory Game

Challenge students’ cognitive abilities and boost their focus with an engaging “Memory Game.”

This classic activity not only enhances concentration and memory skills but also promotes cognitive development in a playful setting.

By encouraging students to match pairs of cards or objects, they can sharpen their memory retention and cognitive processing abilities.

The competitive element adds excitement and motivation, making the learning experience both educational and entertaining.

Additionally, the game fosters a sense of achievement as students successfully recall and match items, boosting their confidence and self-esteem.

Incorporating this interactive and stimulating activity into the classroom can provide a valuable opportunity for students to enhance their cognitive skills while having fun.

Classroom Karaoke

Start the “Classroom Karaoke” session by creating a vibrant and supportive atmosphere where students can showcase their talents and have fun.

By encouraging students to sing along to their favorite songs, you not only promote confidence but also foster creativity in a relaxed setting. This activity provides a platform for students to express themselves through music, boosting their self-esteem and encouraging them to step out of their comfort zones.

Karaoke sessions can also enhance teamwork and collaboration as students cheer each other on and participate in group performances. This collaborative aspect promotes a sense of camaraderie and unity among classmates, creating a positive and inclusive classroom environment.

Moreover, incorporating karaoke into the curriculum can have educational benefits, such as improving pronunciation, language skills, and public speaking abilities. Students can practice enunciation and vocal projection while having a great time singing along to popular tunes.

Overall, “Classroom Karaoke” is a dynamic and engaging activity that not only encourages confidence and creativity but also promotes teamwork and provides educational benefits in a fun and interactive way.

Painting Party

Transform your classroom into a vibrant art studio with a “Painting Party” that encourages students to unleash their artistic expression.

By providing a creative outlet through painting, students can explore different themes and express themselves through colors and brushstrokes. This activity not only fosters creativity but also allows students to relax and unwind in a fun and engaging way.

Engaging in a painting party can also promote mindfulness and focus as students immerse themselves in the artistic process. It provides a break from traditional learning methods and allows students to tap into their imagination while developing their fine motor skills.

Moreover, hosting a painting party can enhance social interactions and collaboration as students share their artwork, provide feedback, and appreciate each other’s creativity.

This collaborative aspect fosters a sense of community and support within the classroom, creating a positive and inclusive environment for all students to thrive.

Sudoku Challenge

“Engage your students in a stimulating mental workout with the ‘Sudoku Challenge.’ This activity is designed to boost their logic and problem-solving skills in a fun and interactive way.

By introducing Sudoku puzzles tailored for students, you can encourage critical thinking and strategic planning in a playful setting. Sudoku is not only a brain-teasing game but also a great tool to enhance concentration and attention to detail.

As students tackle the challenge of filling in the grid with numbers while adhering to the rules, they sharpen their analytical abilities and perseverance. Moreover, the Sudoku

Challenge promotes a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction when students successfully complete a puzzle. This feeling of achievement can boost their confidence and motivation to take on more complex tasks.

Integrating Sudoku puzzles into the classroom routine can also provide a refreshing break from traditional learning methods, offering a mental exercise that is both entertaining and beneficial for cognitive development.

Challenge your students’ minds with Sudoku and watch them thrive in the realm of logic and problem-solving.”

Get students energized and active with a lively “Dance Off” session. Encourage students to showcase their best dance moves in a friendly competition or simply let loose and have fun at a dance party.

Dancing not only promotes physical activity but also boosts mood and creativity, making it a fantastic way to break the monotony of the classroom routine. By incorporating a “Dance Off” activity, you create a dynamic and engaging environment where students can express themselves through movement and music.

This interactive experience fosters teamwork, confidence, and self-expression, all while providing a fun and memorable learning opportunity.

So, turn up the music, let the students groove, and watch as they unleash their inner dancers in this exciting and energizing activity.

Wind down with an educational film related to the curriculum or for pure entertainment. “Movie Day” is a fantastic way to engage students in a different learning format while providing a well-deserved break.

By incorporating films that tie into the curriculum, you can reinforce key concepts visually and engagingly. Alternatively, selecting movies purely for entertainment can also help students relax and enjoy a shared experience.

This activity encourages critical thinking, discussion, and reflection, making it a valuable addition to your classroom routine. So, grab some popcorn, dim the lights, and let the magic of cinema enhance your students’ learning experience.

Creative Writing Prompts

Inspire storytelling and writing skills with engaging writing prompts. Encourage students to unleash their creativity by providing thought-provoking prompts that spark their imagination.

From prompts that transport them to far-off lands to those that delve into personal reflections, these exercises help students develop their narrative abilities and express their thoughts effectively.

By incorporating a variety of prompts, you can cater to different interests and writing styles, fostering a love for storytelling and language.

Whether it’s a prompt about a mysterious object or a futuristic world, these activities not only enhance writing skills but also encourage critical thinking and problem-solving.

Watch as your students’ creativity flourishes through the power of storytelling and imagination.

Cooking Class

Enhance students’ understanding of measurements and foster teamwork skills through an interactive cooking class.

By engaging in hands-on culinary activities, students can apply math concepts in a practical setting while collaborating with their peers to create delicious dishes.

Encourage students to follow recipes, measure ingredients accurately, and work together to achieve a common goal. This fun and educational experience not only teaches cooking skills but also promotes communication, organization, and problem-solving abilities.

Watch as students bond over shared culinary creations and develop a deeper appreciation for the art of cooking.

Incorporating a cooking class into the classroom curriculum provides a unique and engaging way to learn valuable life skills while having a tasty time together.

Science Experiment

Make learning hands-on and exciting with interactive science experiments. Engage students in a variety of captivating experiments that spark curiosity and deepen their understanding of scientific concepts.

From creating chemical reactions to exploring the laws of physics, these hands-on activities provide a dynamic way for students to apply theoretical knowledge in a practical setting.

Encourage students to hypothesize, observe, and draw conclusions from their experiments, fostering critical thinking and analytical skills. By immersing students in the world of science through engaging experiments, you can ignite a passion for discovery and exploration.

Watch as students light up with excitement as they witness scientific principles come to life right before their eyes. Science experiments not only make learning fun but also cultivate a love for STEM subjects and inspire future scientists and innovators.

Origami Workshop

Engage students in the “Origami Workshop” to develop their fine motor skills and patience through the intricate art of paper folding.

This hands-on activity not only enhances creativity but also encourages focus and attention to detail. By guiding students through the step-by-step process of creating various origami shapes, they can experience the satisfaction of turning a simple piece of paper into a beautiful work of art.

Origami workshops provide a calming and meditative experience, promoting relaxation and mindfulness in the classroom. Encourage students to explore different folding techniques and patterns, fostering their problem-solving skills and spatial awareness.

Through the Origami Workshop, students can unleash their creativity and discover the joy of transforming paper into unique creations.

Classroom Olympics

Organize a thrilling “Classroom Olympics” event to foster sportsmanship and teamwork among students. By hosting mini indoor games like relay races, bean bag toss, or balloon pop challenge, students can engage in friendly competition while learning the value of collaboration and fair play.

Encourage students to participate in various activities that test their physical abilities and coordination, creating a fun and inclusive environment for all.

The Classroom Olympics not only promote a healthy sense of competition but also instill important life skills such as communication, leadership, and resilience.

Through this exciting event, students can bond with their peers, boost their self-confidence, and create lasting memories of teamwork and camaraderie.

Role-Playing Games

“Role-playing games” provide a dynamic platform for students to immerse themselves in interactive scenarios, fostering creativity and empathy.

By assuming different roles and engaging in fictional situations, students can develop their imagination and understanding of diverse perspectives. These games not only enhance communication skills but also promote teamwork and problem-solving abilities.

Encouraging students to step into the shoes of various characters allows them to explore different emotions and experiences, nurturing their empathy and social awareness.

Through role-playing, students can break out of their comfort zones, build confidence, and cultivate a deeper sense of understanding towards others.

Incorporating diverse scenarios and characters in these games can enrich students’ learning experiences and encourage them to embrace new perspectives and ideas.

Jigsaw Puzzle Race

Engage students in a thrilling Jigsaw Puzzle Race that promotes teamwork and critical thinking skills. This activity encourages collaboration as students work together to piece together the puzzle against the clock.

By racing against time, students enhance their problem-solving abilities and learn to communicate effectively under pressure. The competitive element adds excitement and motivation, making the learning experience dynamic and engaging.

Through this fast-paced challenge, students not only sharpen their cognitive skills but also develop resilience and adaptability. Encourage friendly competition and celebrate teamwork as students race to complete the puzzle, fostering a sense of achievement and camaraderie.

Get ready to witness students’ creativity and strategic thinking in action during this exhilarating Jigsaw Puzzle Race.

Trivia Quiz

Test knowledge across various subjects with a fun and educational trivia quiz. Challenge students to showcase their understanding of history, science, literature, and more in a lively competition.

By incorporating diverse questions, this activity not only reinforces learning but also sparks curiosity and critical thinking. Engage students in a friendly battle of wits, encouraging teamwork and healthy competition.

The trivia quiz provides a platform for students to demonstrate their knowledge in a fun and interactive way, fostering a sense of accomplishment and intellectual growth.

Enjoy the excitement as students eagerly participate, eager to showcase their expertise and learn from their peers.

Elevate the classroom atmosphere with this engaging and enlightening activity that promotes both individual achievement and collaborative learning.

Transitioning from the mental challenge of trivia to physical and mental rejuvenation, “Yoga Break” offers students a moment of relaxation and mindfulness.

By incorporating a brief yoga session into the classroom routine, students can destress and refocus, promoting overall well-being and mental clarity.

Encourage students to stretch, breathe, and connect with their bodies, fostering a sense of calm and balance. This activity not only provides a physical break but also cultivates mindfulness and self-awareness, essential skills for academic success and personal growth.

Embrace the opportunity to introduce students to the benefits of yoga, promoting a healthy lifestyle, and stress management techniques. Let the soothing practice of yoga create a peaceful and rejuvenating atmosphere in the classroom.

Engage students in hands-on creativity with “DIY Crafts.” These projects not only boost creativity and fine motor skills but also encourage self-expression and innovation.

By providing materials for students to create their own unique crafts, you foster a sense of pride and accomplishment. DIY crafts can range from simple paper creations to more complex projects, allowing students of all skill levels to participate and showcase their talents.

Encourage students to think outside the box, experiment with different materials, and unleash their imagination. This activity promotes problem-solving skills, attention to detail, and patience, all essential for personal and academic growth.

Coding Games

Introduce basic coding concepts through interactive and fun coding games. Engaging students in coding games not only teaches them valuable technical skills but also fosters problem-solving abilities and critical thinking.

By incorporating elements of play and competition, students are motivated to learn coding in an enjoyable and stimulating environment. These games can range from simple block-coding puzzles to more complex programming challenges, catering to students of varying skill levels.

Encourage teamwork and collaboration among students as they work together to solve coding problems and achieve common goals. Coding games provide a hands-on approach to learning technology, preparing students for future careers in STEM fields.

Teddy Bear Picnic

Transform your classroom into a whimsical wonderland by hosting a “Teddy Bear Picnic” activity. Invite students to bring their favorite stuffed animals for a cozy indoor picnic filled with fun and laughter.

This creative and interactive event not only fosters a sense of camaraderie among students but also encourages imaginative play and social interaction. Incorporate storytelling or themed activities to enhance the picnic experience and keep students engaged throughout.

By creating a relaxed and playful atmosphere, students can unwind and recharge while still participating in a structured educational activity.

Start a vibrant “Book Club” in your classroom to foster a love for reading and meaningful discussions among students.

Select engaging books that spark curiosity and ignite imaginations, creating a space for intellectual exploration and critical thinking.

By encouraging students to delve into diverse genres and themes, you can broaden their perspectives and enhance their analytical skills.

Facilitate lively discussions where students can share their insights, interpretations, and emotions related to the books they read.

This interactive and collaborative activity not only promotes literacy but also cultivates communication and empathy among peers.

Mystery Box Challenge

Stimulate curiosity and problem-solving by presenting students with mystery box challenges. Engage students’ critical thinking skills as they eagerly unravel the mysteries hidden within the boxes.

Encourage teamwork and collaboration as they brainstorm creative solutions to the unknown content. This interactive activity fosters a sense of excitement and anticipation, keeping students actively engaged in the learning process.

By incorporating the mystery box challenge into your classroom, you provide a hands-on experience that promotes exploration and experimentation. Watch as students eagerly embrace the challenge, honing their analytical abilities and thinking outside the box to uncover solutions.

Mystery box challenges offer a fun and dynamic way to enhance problem-solving skills and ignite a sense of discovery among students.

Poetry Slam

Encourage students to unleash their creativity and express themselves through the power of words during a “Poetry Slam.”

This engaging activity provides a platform for students to share their thoughts, emotions, and perspectives through poetry recitals and performances. By participating in a Poetry Slam, students not only enhance their public speaking skills but also cultivate a deeper appreciation for literature and self-expression.

Encourage students to explore various poetic forms, themes, and styles, fostering a love for language and creativity.

Through this interactive experience, students can build confidence, empathy, and communication skills while celebrating the beauty of words and emotions.

Escape Room Puzzle

Create an immersive “Escape Room Puzzle” experience in your classroom to ignite students’ teamwork and critical thinking abilities.

Design intricate puzzles and challenges that require collaboration and problem-solving to unlock clues and escape the room within a set time limit. This activity not only fosters strategic thinking but also enhances communication and decision-making skills.

Students will have a blast working together to unravel mysteries and crack codes, all while honing their ability to think outside the box.

The thrill of solving each puzzle will keep students engaged and motivated, making learning a fun and interactive adventure.

Watch as your students immerse themselves in the excitement of the escape room challenge, building resilience and perseverance along the way.

Board Game Bonanza

Engage students in a thrilling “Board Game Bonanza” where they can immerse themselves in a day filled with strategic thinking and friendly competition.

Rotate through a selection of classic and modern board games to cater to different interests and skill levels. Encourage teamwork, critical thinking, and decision-making as students strategize to outwit their opponents.

This activity not only promotes cognitive skills but also fosters social interaction and sportsmanship. Watch as students engage in friendly rivalries, learn to follow rules, and celebrate victories together.

A Board Game Bonanza is a fantastic way to break the routine, spark creativity, and create lasting memories in the classroom.

Puppet Show

Transform your classroom into a stage for creativity and public speaking with a captivating “Puppet Show” activity.

Students can unleash their imagination as they create unique characters and storylines for an entertaining performance. This interactive experience not only fosters creativity but also enhances public speaking skills as students bring their puppets to life and engage with their audience.

Encourage collaboration and teamwork as students work together to script and rehearse their show, promoting communication and cooperation.

The Puppet Show activity provides a fun and engaging way for students to express themselves, build confidence, and showcase their talents in a supportive environment.

Watch as students shine on stage, delivering memorable performances that leave a lasting impact on both the performers and the audience.

Outdoor Exploration

Take learning outside with nature walks, outdoor experiments, or observational studies for a refreshing change of environment.

“Outdoor exploration” provides a hands-on approach to learning, allowing students to connect with nature while engaging in educational activities. Encourage curiosity and discovery as students observe the natural world around them, fostering a deeper appreciation for the environment.

By incorporating outdoor exploration into the curriculum, educators can promote physical activity, sensory experiences, and environmental awareness.

This interactive learning experience not only enhances academic knowledge but also promotes holistic development by nurturing students’ connection to the outdoors.

These diverse activities aim to make learning more engaging, interactive, and enjoyable for students, fostering a positive and dynamic classroom environment.

By incorporating a variety of fun and educational activities into the curriculum, educators can cater to different learning styles and interests, keeping students motivated and eager to participate.

From hands-on STEM challenges to creative writing prompts and interactive games, these activities not only enhance academic knowledge but also promote teamwork, creativity, and critical thinking skills.

Encouraging students to explore, experiment, and collaborate through these engaging activities can lead to a more enriching learning experience.

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The fun classroom activities to keep students engaged in your classroom are designed to spark creativity and foster a love for learning. From interactive games to hands-on experiments, these activities cater to diverse learning styles and interests. By incorporating engaging activities into your lesson plans, you can create a dynamic and stimulating learning environment that…

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• Teaching Tips

20 Interactive Classroom Activities for College Students [Plus: Free List of 45+ Activities]

Planning to use interactive classroom activities intentionally can really transform the learning dynamic. Here are 20 activities to get you started.

Top Hat Staff

How interactive are your classroom activities? Do you have less energy for class than you used to? Do you find student grades declining? And are the teaching methods you’ve always relied on not working as well as they once did? We spoke to two college instructors, Chris Merlo and Monika Semma. Their strategies for interactive classroom activities will energize your class and get the discussion moving again.

Table of contents

• Why are interactive activities important in college?

6 community-building activities

5 communication activities for college students, 3 motivational activities for college students.

• 6 team-building activities for college students

Interactive classroom activities, in short

Why are interactive classroom activities important.

Merlo, a computer science teacher, says that interactive classroom activities are not new to students, and one main reason why teachers have trouble connecting is that they fail to adapt to their students’ perspectives.

“My six-year-old son doesn’t find iPads amazing; to him, they’ve always just existed. Similarly, to a lot of students today, experiences like team exercises and flipped classrooms, while foreign to many instructors are not new.

“If we care about reaching today’s students, who seem to have a different idea of student responsibilities than we had, perhaps we have to reach them on their terms.

“In my thirties, I could still find a lot of similarities with my twenty-something students. But now, in my forties? Not so much. What I’ve started to realize is that it isn’t just the little things, like whether they’ve seen Ghostbusters. (They haven’t.) It’s the big things, like how they learn.”

Semma, a humanities TA, found that the chalk-and-talk approach failed on her first day in front of a class. “It was a lot like parallel parking in front of 20 people,” she said. “I looked more like a classmate. I dropped the eraser on my face whilst trying to write my name on the board. One of my students called me ‘mom.’”

“I chalked it up to first day jitters, but that same quietness crept its way back into my classroom for the next tutorial, and the next tutorial and the next. While nearly silent in class, my students were rather vocal in the endless stream of emails that flooded my inbox. That way I knew they wanted to learn. I also knew that I had to find a way to make tutorials more engaging.”

From these experiences, Merlo and Semma now share some interactive classroom activities for students and for teachers that can turn a quiet classroom full of people unwilling to speak up to a hive of debate, making the student learning experience more collaborative for everyone.

Energize your college classroom and get discussions flowing. Download The Best Classroom Activities for College Courses to engage and motivate students.

1. Open-ended questions

Chris Merlo: Open-ended questions don’t take any planning. All they take is a class with at least one student who isn’t too shy. I remember a class a few semesters ago that started with nine students. Due to a couple of medical conditions and a job opportunity, three of the students had to drop the semester. The problem was that these three students were the ones I counted on to ask questions and keep the class lively! Once I was left with six introverted people, conversations during class seemed to stop.

By luck, I stumbled on something that got the students talking again. I said, “What has been the most difficult thing about [the project that was due soon]?” This opened the floodgates—students love to complain, especially about us and our demands. This one simple question led to twenty minutes of discussion involving all six students. I wasn’t even sure what a couple of these students’ voices sounded like, but once I gave them an open-ended opportunity to complain about an assignment, they were off to the races. A truly successful classroom activity.

2. What’s wrong with this example?

Chris Merlo: Students also love to find a professor’s mistakes—like me, I’m sure you’ve found this out the hard way. When I teach computer science, I will make up a program that, for instance, performs the wrong arithmetic, and have students find the bug. In a particularly quiet or disengaged class, you can incentivize students with five points on the next exam, or something similar.

If you teach history, you might use flawed examples that change a key person’s name, such as “King Henry VIII (instead of King John) signed the Magna Carta in 1215,” or match a person to an incorrect event: “Gavrilo Princip is considered to have fired the first shot in the Spanish Civil War (instead of World War I).” Beam these examples on the whiteboard, and let the students’ competitiveness drive them to get the right answer before their classmates.

3. Let students critique each other

Chris Merlo: This can go badly if you don’t set some ground rules for civility, but done well, classroom activities like this really help open up collaborative learning. One of my colleagues devised a great exercise: First, give students about half of their class time to write instructions that an imaginary robot can understand to draw a recognizable picture, like a corporate logo, without telling students what will happen later. Then assign each student’s instructions to a randomly chosen classmate, and have the classmate pretend to be the robot, attempting to follow the instructions and draw the same logo.

After a few minutes, introduce a specific student who can share their results with the class, then ask their partner to share the initial instructions. This method gives students a chance to communicate with each other (“That’s not what I meant!”) and laugh and bond, while learning an important lesson.

This exercise teaches computer science students the difficulty and importance of writing clear instructions. I have seen this exercise not only teach pairs of such students meaningful lessons but encourage friendships that extended beyond my classroom.

Get students participating with these 45 classroom activities

4. Pass the “mic”

Monika Semma: As an instructor, it’s amazing how much information you can gather from a student-centered review session. Specifically, if you leave the review in the hands of your students, you can get an easy and thorough assessment of what is being absorbed, and what is being left by the wayside. The more you encourage participation, the more you’ll see where your class is struggling and the more comfortable students will become with course material. Here’s how to transform a standard review into one of your more popular classroom activities:

• A week before the review, ask students to email you two to five key terms or theories that they feel they need to brush up on. Take all that data and compress it until you have a solid working list of what students want to review most.
• In class, provide students with visual access to the list (I found writing all the terms on a chalkboard to be most effective). Instruct the class to have their notes out in front of them, with a pad of paper or blank Word document at their fingertips, and encourage them to take notes as the review is in progress.
• A trinket of sorts (I highly recommend a plush ball), used as a “microphone,” helps to give students equal opportunity to direct the review without putting individuals on the spot too aggressively. The rules are simple: she or he who holds the “mic” can pick one term from the list and using their notes, can offer up what they already know about the term or concept, what they are unsure of, or what they need more elaboration on.
• Actively listen to the speaker and give them some positive cues if they seem unsure; it’s okay to help them along the way, but important to step back and let this review remain student-centered. Once the speaker has said their piece, open the floor to the rest of the class for questions or additional comments. If you find that the discussion has taken a departure from the right direction, re-center the class and provide further elaboration if need be.
• Erase each term discussed from the list as you go, and have the speaker pass (or throw) on the “mic” to a fellow classmate, and keep tossing the ball around after each concept/term is discussed.

Students will have a tendency to pick the terms that they are most comfortable speaking about and those left consistently untouched will give you a clear assessment of the subjects in which your class is struggling, and where comprehension is lacking. Once your class has narrowed down the list to just a few terms, you can switch gears into a more classic review session. Bringing a bit of interaction and fun into a review can help loosen things up during exam time, when students and teachers alike are really starting to feel the pressure.

5. Use YouTube for classroom activities

Monika Semma: Do you remember the pure and utter joy you felt upon seeing your professor wheel in the giant VHS machine into class? Technology has certainly changed—but the awesome powers of visual media have not. Making your students smile can be a difficult task, but by channeling your inner Bill Nye the Science Guy you can make university learning fun again.

A large part of meaningful learning is finding interactive classroom activities that are relevant to daily life—and I can think of no technology more relevant to current students than YouTube.

A crafty YouTube search can yield a video relevant to almost anything in your curriculum and paired with an essay or academic journal, a slightly silly video can go a long way in helping your students contextualize what they are learning.

Even if your comedic attempts plunge into failure, at the very least, a short clip will get the class discussion ball rolling. Watch the video as a class and then break up into smaller groups to discuss it. Get your students thinking about how the clip they are shown pairs with the primary sources they’ve already read.

6. Close reading

Monika Semma: In the humanities, we all know the benefits of close reading activities—they get classroom discussion rolling and students engaging with the material and open up the floor for social and combination learners to shine. “Close reading” is a learning technique in which students are asked to conduct a detailed analysis or interpretation of a small piece of text. It is particularly effective in getting students to move away from the general and engage more with specific details or ideas.

If you’re introducing new and complex material to your class, or if you feel as though your students are struggling with an equation, theory, or concept; giving them the opportunity to break it down into smaller and more concrete parts for further evaluation will help to enhance their understanding of the material as a whole.

And while this technique is often employed in the humanities, classroom activities like this can be easily transferred to any discipline. A physics student will benefit from having an opportunity to break down a complicated equation in the same way that a biology student can better understand a cell by looking at it through a microscope.

In any case, evaluating what kinds of textbooks, lesson plans and pedagogy we are asking our students to connect with is always a good idea.

Brainwriting

Group size: 10 students (minimum)

Course type: Online (synchronous), in-person

This activity helps build rapport and respect in your classroom. After you tackle a complex lecture topic, give students time to individually reflect on their learnings. This can be accomplished through guided prompts or left as an open-ended exercise. Once students have gathered their thoughts, encourage them to share their views either through an online discussion thread or a conversation with peers during class time.

Concept mapping

Collaborative concept mapping is the process of visually organizing concepts and ideas and understanding how they relate to each other. This exercise is a great way for students to look outside of their individual experiences and perspectives. Groups can use this tactic to review previous work or to help them map ideas for projects and assignments. For in-person classes, you can ask students to cover classroom walls with sticky notes and chart paper. For online classes, there are many online tools that make it simple to map out connections between ideas, like Google Docs or the digital whiteboard feature in Zoom.

Group size: Groups of 5–10 students 

Propose a topic or issue to your class. Group students together (or in breakout rooms if you’re teaching remotely) according to the position they take on the specific issue. Ask the groups of students to come up with a few arguments or examples to support their position. Write each group’s statements on the virtual whiteboard and use these as a starting point for discussion. A natural next step is to debate the strengths and weaknesses of each argument, to help students improve their critical thinking and analysis skills. 

Make learning active with these 45 interactive classroom activities

Compare and contrast

Group size: Groups of 5–10 students

Ask your students to focus on a specific chapter in your textbook. Then, place them in groups and ask them to make connections and identify differences between ideas that can be found in course readings and other articles and videos they may find. This way, they can compare their ideas in small groups and learn from one another’s perspectives. In online real-time classes, instructors can use Zoom breakout rooms to put students in small groups.

Assess/diagnose/act

This activity will improve students’ problem-solving skills and can help engage them in more dynamic discussions. Start by proposing a topic or controversial statement. Then follow these steps to get conversations going. In online classes, students can either raise their hands virtually or use an online discussion forum to engage with their peers. 

• Assessment: What is the issue or problem at hand?
• Diagnosis: What is the root cause of this issue or problem?
• Action: How can we solve the issue?

Moral dilemmas

Group size: Groups of 3–7 students 

Provide students with a moral or ethical dilemma, using a hypothetical situation or a real-world situation. Then ask them to explore potential solutions as a group. This activity encourages students to think outside the box to develop creative solutions to the problem. In online learning environments, students can use discussion threads or Zoom breakout rooms.

Conversation stations

Group size: Groups of 4–6 students 

Course type: In-person

This activity exposes students’ ideas in a controlled way, prompting discussions that flow naturally. To start, share a list of discussion questions pertaining to a course reading, video or case study. Put students into groups and give them five-to-ten minutes to discuss, then have two students rotate to another group. The students who have just joined a group have an opportunity to share findings from their last discussion, before answering the second question with their new group. After another five-to-ten minutes, the students who haven’t rotated yet will join a new group.

This or that

Course type: Online (synchronous or asynchronous), in-person

This activity allows students to see where their peers stand on a variety of different topics and issues. Instructors should distribute a list of provocative statements before class, allowing students to read ahead. Then, they can ask students to indicate whether they agree, disagree or are neutral on the topic in advance, using an online discussion thread or Google Doc. In class, use another discussion thread or live chat to have students of differing opinions share their views. After a few minutes, encourage one or two members in each group to defend their position amongst a new group of students. Ask students to repeat this process for several rounds to help familiarize themselves with a variety of standpoints.

6 team-building classroom activities for college students

Snowball discussions  .

Group size: 2–4 students per group

Assign students a case study or worksheet to discuss with a partner, then have them share their thoughts with the larger group. Use breakout rooms in Zoom and randomly assign students in pairs with a discussion question. After a few minutes, combine rooms to form groups of four. After another five minutes, combine groups of four to become a larger group of eight—and so on until the whole class is back together again.

Make it personal

Group size: Groups of 2–8 students

After you’ve covered a topic or concept in your lecture, divide students into small discussion groups (or breakout rooms online). Ask the groups questions like “How did this impact your prior knowledge of the topic?” or “What was your initial reaction to this source/article/fact?” to encourage students to reflect on their personal connections to the course concepts they are learning.

Philosophical chairs

Group size: 20–25 students (maximum)

A statement that has two possible responses—agree or disagree—is read out loud. Depending on whether they agree or disagree with this statement, students move to one side of the room or the other. After everyone has chosen a side, ask one or two students on each side to take turns defending their positions. This allows students to visualize where their peers’ opinions come from, relative to their own.

Get more interactive classroom activities here

Affinity mapping

Group size: Groups of 3–8 students 

Course type: Online (synchronous)

Place students in small groups (or virtual breakout rooms) and pose a broad question or problem to them that is likely to result in lots of different ideas, such as “What was the greatest innovation of the 21st century?” or “How would society be different if  _____ never occurred?” Ask students to generate responses by writing ideas on pieces of paper (one idea per page) or in a discussion thread (if you’re teaching online). Once lots of ideas have been generated, have students begin grouping their ideas into similar categories, then label the categories and discuss why the ideas fit within them, how the categories relate to one another and so on. This allows students to engage in higher-level thinking by analyzing ideas and organizing them in relation to one another. 

Socratic seminar

Group size: 20 students (minimum)

Ask students to prepare for a discussion by reviewing a course reading or group of texts and coming up with a few higher-order discussion questions about the text. In class, pose an introductory, open-ended question. From there, students continue the conversation, prompting one another to support their claims with evidence from previous course concepts or texts. There doesn’t need to be a particular order to how students speak, but they are encouraged to respectfully share the floor with their peers.

Concentric circles

Group size: 20 students (maximum)

Students form two circles: an inner circle and an outer circle. Each student on the inside is paired with a student on the outside; they face each other. Pose a question to the whole group and have pairs discuss their responses with each other. After three-to-five minutes, have students on the outside circle move one space to the right so they are standing in front of a new person. Pose a new question, and the process is repeated, exposing students to the different perspectives of their peers.

Making your classes more interactive should help your students want to come to class and take part in it. Giving them a more active role will give them a sense of ownership, and this can lead to students taking more pride in their work and responsibility for their grades.

Use these 45 classroom activities in your course to keep students engaged

A more interactive class can also make things easier for you—the more work students do in class, the less you have to do. Even two minutes of not talking can re-energize you for the rest of the class.

Plus, these six methods outlined above don’t require any large-scale changes to your class prep. Set up a couple of activities in advance here and there, to support what you’ve been doing, and plan which portion of your class will feature them.

The reality remains that sometimes, students do have to be taught subject matter that is anything but exciting. That doesn’t mean that we can’t make it more enjoyable to teach or learn. It may not be possible to incorporate classroom activities into every lecture, but finding some room for these approaches can go a long way in facilitating a positive learning environment.

And let’s not forget, sometimes even an educator needs a brief departure from the everyday-ordinary-sit-and-listen-to-me-lecture regimen.

Recommended Readings

25 Effective Instructional Strategies For Educators

The Complete Guide to Effective Online Teaching

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Edu News | January 26, 2022

24 stem lessons you can quickly deploy in the classroom.

Calling all teachers pressed for time, substitutes looking for classroom activities that don't require a lot of prep, and others hoping to keep students learning in especially chaotic times: We've got a new collection of lessons and activities that you can quickly deploy.

Read on to explore our collection of Quick and Easy STEM lessons and student activities , organized by grade band. Get everything you need to guide students through standards-aligned lessons featuring connections to real NASA missions and science as well as links to student projects, which can be led by teachers or assigned as independent activities.

Grades 9-12

Explore More

Make a Paper Mars Helicopter

In this lesson, students build a paper helicopter, then improve the design and compare and measure performance.

Subject Engineering

Time 30-60 mins

Student Project: Make a Paper Mars Helicopter

Build a paper helicopter, then see if you can improve the design like NASA engineers did when making the first helicopter for Mars.

What Tools Would You Take to Mars?

Students decide what they want to learn from a robotic mission to Mars and what tools they will put on their robot to accomplish their goals.

Subject Science

Rockets by Size

Students cut out, color and sequence paper rockets in a simple mathematics lesson on measurement.

Subject Math

Rocket Math

Students use rocket manipulatives to help them develop number sense, counting, addition and subtraction skills.

Tangram Rocket

Students use tangrams to create rockets while practicing shape recognition.

Time 1-2 hrs

Student Project: Build a Rover and More With Shapes

Use geometric shapes called tangrams to build a rover and other space-themed designs!

Time Less than 30 mins

Student Project: Build a Rocket and More With Shapes

Use geometric shapes called tangrams to build a rocket and other space-themed designs!

Mineral Mystery Experiment

Students explore the science behind an intriguing planetary feature by creating saline solutions and then observing what happens when the solutions evaporate.

Grades 2-12

Time 2 sessions of 30-60 mins

Student Project: Do a Mineral Mystery Experiment

Dissolve salts in water, then observe what happens when the water evaporates.

What Do You Know About Mars?

Students decide what they want to learn from a robotic mission to Mars.

Melting Ice Experiment

Students make predictions and observations about how ice will melt in different conditions then compare their predictions to results as they make connections to melting glaciers.

Parachute Design

Students design and test parachute landing systems to successfully land a probe on target.

Planetary Poetry

In this cross-curricular STEM and language arts lesson, students learn about planets, stars and space missions and write STEM-inspired poetry to share their knowledge of or inspiration about these topics.

Student Project: Write a Poem About Space

Are you a space poet, and you didn't even know it? Find out how to create your own poems inspired by space!

Ocean World: Earth Globe Toss Game

Students use NASA images and a hands-on activity to compare the amounts of land and surface water on our planet.

Simple Rocket Science Continued

Students gather data on a balloon rocket launch, then create a simple graph to show the results of the tests.

Spaghetti Anyone? Building with Pasta

Students use the engineering design process to build a structure to handle the greatest load and gain first-hand experience with compression and tension forces.

Student Project: Building With Spaghetti

Use spaghetti to build a tower modeled after the giant structures NASA uses to talk to spacecraft.

Simple Rocket Science

Students perform a simple science experiment to learn how a rocket works and demonstrate Newton’s third law of motion.

Soda-Straw Rockets

Students study rocket stability as they design, construct and launch paper rockets using soda straws.

Student Project: Make a Straw Rocket

Create a paper rocket that can be launched from a soda straw – then, modify the design to make the rocket fly farther!

Rocket Activity: Heavy Lifting

Students construct balloon-powered rockets to launch the greatest payload possible to the classroom ceiling.

Design a Robotic Insect

Students design a robotic insect for an extraterrestrial environment, then compare the process to how NASA engineers design robots for extreme environments like Mars.

Student Project: Design a Robotic Insect

Design a robotic insect to go to an extreme environment. Then, compare the design process to what NASA engineers do when building robots for Mars!

How Far Away Is Space?

Students use measurement skills to determine the scale distance to space on a map.

Student Project: How Far Away Is Space?

Stack coins and use your measurement skills to figure out the scale distance from Earth's surface to space.

Planetary Travel Time

Students will compute the approximate travel time to planets in the solar system using different modes of transportation.

The Ring Wing Glider

In this simple engineering design lesson, students turn a piece of paper into an aircraft wing and then try to improve upon their design.

Student Project: Make a Paper Glider

Turn a piece of paper into a glider inspired by a NASA design.

How Do We See Dark Matter?

Students will make observations of two containers and identify differences in content, justify their claims and make comparisons to dark matter observations.

Grades 6-12

Let's Go to Mars! Calculating Launch Windows

Students use advanced algebra concepts to determine the next opportunity to launch a spacecraft to Mars.

Find our full collection of more than 250 STEM educator guides and student activities in Teach and Learn .

For games, articles, and more activities from NASA for kids in upper-elementary grades, visit NASA Space Place and NASA Climate Kids .

Explore more educational resources and opportunities for students and educators from NASA STEM Engagement .

TAGS: Lessons , Teachers , Educators , Parents , Substitutes , Activities , Students , Science , Engineering , Quick and Easy

Kim Orr , Web Producer, NASA-JPL Education Office

Kim Orr is a web and content producer for the Education Office at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Her pastimes are laughing and going on Indiana Jones style adventures.

• BookWidgets Teacher Blog

20 interactive teaching activities for in the interactive classroom

Interactive teaching is all about instructing the students in a way they are actively involved with their learning process. There are different ways to create an involvement like this. Most of the time it’s through

• teacher-student interaction
• student-student interaction
• the use of audio, visuals, video
• hands-on demonstrations and exercises

You encourage your students to be active members of your class, thinking on their own, using their brains, resulting in long-term memory retention . Not only the students’ knowledge will improve, but their interest, strength, knowledge, team spirit and freedom of expression will increase as well.

In this blog post, I will talk about the use of interactive methods for teaching, encouraging more dedication towards the lesson material. We will see some interactive teaching tools, interactive teaching ideas, and interactive teaching games. Not only will I talk about the use of interactive methods of teaching, but I’ll also give you some examples of methods used in the present classroom as well.

Ready? Let’s find out some interactive classroom activities to engage your pupils!

3 Effective interactive teaching strategies to encourage speech in your classroom

First, I want to put some activities in the spotlight. The following interactive student activities are three of the most effective ways to encourage more speech in your classroom.

1. Think, pair and share

2. Brainstorming

3. Buzz session

Of course, there are many other interactive teaching ideas as well. I split up the activities in different categories:

Individual student activities

Student pair activities, student group activities, interactive game activities, 4. exit slips.

5. Misconception check

6. Circle the questions

Create corners concerning different questions that were circled. Let your students work on the extra exercises and explanation in the corners, individually. As your students will all have circled different questions, you have to give each student a different and personalized order to visit the corners.

7. Ask the winner

8. Pair-share-repeat

9. Teacher and student

10. Wisdom from another

11. Forced debate

Variation: one half of the class takes one position, the other half takes the other position. Students line up and face each other. Each student may only speak once so that all students on both sides can engage the issue.

12. Optimist/Pessimist

13. Peer review writing task

14. Board rotation

15. Pick the Winner

16. Movie Application

Create an interactive classroom full of interactive learning games. Games are so much fun for students since it doesn’t feel like learning. With BookWidgets, you can make interactive learning games like crossword puzzles, pair matching games, bingo games, jigsaw puzzles, memory games, and many more in minutes (and there’s a Google Classroom integration as well).

17. Crossword puzzle

18. Scrabble

19. Who/what am I?

Want to create a bingo game yourself? You can start for free right here:

Create a Bingo Game

That’s it! Like in any list, you could add many other interactive lesson ideas. I could go on for quite a while myself. But what about you? Share your creative, interactive classroom ideas in our Facebook Group . This way, we can build out this article with many more great ideas!

One more thing… Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter ! 😉

Join hundreds of thousands of subscribers, and get the best content on technology in education.

BookWidgets enables teachers to create fun and interactive lessons for tablets, smartphones, and computers.

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13 Virtual Games to Play in Your Elementary Classroom

From scavenger hunts to Pictionary, we’ve gathered a batch of virtual games to get students talking, laughing, and engaging with peers.

While most educators feel too worn out to take on anything else this year, classroom games—old and new—can provide a much-needed respite for students and teachers who are burned out on video lessons and miss social connection.

We found some easy-to-use virtual games that elementary teachers are playing with their students this year, along with tips on how to incorporate them into the classroom.

Gaming With Google Slides

After noticing how much her students missed informal socializing during hybrid learning, Liz Henneberry, a third-grade teacher in Franklin, Massachusetts, transformed Connect Four , Trouble , Chess , and Checkers to Google Slides; the latter two are adaptations from Eric Curts' templates , and all of Henneberry's templates can be downloaded and immediately used in your virtual classroom. During recess breaks, students click a board game shelved in a virtual recess room, which creates their own copy of the game. Students can then share the game with their friend using Google Drive so that the two can play a round together. If students are new to sharing Google Slides, Henneberry recommends modeling the step-by-step process first.

Similarly, Robin Nahhas says her third-grade students have loved playing Multiplication Tic-Tac-Toe , a downloadable game she created on Google Slides so that they could practice their multiplication facts. Before playing, Nahhas goes over directions and the code of conduct with students, reminding them of protocols such as not interfering with classmates’ games or else having their gaming privileges revoked.

Then, she pairs up students and places them in breakout rooms on Zoom. Each student in the pair selects a set of color pieces, and when it’s their turn, they roll two digital dice, multiply the numbers shown, and place a piece onto the virtual board with the corresponding number. To play again, they move their pieces back to the side of the board. If students need help solving a problem, they can rely on their partner or click the “Ask for Help” button after trying one of the strategies they learned in class with pencil and paper first.

Games to Boost Creative Thinking

During morning meetings, fifth-grade teacher Sarah Wood says she incorporates games like scavenger hunts that the whole class can play together while learning from home. When it’s time to play, Wood projects a word like blanket and a matching image on a slideshow, and then students run to find the item in their homes. When they find the object, they can share it on video or by typing in the chat box.

Wood has even focused the game around particular learning goals, like having students find objects that reinforce vocabulary or putting together a project with the items. Once, they were asked to find a broom, a blanket, and a few heavy objects, and then they had 10 minutes to build a reading fort. During asynchronous time, they used Flipgrid to give a tour of their forts.

She says her students have also enjoyed directed drawing exercises—when students are directed to draw something without seeing it. Wood gives directions like “Draw a large oval with a smaller oval inside; on the left side, attach a triangle,” based on images from a drawing book or a directed drawing YouTube channel . When her students are done drawing, they turn on their cameras, put their artwork up to the screen, and guess what they drew. Wood then reveals the actual drawing and it tends to bring out a lot of laughter, she says.

Wood’s students also love games where they take a more active role. Using Blackboard Collaborate  for Pictionary, students take turns drawing on a whiteboard—prompted by a word generator —while students call out their guesses. The next time Wood plays, she’ll use Whiteboard.fi instead of Blackboard Collaborate, a free virtual whiteboard. When playing Taboo , her students take turns trying to describe a word like crack , for example, while being prohibited from using related words like drop or glass while the rest of the class guesses. And her students are obsessed with competing against their peers by being the first to name Disney movies, for example, in the ever-popular quiz platform Kahoot .

Viral Sensations

Initially, during remote learning, it was hard getting students comfortable with face-to-face interactions over Zoom, but the viral video game Among Us —a kid-friendly murder mystery—has stimulated engagement and conversation in Vickiela Wright’s fifth-grade class, she says.

In the game, each student is a crew member on a spaceship and is given a task to keep it running. One or more students are impostors, and their mission is to kill the crew members without getting caught. In between each round, students use Google meets to try to guess the impostors and form alliances to identify the killer.

“The conversations, problem-solving, engagement, and teamwork were robust and surprising. One student said it was the best part of her life,” says Wright.

Similar to Among Us, Werewolf is a game of deduction where students take on the role of villager or werewolf. Students collaborate and problem-solve to kill the werewolves before they become werewolves themselves. And the hugely popular Minecraft: Education Edition can serve as a hangout for students’ pixelated avatars to socialize and even partake in English language arts–based station rotations.

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17 Fun Interactive Games For Students

By: Grace He | Updated: February 26, 2024

Here is our list of the best interactive games for students.

Interactive games for students are fun activities and games in which students participate in groups. These games also offer a fun and hands-on learning experience. Examples include Charades, Four Corners, and Pictionary. The purpose of these activities is to help students absorb educational material and make them feel comfortable in school. These activities are also known as “classroom games.”

These ideas are similar to interactive games for kids , study game s, team building games for students , online classroom activities and team building exercises . Two examples of these activities are vocabulary games and communication games .

This list includes:

• interactive games for college students
• interactive games for kids
• interactive games for high school students
• online interactive games for students
• interactive classroom games
• interactive quiz games for students
• education games for students
• school appropriate games
• school friendly games

Here we go!

List of interactive games for students

Interactive games for students are necessary for schools because they provide a new learning experience while giving a break to the students from the mundane school routine. These games also develop skills and competencies in children. To help you engage students in the classroom, here is our list of the best interactive classroom games for students.

Hangman is a fun and interactive game for students, which you can play in the classroom or online. When playing in the classroom, you will need an interactive display or a whiteboard. When playing online, you can use a virtual whiteboard app.

Every student participates and takes turns guessing while the teacher draws on the board.

The rules of the game are simple. The teacher will think of a word and draw blanks according to the number of letters. For example, if the word has six letters, then you draw six blanks. To make the game easy, you can also tell about the category, like if it is the name of a singer, a movie, or a famous place.

The students will think of some letters, and for every wrong letter, the teacher will draw a portion of the hangman. When the drawing is complete, the game is lost. However, if players guess the correct letters, then they save the hangman.

2. 10 Questions

10 Questions is one of the best interactive games for college students because it uses collective critical thinking.

In this game, you will divide the class into two groups. One group will think of an item. Then, the other group will prepare ten questions to ask to guess the object. Since the group has a limited number of questions, they must choose strategically.

You can set a rule that every group member will ask one question. The group can decide on the questions, and their answer will be either yes or no. The groups cannot ask for explanations or details.

After getting all the answers, the other group will think of an object and give their guess. The group will get a point if they make the right guess.

This game highlights the importance of group discussion and indicates how the groups must analyze the information and develop a unified answer.

Check out more question games .

Get our free team building toolbox

• icebreaker games
• bingo cards

3. 101 And Out

101 And Out is a fun game that will test your students’ math skills. This game is also easy to play, which makes it among the best interactive games for kids.

Here is how to play:

• Divide the class into two groups.
• Give a die to each group.
• Each group gets two dice rolls.
• With each dice roll, they can either keep the exact number or multiply it. So, for example, if one group gets a five on a dice roll, they can keep the same number or multiply it and keep 25.
• The groups will keep adding numbers with each dice roll.
• The goal is to reach 101 or close to it to win the game.

If you are playing this game with children, then you can set easy rules and ask them to add the numbers only and eliminate the multiplying rule.

4. Don’t Answer

Don’t Answer is a fun and engaging game that will check how well your students know each other.

In this game, you will make the class sit in a group. It is better to make good friends sit with each other because it will make the game easier.

Each student will randomly pick another student from the crowd and ask a question.

For instance:

• What is the name of your favorite superhero?
• Which is your favorite dish?
• When was the last time you got scolded?
• When is your birthday?
• How many siblings do you have?

However, this game has a twist. The addressed student cannot directly answer. The asked-about student cannot speak and can tell the other players whether an answer is right or wrong by a thumbs up or thumbs down. If the initial response is wrong, then they can ask follow-up questions to get the correct answer.

Trivia can be a great choice if you are looking for interactive quiz games for students. These challenges can disguise learning as a fun and spirited competition. Facing off in feats of knowledge can bring lessons alive and help students better retain information.

To make this game interactive, you can divide the class into groups. Then, when children discuss the answers in groups and decide mutually, it will strengthen their bond and friendship.

The best idea is to tell the kids about the trivia beforehand. Then, when they give the correct answers after coming fully prepared, it will boost their confidence and morale as well.

Here is a list of starter trivia questions and a guide to team Jeopardy .

6. Simon Says

Simon Says is a fun game that will get groups laughing. The fact that you play it both in-person and online makes it among the best online interactive games for students.

This game also builds a friendly relationship between the teacher and students.

How to play:

• Make all the students stand while keeping a distance between them.
• When everyone is ready, the teacher will say a sentence.
• The rule is that if the sentence starts with “Simon says,” the students must do it. If it does not begin with “Simon says,” then the students will not act. For example, the teacher will say, “Simon says, jump on both feet,” In this case, the children will jump.

To make the game more challenging, rattle off commands quickly. Rapidfire instructions will test and sharpen students’ focus. You will be surprised at how the students will act without listening for the particular phrase.

7. Charades

Charades is an interactive game you can play at any event. In this game, you will divide the class into two groups.

Each group will decide on a word for another group. Then, one member from the other group will come to act that word for their team. However, the member who acts cannot speak the word.

The team members will keep guessing until they reach the correct answer.

You can also set a time limit to make the game enjoyable. You can also make it more fun by asking the students to do activities specific to the classroom. For example, you can ask them to act like their favorite teacher.

8. Blindfold Conversation

Blindfold Conversation is an engaging game that will make your students interact and collaborate during the activity.

In this game, you will make your class stand in a circle. Then, one student will come to the center, and you will blindfold them. Next, a few students will make the blindfolded child spin in a circle. When stopped, he will point to one student. That student will speak in a funny voice, and the blindfolded student will guess their name.

9. Scrambled Eggs

Scrambled Eggs is the best game for a large classroom. The more participants you have, the more fun this game will be.

In this game, you will choose one student and make them leave the classroom or blindfold them. Then, you will pick one student to hide. You can hide them under the chair or make them leave the class to be out of sight. Then, all the other students in the class will change their places.

Then, the blindfolded student will enter the class and guess which student is missing.

This game boosts students’ powers of observation, which can come in handy while studying.

10. Pictionary

Pictionary has been the favorite game of children and adults alike. Pictionary can be a great choice if you are looking for some interactive games for high school students.

This game involves drawing a picture on the board without speaking the word. One student will come to the board and draw the image of the word given. Then, the whole class will participate in guessing the picture.

You can also play Pictionary online if you have online classes. The online version offers the same level of fun as the in-person version of this game. You can play online Pictionary on Drawize or conduct a Zoom meeting and use the digital whiteboard.

Learn more about Drawize.

11. Geography Puzzles

Geography puzzles are a great idea to make the geography class fun and engaging for students. Children often get bored in such classes. You can bring a twist with a class activity.

To do a geography puzzle, first, divide the class into groups. Then, you will give blank maps to each group. Finally, ask the class to fill out the maps and write the names of the countries.

You can also make it specific and include the topics in the puzzle taught in the class.

12. Ad Making

Making an advertisement is a unique and creative activity that students will enjoy. As this activity requires critical and creative thinking, it best suits high schoolers and teenagers.

First, give a product to your students. For example, soap, pencil, or notebook. It is better to hand out familiar, everyday objects to make the activity easy.

Then, ask the students to make an advertisement in groups to sell the product. The students can take inspiration from the ads they watch on television. Then, the students will perform in the class, and the team with the most creative idea will win.

13. Minute To Win It

Minute To Win It is a beloved game show. This exercise consists of different activities and games that participants will only have one minute to complete. The player who gets the most points in one minute will win the round. The best part about this game is that multiple players can participate, making it ideal for the classroom.

It is better to have the theme and decor of the original game show to improve the competitive skills of the students. Some examples of activities are:

• Stack plastic cups on each other without making them fall.
• Get a biscuit from your head into your mouth without using your hands.
• Keep three balloons in the air.
• Using a straw, such up skittles from one plate and transfer them to another.
• Throw ping pong balls into a basket from a distance.

These activities will make the students focus, and due to the limited time, they will try their best to be as quick as possible. The best part of this activity is that you can play multiple games, as each challenge takes under a minute.

Check out more Minute to Win It games .

14. Invent A Solution

Inventing a solution requires critical thinking, as students will work together in groups to fix a problem.

In this game, you will give an imaginary scenario to your students. For example, an alien spaceship has attacked the world, and the aliens want to invade your hometown. How will you make a deal with them or kick them out?

You can also use examples from everyday life, like giving a scenario of your friend who is in trouble and you have to save them.

Then, the students will get five minutes to discuss the answer in the group. Once done, one student from each group will come on the stage and explain their solution to the class.

Check out more problem-solving activities .

15. GoNoodle

GoNoodle is the favorite online platform of teachers. This website contains many fun games and interactive activities that help students participate and boost their confidence. If you are looking for some online interactive games for students, then GoNoodle can be the right platform.

The website gives you different categories of games to choose from. You can play games according to specific subjects and topics and do activities like stretching in video sessions.

Learn more about GoNoodle.

16. Debate Competition

A debate competition is among the best interactive games for high school students. Such competitions and activities improve students’ critical thinking skills, boost their confidence, and improve their communication skills.

To ensure interaction, you can divide the class into two groups and give an argumentative topic for discussion. One group will focus on the cons, and the other will highlight the pros. For example, you can provide globalization as the topic for discussion and ask the class to have speeches and arguments on it.

17. Four Corners

Four Corners is among the best interactive classroom games. This challenge involves four groups of students. You will also blindfold one student.

The rest of the students will run to four corners of the room. The blindfolded student will point to one corner, and students at the other corners will be out of the game.

Then, the remaining four students will run to the four corners again. Finally, the blindfolded child will again point to one corner, and the student there will win.

This game is easy to play, takes limited time, and only has one winner in each round.

Interactive games for students are necessary to boost their focus on their studies and keep them active in class. These games also build trust and friendly relationships as students play in groups to win.

Our list of interactive games for students includes in-person and virtual games that can keep students engaged and boost their confidence. For best results, match activities to the subject and your class’ age group, learning styles, and personalities.

For more fun with students, check out virtual field trips and family day activities .

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FAQ: Interactive games for students

Here are answers to questions about interactive games for students.

What are some interactive games for students?

Here is a list of some interactive games for students:

• Scrambled Eggs
• Making an advertisement
• Debate competitions
• Solving puzzles

In these games, students participate in groups or help one student with a problem. Such games also boost the thinking skills and confidence of children.

How do you get students to interact through games?

The best idea to get students to interact through games is by making them participate in groups. The students will use their abilities and work will full confidence. Also, they will be anxious about not letting their teammates down with poor performance, which will help them focus on the game. Also, the students will discuss the solutions before taking action. Discussing in groups and putting forward their points will also help them build trust and eliminate shyness.

Why are interactive games important for students?

Interactive games are important for students to help them learn better and develop or improve their skills. Interactive games also take the students out of the standard classroom routine and provide a new learning path.

Interactive games also build confidence, improve communication, and help students determine what to do in situations using their critical thinking.

Author: Grace He

People & Culture Director at teambuilding.com. Grace is the Director of People & Culture at teambuilding.com. She studied Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University, Information Science at East China Normal University and earned an MBA at Washington State University.

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People & Culture Director at teambuilding.com.

Grace is the Director of People & Culture at teambuilding.com. She studied Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University, Information Science at East China Normal University and earned an MBA at Washington State University.

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36 Fun Classroom Games for Every Student

December 19, 2023 //  by  Brittany Kuhn

We all need a break from the routine and if your kiddos are looking a little bored or sleepy lately, it’s probably time to shake things up! Classroom games are the perfect strategy to get your students moving and to engage them in their learning! We have everything you need from exciting starter and exit activities to fun brain breaks and review games. So stop your search and dive into our 36 fun classroom games for every student! 

1. Spot The Error

This fun activity actually uses memes to get your students thinking about correct grammar! This would be a perfect morning greeting task or a fun game for review. Play the interactive game or present the memes on slides; any way you choose, they’ll love editing these captions!

Learn More: Can You Spot The Error

2. Prediction Exit Ticket

A great activity is to have your kiddos think critically about what they’ve learned. Have them write their predictions on sticky notes or pieces of paper to post on the board as they leave for the day. This is one of many exit ticket activities that you can use in your teaching! 

Learn More: The Teacher Toolkit

3. Who/What Am I?

Your learners are sure to love this game! Just have them place a sticky note on their forehead with the name of a person or a key vocabulary word that you are studying. They’ll then walk around your classroom asking their peers yes/no questions to figure out the mystery! 

Learn More: Ice Breaker Ideas

4. Chain Notes

This is a great review activity that also reveals any misconceptions your children might have about a topic. Just write an open-ended question on an envelope about something you’re studying, have them write their answer, put it in an envelope, and pass it on to the next student!

Learn More: Griffith University

5. Blind Artist

Practice listening and communication skills with this fun game! Have your kiddies start by sitting back-to-back. One of them will describe a picture in front of them while the other one, who can’t see the picture, must draw it based on their partner’s descriptions. This one’s a sure winner!

Learn More: Teachers Pay Teachers

6. Student-Led Review Sessions

Your students will take ownership of their learning by creating assessment questions and answer choices. Have them work in small groups and then compile the questions into a game format for them to answer in teams! This one’s great for math, but can also be used in any subject area! 

Debates are great activities for building your kids’ critical thinking skills. Choose from these thought-provoking questions or create your own that are related to a current topic of study. Divide your class into ‘positive’ and ‘negative’ sides and then watch as the games begin! 

Learn More: Junior Scholastic

8. Four Corners

Four corners is an easy activity that’s low-prep and will get your students out of their seats! Label each corner of your classroom with A-D or 1-4 and then create questions with four possible answers. Read your questions out loud and have them move to the corner with their answer choice.

Learn More: Alyssa Teaches

9. Interview/Role Play

Assign some of your children a character from a novel study or a person from a historical period that you’re studying while your other ones will create interview questions. Hold a ‘daytime talk-show’ style presentation where the actors are interviewed by their classmates. Bonus for dressing up!

Learn More: Everyday Speech

Your students, regardless of age, will love BINGO! This is great for a whole class review and can be used across content areas. Create your boards, call out questions, and watch as they eagerly search for the answers and get excited about their chance to shout out BINGO!

Learn More: Teaching Channel

11. 3-2-1 Exit Ticket

This exit ticket is great for encouraging your pupil’s self-reflection while also checking their understanding. On a sticky note or flash card, they’ll write three things they learned, two things they’re unsure about, and one question they want to ask. Have them turn it in as their ‘ticket’ out of class!

Learn More: The Art Of Education

12. Inside/Outside Circles

This one is a great community-building game! Arrange your kiddos in two circles facing each other and then post a question. They’ll discuss the answer with their partner for two minutes and when the timer goes off, the inside circle moves clockwise one seat and you’ll begin again!

Learn More: EduToolBox

13. Scavenger Hunt

Just say the words ‘scavenger hunt’ and watch your students’ faces light up! This is great for getting them excited about a new topic or for reviewing before a test. Just hide questions or tasks around the room for them to complete, and with each answer, their next clue will be revealed! 

Learn More: A Lesson Plan For Teachers

14. Hot Seat

Start this fun activity with one of your kiddos sitting in a chair facing the class. Write a word on the board so they can’t see it and have them call on the audience for clues to help them guess the word. When they’ve correctly guessed, someone else takes a turn in the ‘hot seat’!

Learn More: Teaching To The Nth Degree

15. Idea Line-Up

This is a movement break activity that gets your learners thinking about their opinions on different topics. After you’ve posed a question, they’ll find their position on a continuum from agree to disagree. Next, have them justify their stance to a classmate who has a different perspective!

Learn More: Universiteit Utrecht

16. Elevator Pitch

At the end of a lesson, have your students pitch what they’ve learned in 60 seconds to either you or one of their classmates. You could also have them work in groups for a little healthy competition to see which team has crafted the most succinct summary of the material! 

Learn More: Edutopia

17. Sentence Race

This game is perfect for helping your little ones unscramble sentences! You could split your class into teams to see which group can unscramble digital sentences the fastest, or have them race to a display with paper sentence strips. Either way, this is sure to be a keeper! 

Learn More: Tiny Tap

For this collaborative activity, start by placing your children into groups and assign only a part of a problem or class text to that group. Next, have one student from each of your groups get together to make a new group where they discuss how their individual topics all fit together.

Learn More: Reading Rockets

19. Pictionary

Activate your kids’ creative side by playing Pictionary! Divide them into teams and have a member from each team come to the board to draw a word or phrase from a current unit. The first team that guesses correctly wins a point! 

Taboo is perfect for getting your students thinking about everything related to a topic! One member of a team will have a main word and a list of related words that they can’t use to describe this word. They’ll have to figure out other ways to help their team guess it correctly!

Learn More: Better Lesson

21. Simon Says

If you want a fun brain break activity, look no further than Simon Says! Give your kiddies actions to perform, but warn them that they can only do it if your directions follow the phrase ‘Simon says.’ If they do an action that doesn’t follow that phrase, they must sit down!

Learn More: The Genius Of Play

22. Pico, Fermi, Bagel

This is an awesome math game! One of your mathematicians will think of a three-digit number while their classmates take turns guessing the digits. Each guess is either Pico, the right number in the wrong place, Fermi, the right number in the right place, or Bagel, the wrong number entirely! 

Learn More: University Of Washington

23. Chatterboxes

This is a fun, creative activity that requires no prep from you! Give your students a finger game template and have them write their own review questions and answers. They’ll then fold it and play with their classmates, asking and answering each other’s review questions!

24. Board Race Relay

This is another fast-paced game your kids will love! Have them stand in four lines at the back of your classroom. Ask a question about that day’s learning and the first student in each line will race to the board. The fastest to write the correct answer wins! 

Learn More: One Stop English

25. Hot Potato

This classic game is also great for reviewing important material before a big test. Have your students stand in a circle and pass the ‘hot potato’ until you say stop. Whoever is holding the object has to answer a question correctly or sit down. The last one standing wins!

Learn More: ESL Speaking

26. How Many Can You Name?

This game is a perfect start activity to get your children thinking about what they already know about a topic. They’ll get one minute to list as many words associated with a category. You can use this one across content areas – think adjectives, WWII, or terms related to the solar system! 

Learn More: Bunscoil Rís Edmund Rice Senior School

27. Beach Ball

This can be used in many different ways from an icebreaker to a review! Write questions on a beach ball and have your kiddos stand in a circle. They’ll say ‘left’ or ‘right’ as they toss the ball and when it’s caught, their classmate will have to answer the question under that hand!

Learn More: Teaching With Jennifer Findley

28. Gallery Walk

For an interactive movement break, have your students participate in a gallery walk! Just post questions around the room and have them work in groups to answer them. After a few minutes, they’ll move to the next question where they’ll get a chance to read the other group’s responses.

 Learn More: Facing History

29. Hangman Alternatives

A snowman, alien, and fighter pilot/parachute are more positive alternatives to the classic game of hangman! For this no-prep game, you’ll give your kiddos spaces for the number of letters in a word and they’ll have to guess the letters correctly. For each incorrect guess, you’ll add a part to your picture!

Learn More: YouTube

30. Word Ladder

Start this fun word association game by writing a content-relevant word on your board. Have one of your pupils give a word related to it and write this above your word. They’ll call on a classmate to give a word related to their word and you’ll repeat this until everyone’s had a turn! 

Learn More: My World Their Way

31. Round-Robin Storytelling

This activity is great for small groups. One of your students will write the opening of a story and then pass their paper to a classmate who will add to the story before passing it to another. This is a super fun game that will definitely produce some giggles! 

Learn More: Education World

32. Riddle Starters

A good starter activity that gets your students thinking is a riddle. Post riddles from the list here or think of your own that are related to a specific topic your class is learning about. They’ll love waking up their brains by trying to figure out the answer before anyone else!

Learn More: Innovative Teaching Ideas

33. Popcorn Reading

This is an oldie but goodie! Start by reading aloud a text and then shout out ‘popcorn’ followed by the name of one of your kiddos. They’ll pick up where you left off and continue to read until they want to stop. Then they’ll repeat the process to give someone new a chance to read! 

Learn More: Scribd

34. K-W-L Chart

K-W-L charts are great activities to explore what your children already know about a topic, and what they want to know about it. This also acts as a post-assessment in that they can add what they’ve learned after your lesson!

Learn More: Read Write Think

35. Minute To Win It

Based on the popular game show, your children will have a blast with only one minute to solve a problem or answer a question! The more they get correct or complete, the more points they earn. Play this one as individuals or place them in groups for a fun team competition!

Learn More: Rhody Girl Resource

36. Scattergories

This is another great word association game that can be played across different subject areas! Give your kiddos a list of categories and a letter and they’ll have one minute to think of words that both fit the category and start with that letter. Each word that works will get a point!

Learn More: EMediaVA Blog

Trending Post : 12 Powerful Discussion Strategies to Engage Students

How to Engage Students: 20 of the Best Active Learning Strategies

As a new teacher, I didn’t fully grasp how to best engage students in learning. That’s not to say my class was a bore, but there were definitely days I knew flopped…majorly. Unfortunately, there’s no magic list for captivating students in a lesson, but experience is one of the best tools I have to answer the question of how to engage students in the classroom. Developing a bank of lesson plans and approaches you can count on to increase engagement takes time.

There are few things I enjoy less than bored students. That’s why I’ve dedicated a lot of time and effort to trying new instructional strategies in the middle and high school classroom. If you’ve been scouring the web for ways to get and keep students engaged, hopefully you’ll enjoy this these active learning strategies.

Before diving into the strategies, I want to emphasize several important points.

First…

It’s hard to tell when students are truly engaged. I find that when I ask them for feedback on a lesson, they usually evaluate their interest level higher than I would have guessed. So, if students aren’t on the edge of their seats enthralled in the learning, it may just be because they are teenagers dealing with a crazy array of emotions and insecurities. Plus, engagement is not always visible externally.

Also…

Engagement is not a quick fix. It starts with building relationships with students and getting to know them as learners. Students will be more engaged in a room where they know the teacher cares about them. We have to constantly check the thermostat in the room to see what is working.

Engagement shouldn’t come at the expense of learning. Some activities are engaging and fun, but the thinking required is very basic, or the tasks may not align to standards.

Engagement is not the same as  “fun” or even “entertaining.” Engagement means students see the value of the learning and are mentally engaging with the information, actively thinking, forming meaningful associations. Their thinking is challenged.

The list of instructional strategies we could try could really fill up a book (or more). Over time, I’ve collected a list of reliable and engaging strategies to use with middle and high school students. Let’s take a look.

1. MODEL ENGAGEMENT

It didn’t take me too long into my first year of teaching before I realized the importance of modeling engagement. Teaching the same lesson several times a day isn’t one of the perks of being a teacher, but the less enthusiastic I am about a lesson, the less engaged students tend to be. And, the reverse is true as well.

Wanting to engage students in independent reading? Show them how you are enjoying a book. Share your thoughts. Read some of it to them. Read when they can see you doing it.

Trying to engage reluctant writers? Model your struggles. Show them how to write a bad hook just to get something down on paper and then revise it. Smile the whole time! Ask thoughtful questions. For instance,  I’m not loving this rough draft of a hook, but I’m so glad I at least have something on paper. I’d love your help! Who would like to help me make this better? What do you all suggest?

2. USE MUSIC

When we play music in the classroom , the energy changes. Whether we are using songs for intentional brain breaks (which are an engagement strategy as well!), as a mentor text for figurative language or grammar, or as a bell ringer, music brings life to the classroom. Here’s a free analytical music activity you can use with poetry.

Use art in ELA to pique students’ interest. For example, I love encouraging students to think critically by drawing vocabulary associations or creating one pagers or sketch notes. They can analyze and evaluate graphic design elements by looking at author’s craft in picture books or by creating booksnaps to capture reflections. Use photographs as inspiration for writing or project images related to a text before reading. Then, have students make predictions or build background knowledge.

4. GIVE OWNERSHIP

If we really want to engage students in learning, we need to give them ownership: voice and choice. Involve them in making decisions about what happens in the classroom and about their learning. Ask for their feedback about lessons and units. Have them evaluate their work and progress. And, let students ch oose what they want to read as often as possible. Create and display anchor charts that showcase their ideas. With writing, give feedback that honors students’ internal dialogue .

5. MAKE IT RELEVANT

Students are more engaged in learning when lessons are relevant to real-world application . Tie literature to essential questions that help students understand life. Choose books in which they can see themselves or their culture present. Try passion projects or genius hours. Teach real-world writing skills like email etiquette and journaling . And, of course, bring in elements of pop culture whenever appropriate. I love using short films, music, commercials, and more to teach literary analysis .

6. INCORPORATE MOVEMENT

Any time we can incorporate movement in our classrooms, engagement tends to increase. Whether we are having students participate in a gallery walk, using manipulatives to unders tand language , or sorting information to categorize it, when students are standing and moving around, they are more likely to be engaged. Learning stations are one of my favorite ways to incorporate movement because students get to practice many skills related to the learning objectives…all from different learning perspectives.

7. PLAY GAMES

Games are crowd pleasers. This year, I asked my students… If you could take the skills I am asking you to learn and transform this lesson to make it exactly how you want to learn, what approach would you take?  The answer? Resoundingly, games. They want to play games. Games are not ideal for every circumstance, but if students can play a game to practice a skill or strategy, they tend to be smiling, laughing, and collaborating more than with other approaches.

8. READ ALOUD

Students are never too old to be read to. I just attended a conference in which the presenter used several picture books as interactive read alouds with an adult audience, and everyone was enthralled . Picture books truly have to age cap. Whether you’re reading the first chapter of a book, the entire thing, a short story, or a picture books, you’ll notice students are more engaged.

9. CREATE VISUALS

Visual elements captivate students. Graphic organizers provide them with naturally differentiated entry points for discussion. Plus, the design of many graphic organizers elevates thinking more than a traditional worksheet. Anchor charts are effective because students can help create them, and they anchor learning so that students can refer back to them long after the lesson is over. EL and  all students benefit from word walls , especially when they are interactive.

10. STOP AND JOT

Sometimes we are so busy disseminating information that we don’t stop often enough to let students think. And, thinking is critical for engagement! Try incorporating brain dumps, or stop and jots , as a way for students to write down what they remember as you move from one topic to another or between parts of the lesson. This type of activity is also helpful with removing “dead time” in the classroom, which diminishes engagement.

11. DISCUSSION WARM-UPS

Ever wonder how to engage students in class discussions? Try think, pair, square, which is a variation of think-pair-share. In think, pair, square, the teacher poses a question. (Students can pose questions also, determining on the purpose and goal).

Then, students do a brain dump on paper, writing down everything they think in response to that question. Following a short period of reflection, they turn to a partner and share those ideas. After, the partners pair up with another set of partners so that the discussion groups are somewhat larger.

You’ll notice that as students move from sharing with just one other person to four, the energy level in the room rises. Students also typically are more likely to participate in the whole-class discussion that follows.

12. CHUNK LESSONS

Lessons are more engaging when intentional chunking is built in. We can do this by breaking down course content and skills into smaller chunks that are more easy for students to digest as well as chunking the class period strategically to increase mastery of content.

When done effectively, students comprehend the content better, learn more of it, and remember it longer. Content chunking gives students time to really dig into a skill, idea, or concept long enough that they can appreciate it, reflect on it, and connect with it at a deeper level. Here are some specific chunking ideas for reading, writing, and other ELA topics.

13. REVAMP NOTE-TAKING

There are so many different ways students can take notes, but when we introduce new note-taking strategies that make students think and that they can use as a study strategy, engagement increases. One approach I have used this year is sketch noting. You can find a free lesson for introducing this strategy to students in my resource library (exclusive for subscribers).

Another is retrieve taking. With this strategy, students actually  don’t take notes. They listen. Then, when you are done talking or the video is done playing, you pause and ask students to brain dump. Have them write down everything they remember. Obviously, you can insert these intentionally retrieval opportunities regularly during direct instruction to chunk the note taking.

14. PROVOKE CURIOSITY

When talking about how to engage students in learning, curiosity has to be part of the conversation. If students aren’t interested in what they are learning, it’s hard to engage them. Before reading, try projecting images and/or words that relate to the text. Have them begin making some predictions about the text. The images can serve to build background knowledge and prepare students to read as well.

Writing? Hold a debate before writing an argumentative essay. Analyze aspects of pop culture before writing a literary analysis piece. For informative writing, pique students’ interest by having them select a topic based off of questions they have about a fiction text (ex. – Why did Henry VIII have six wives? or What technology has already been invented that is similar to what is described in the book? ).

This whole post is full of a variety of anticipatory sets, or lesson hooks, that can help to engage students in learning.

15. ACTIVATE THE BRAIN

In order to engage students in learning, they need to experience the excitement of retaining new information. When learning is tangible, or measurable, students tend to be more motivated. Part of my teaching philosophy involves incorporating brain-based learning approaches whenever possible. We know students learn better when they are making meaningful associations, collaborating with others, and doing the work.

While I incorporate elements of brain-based learning in all aspects of ELA, one of the areas I have the most fun with it is in vocabulary. Here are five brain-based vocabulary activities , and you’ll find even more in this resource , which you can use with any word list.

16. USE COLOR

Color brightens moods, lessons, and learning. There’s something about color that intrigues us and helps us to remember what we learn. Students can color-code elements of a paragaraph when writing. Color can also help students understand book diet and book fit. Try color coding mood and tone or grammatical elements so that students can visually see how the elements work together. This list provides details for these ideas and more.

17. ADD TECH

Take any lesson and “engage-ify”it by adding meaningful tech. For example, to have students show their thinking about characters, plot, and conflict, ask them to use the free app called  Texting Story to create a short video conversation. To reflect on the writing process and what students learn as they move through each phase, have them document their experience each day using  Apple Clips . Students can conduct research and visually display what they learn by creating an infographic on Canva . Try using  Notability to create a mindmap or other visual notes to synthesize learning. Or, ask students to insert a GIF into a shared Google Slide document to represent their current feeling about the topic of discussion.

18. MAKE IT COLLABORATIVE

When we picture the gradual release of learning, we sometimes skip over collaboration. It takes time! But, the social nature of learning is so important for students. To maximize engagement, whenever possible, ask students to work together to share ideas about what they are reading, to revise their writing, to respond to one another in verbal and silent discussions, and to partake in research projects.

19. TRY A PODCAST

Podcasts require a different type of listening. Students can build their listening comprehension while learning auditorily from an informational text. Podcasts are especially engaging when the topic is intriguing or relevant to students. Here is a list of podcasts for students from Common Sense media, and this is a high-interest podcast lesson I recommend for high school students.

20. CHALLENGE STUDENTS

No one likes to be bored. Students appreciate the type of challenge that makes them think but doesn’t frustrate them. Ask questions that challenge students’ thinking in developmentally appropriate ways. Encourage them to participate in some metacognition,  but always avoid busy work.

True student engagement is not the same as participation. With participation, students may be  doing what we ask them to. They may be raising their hands at the appropriate times, but that doesn’t mean they are mentally an emotionally engaging or connecting with the lesson.

So, in order to answer the question of how to engage students in the learning process, we need to look beyond all the strategies and start thinking about how we can intentionally build active learning into our classrooms. Engagement increases students’ attention, sharpens their focus, motivates them to think at a higher level, and promotes meaningful learning.

Meaningful learning boils down to knowing our students well enough to create lessons they find relevant. 

It’s really more about purposeful lesson design than it is randomly selecting a strategy from a list. Ultimately, I notice maximum engagement when I have just enough structure in my room for it to feel safe, but also just enough variety in active learning activities to keep students on their toes.

Meaningful End-of-the-Year Activities for Secondary ELA

Engaging ela activities for any time of year, 11 ideas for teaching figurative language meaningfully, related resource:.

Engage students in meaningful review and practice with these ELA games . Perfect for learning stations and review sessions.

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10 Creative Ways to Better Engage Your Students

Explore more.

• Classroom Management
• Student Engagement

S tarting out as a young adjunct instructor, I can painfully recall reading my lesson notes from index cards as my students sat passively with blank stares. Fortunately that didn’t last long, thanks to a mentor observing my class. But I doubt my experience was much different from that of other emerging educators. After all, I had modeled these ineffective teaching practices after my own experiences as a university student.

Today, however, there has been a huge push in higher education to move beyond these passive methods of instruction that lead to less student engagement and low motivation. As Jennifer Stanchfield discovered , “More is learned through exploring and struggling than by being provided the answer.”

It’s harder than ever these days to keep our students’ attention. But I have improved my approach over the past 30 years based on the simple belief that telling is not teaching . Because of this, I am continually exploring interesting and creative ways to engage my students.

I have identified some outstanding techniques, which I will share here, that have helped to enhance my students’ engagement and motivation for learning. Many of these strategies have come from the book Total Participation Techniques: Making Every Student an Active Learner by Himmele and Himmele, which has truly transformed my teaching. So let’s get started on transforming yours.

10 Engagement Strategies to Energize and Motivate Your Students

Before we break down specific strategies you can use to enhance participation, it’s important to understand that there are five different types of engagement: social, behavioral, emotional, intellectual, and physical. As teachers, we may organically hit two or three of these engagement types, but some we are likely to miss, especially if we’re not aware of them. I’ve struggled with ideas for how to get my students physically engaged, for example.

Below, I’ve categorized my top engagement strategies by these types to help you address all five. They have been designed for use in university classes and can easily be adapted for any area of study.

WHAT WE’LL COVER: 10 CREATIVE ENGAGEMENT STRATEGIES

In this article, Pamela Kramer Ertel breaks down the following engagement strategies to improve student participation and enhance learning retention.

Getting to Know You

Find Someone Who…

Bounce Cards

The Lecture T-Chart

The Ripple Method

Drama, Please!

Whiteboard Splash and Gallery Walk

Inside-Outside Circles

Origami Review Game

Social Engagement: Creating Connections with Students Through Collaboration and Sharing

Social engagement involves social interactions. The key to having effective social engagement is to help students get to know and trust you and other students early in the semester. The following strategies are designed to allow students to make these important connections as they help build a collaborative learning environment of support and trust.

1. Getting to Know You

Prior to the start of a new semester, I email my students a survey to learn more about their interests and preferences. Here are the key questions I ask:

What are your career goals?

How do you learn best?

Share five facts about yourself that will help me get to know you and best meet your needs.

What are your three favorite songs or musicians?

Is there anything else you would like to share that will help me better support your learning?

I also prepare a PowerPoint presentation that I use to introduce myself on the first day of class. I share personal and professional stories and family photos with the hope that my students will feel more connected to me and thus more motivated to open up themselves. I also love sharing stories about my latest connections to the country music stars I meet in Nashville (like that time I got a huge hug from Chris Janson in church).

I then have my students create name tents: They display their names on large, folded index cards to quickly familiarize the class. I also have them use this card to draw or write brief ideas about their interests, which form the basis for how they introduce themselves to their peers.

2. Find Someone Who . . .

I plan first-day-of-class activities that give students simple opportunities to get to know one another in a light-hearted way. For one such activity, I create a template with a nine-space grid in which various criteria are listed. Students must find a different person in the class who meets the criteria listed in each grid space (see Figure 1). For example, “Find someone who is an early riser.”

As they circulate around the room, they must find someone for each grid space and fill in that person’s name. This activity serves as a great icebreaker and helps students learn each other’s names, which is important for helping them feel connected to their peers.

Pamela Kramer Ertel, Harvard Business Publishing Education, 2022.

Figure 1: Find Someone Who... is a great first-day-of-class game that gives students the opportunity to learn more about each other in a fun, light-hearted way.

Behavioral Engagement: Establishing Rules, Routines, and Roles

Behavioral engagement deals with routines and behaviors that help promote learning. It is important to teach the routines and behaviors that you want your students to use to improve the quality of peer discussions and the efficiency of class activities. These strategies also help to create a sense of security as students know what to expect from you.

For example, before my students can enter the classroom, I have them wait until I open the door, as I want to be sure I have the room prepared for the day’s activities. They also know that I will have a daily prompt posted for them to discuss with their peers as they arrive, which is designed to engage them in the lesson topic of the day.

Here are some other strategies for behavioral engagement.

3. Bounce Cards

With the “Bounce Card” strategy , I provide a card for each student that lists key questions or prompts I want them to discuss with a partner or small group. The questions can be generic so that the card can be used to discuss any topic. (For example, “Rephrase what your partner just said,” or, “That’s a great point because . . .”) The questions are designed to help students strengthen their listening skills and deepen their conversations. The prompts require students to extend, rephrase, and ask follow-up questions to their bounce partners, rather than just give a simple answer.

For example, if I ask students to discuss a video clip, they might just say whether they liked it. But using a Bounce Card forces them to dig deeper. You can adapt the questions on the card to suit your educational purposes, but for the students who struggle with conversational skills, this can be a great template for helping them develop more thoughtful responses.

4. The Lecture T-Chart

You may have noticed that sometimes as students take notes, they don’t seem to really be processing what they are learning. The “Lecture T-Chart” consists of a simple template where students record their notes on the left side of a page. Periodically throughout my lecture, I pause and have them use their own words to summarize the key ideas I’ve just presented, which they write on the right side of the template.

This pause-review-summarize process helps to strengthen comprehension and can be extended by having students share their summaries with others to further process the information through social engagement.

Emotional Engagement: Facilitating Joy, Connection, and Memories

Emotional engagement entails creating safe, positive learning experiences for everyone involved. Students will not be open to sharing their thoughts and responses in class if they feel they will be mocked or disrespected by their professor or peers.

One of the ways I create emotional connection is through music. I’ll start each class playing a different student’s favorite song or music video (based on what they told me in that initial survey). They love it and appreciate that I actually read their responses.

Here are some other strategies to emotionally engage your students.

5. The Ripple Method

Himmele and Himmele propose the use of the ripple method : Instead of just calling on students who raise their hand, you “ripple” your questions by first having each student respond individually to the prompt (either in their mind or in writing). They then share their responses with one to three peers before you open up the floor to volunteers willing to share with the whole class. This process ensures that every student has time to think of a response.

For example, I use the ripple method when I ask my students each week to share an “aha moment” from their clinical experiences. This relieves pressure for those students who are less motivated to engage in discussion. The students soon realize that their experiences are just as valid as everyone else’s and that we are all in this together. They also realize that some of their perceived failures in the field become some of their most precious learning experiences.

Intellectual Engagement: Promoting Choice, Challenge, and Curiosity

Intellectual engagement involves curiosity and meaningful explorations. Whenever possible, give students choices in terms of tasks, topics, and strategies for demonstrating their learning. The more relevant and authentic the task, the higher the level of engagement and motivation.

Here are some activities to spur curiosity and meaning.

6. Drama, Please!

Consider using problem solving, role playing, and acting as ways of demonstrating learning. You will need to be specific about your expectations, but the freedom to explore interests and determine a mode of presentation of ideas will be motivating for many students.

In my teacher education class, I have my students roleplay parent-teacher conferences. I preface this by showing a video clip from the sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond . While the clip is humorous, it helps the students recognize the vulnerability of parents (and teachers) in these situations, which is an essential understanding when conducting an effective parent-teacher conference.

7. IQ Cards

IQ cards provide an interesting and efficient way for students to share insights about what they have learned, as well as raise questions after a lecture or class activity. Students write an insight (representing the “I” in IQ) on one side of an index card. This insight can be related to something new they learned during that class, or it can be a “so what” statement, indicating how this information can be applied in professional or personal practice.

On the other side of the card, the students write a question (Q) that they have about the information. Typically, I like to have students share their cards with their peers in pairs and then I collect the cards to gather informal assessment data about student learning. This works as an excellent closure activity as it reviews key lesson content and helps me assess whether students are grasping the material.

Physical Engagement: Making Movement Meaningful

Physical engagement involves some type of movement and is an often-neglected engagement strategy in the higher ed classroom. John Ratey , author of Spark (Hatchett, 2008), states that “exercise is the single most powerful tool you have to optimize your brain function.” While time and space may be challenges to including physical movement in the classroom, small efforts to engage students physically help to keep them focused and may help change their brains by strengthening neuropathways leading to improved storage and retrieval of information.

While physical engagement can introduce novelty to your class, it’s important to think about the physical and mobile abilities of your students, and to provide accommodations and make room for modifications when necessary.

The following strategies help to engage students in movement connected with their learning.

8. Whiteboard Splash and Gallery Walk

Whiteboard Splash (sometimes known as “chalkboard splash” or “graffiti wall”) involves students responding to a prompt with words or pictures to explain an idea or concept by writing on the whiteboard (or large chart paper).

For example, I might ask my teacher education students, “What are the activities that should be included in the schedule for the first day of school for young children?” or “What are some strategies you can use to reflect on your teaching practice?” Students work individually or in small groups to illustrate their ideas. Then students circulate around the room for a “gallery walk” to view and discuss the displayed information.

To ensure that students don’t passively walk by the work, have them write down the ideas they found new, different, surprising, or worth remembering. Students can then share the results and address additional questions.

9. Inside-Outside Circles

This is one of my students’ favorite strategies for physical movement and social engagement. I have students create two concentric circles where each person is in front of or behind someone in the other circle. The inside circle group is then told to turn and face their outside circle group partner. I provide a prompt for the pairs to discuss (for example, “What are some reasons for student misbehavior?”) and set a time limit for each partner to share a brief response to the question.

Students then take turns listening to their partner’s response. Be sure to set a timer so students know when to end their conversations. Then I have the outside circle group move two places to the left so they are facing a different person. You can provide the same or a different prompt and the process repeats.

To hold students accountable, be sure to circulate and listen to the conversations so you get an idea of their level of understanding and interaction, which you can then use in conducting a closing discussion with the whole group. If space is an issue, consider using the hallway or go outdoors (weather permitting). If you have students with limited mobility, you can conduct this activity with chairs (and wheelchairs) and students can still have rich interactions. Be sure to position any students with mobility limitations in the inner circle so just the students in the outside circle have to move during the activity.

For online classes, assign pairs of students to breakout rooms and give them a short amount of time (one to two minutes) to share their ideas with their partners. Then you can randomly assign them a new partner using a new set of breakout rooms.

10. Origami Review Game

Depending on your age, you may recall playing a game with origami paper creations with questions and answers on them. Partners can take turns telling each other’s fortunes or quizzing each other. I use this often as a content review activity before exams. (You can find directions for the construction and implementation of this game here .)

Your role is to create eight close-ended questions that have simple (i.e., short) answers so they fit on the game board. (for example, “What type of engagement involves movement?” followed by the answer, “Physical engagement.”) Each pair of students receives an origami paper creation (see Figure 2), and they take turns asking each other questions from the game piece until all the questions have been covered.

Figure 2: An example of the Origami Review Game.

Keep It Fresh and Meaningful

Adding these simple but meaningful engagement strategies into my instructional practices has not only helped create a stimulating, joyful learning environment for my students, but it has also made me a more motivated teacher. I teach a three-hour class and the time now passes quickly for everyone.

Simply put: To keep our students motivated, we have to stay motivated. These strategies can help you avoid the rut of doing the same thing all the time. But keep in mind that even a clever idea can become stale if overused, so make sure to mix and match.

Just remember that novelty and fun are additional benefits of students’ cognitive engagement; they are not the main focus of our efforts. So use your class time wisely by choosing meaningful questions and engagement strategies that are related to your learning goals. If you do so, I think you’ll find that your students quickly get on board.

Pamela Kramer Ertel is an associate professor of education at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. She is a former professor and Dean of the College of Education at East Stroudsburg University and a past president of Kappa Delta Pi, the International Honor Society in Education. Her research interests include teacher education, student engagement, trauma-informed schools, and adoption.

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23 Fun Activities for Students in The Classroom

In the bustling world of education, creating a lively and engaging classroom environment is crucial to nurturing a love for learning among students.

Injecting fun and interactive activities into the curriculum not only keeps boredom at bay but also enhances students’ creativity, critical thinking, and social skills.

From hands-on experiments to thought-provoking games, there are endless opportunities to make the learning experience enjoyable and memorable for students.

We present fun activities for students in the classroom that are sure to ignite their curiosity and make learning an adventure they’ll eagerly embark upon each day.

So, let’s dive into a world of excitement, where education and fun go hand in hand!

Interactive Science Experiments:

Science becomes a captivating adventure when students can actively participate in hands-on experiments. From creating volcanic eruptions using baking soda and vinegar to constructing simple electrical circuits, interactive science experiments not only pique students’ interest but also help them understand complex concepts through direct experience. Encouraging teamwork and critical thinking, these activities foster a deeper appreciation for the scientific method and promote a sense of wonder about the natural world.

Literary Character Role-Play:

Bring literature to life by having students engage in role-play as their favorite literary characters. Whether they reenact scenes from classic novels or imagine alternative endings, this activity sparks creativity and empathy. By stepping into the shoes of the characters they read about, students gain a deeper understanding of their motivations and emotions. It also provides an opportunity for students to express themselves verbally and non-verbally, enhancing their communication skills and boosting their confidence in public speaking.

Mathematical Puzzles and Escape Rooms:

Transform math from a daunting subject into an exciting challenge with mathematical puzzles and escape rooms. Creating brain-teasers that require students to solve equations, unravel patterns, and decode clues not only sharpens their problem-solving abilities but also cultivates a positive attitude towards mathematics. The element of competition and the race against time in escape rooms add an adrenaline rush, fostering teamwork and camaraderie among students as they work together to crack the codes. Related: 20 Fun Minute to Win It Cup Games for Kids

History Through Time Travel Simulations:

Immerse students in the past with interactive history time travel simulations. Organize a simulation where students assume the roles of historical figures and recreate significant events. Whether it’s the signing of a historical treaty or the exploration of ancient civilizations, this activity allows students to gain a deeper understanding of the context and consequences of historical events. It encourages research, critical analysis, and creative thinking while making history an engaging journey through time.

Foreign Language Karaoke:

Host a foreign language karaoke session where students sing songs in the language they are learning. Provide lyrics and music, and let them perform individually or in groups. This activity not only improves language pronunciation and vocabulary but also boosts confidence in using the language.

Science Show and Tell:

Encourage students to bring in science-related objects or conduct simple experiments for a science show and tell. They can explain the scientific principles behind their items or demonstrations. This activity enhances communication skills, scientific curiosity, and peer learning as students share their interests and discoveries.

Historical Role-Playing Games:

Organize historical role-playing games where students take on the roles of famous figures from different eras. They can engage in debates, negotiations, or reenactments of historical events. This activity fosters historical empathy, critical thinking, and a deeper understanding of the complexities of the past.

Debate and Persuasion Battles:

Organize lively debates and persuasion battles on various topics relevant to the curriculum. Divide the class into teams, and let them research and present arguments supporting their positions. Debates not only develop students’ public speaking and critical thinking abilities but also teach them to respect diverse viewpoints. This activity cultivates a deeper understanding of complex issues and nurtures the art of effective persuasion. Related: 20 Innovative Rubber Band Games for Kids

Music and Mnemonics for Memorization:

Integrate music and mnemonic devices into the learning process to make memorization more engaging and effective. Whether it’s creating a catchy song to remember historical dates or using rhymes to recall mathematical formulas, music, and mnemonics help students retain information in a fun and memorable way. This activity fosters creativity, boosts memory retention, and makes the learning experience more enjoyable.

Innovative Coding Challenges:

Introduce students to the world of coding and computer programming through interactive challenges. Platforms like Scratch or Blockly offer visual coding environments suitable for beginners. Students can create games, animations, and interactive stories, fostering computational thinking and problem-solving skills. This activity not only prepares students for the digital age but also instills a sense of accomplishment as they see their projects come to life.

Creative Science Fiction Writing:

Encourage students to venture into the world of science fiction writing. They can invent futuristic worlds, aliens, or time-travel adventures. This imaginative activity nurtures storytelling, creative thinking, and writing skills while allowing students to explore their wildest ideas.

Language Immersion Day:

Designate a language immersion day in the classroom, where students communicate only in the target language they are learning. Engage them in language-based games, role-plays, and activities to reinforce vocabulary and grammar concepts. Language immersion enhances language fluency and cultural understanding, making the learning process more interactive and enjoyable.

STEM Design Challenge:

Engage students in a STEM design challenge where they have to build structures or devices using specific materials. For example, they can construct a bridge with popsicle sticks or a catapult with rubber bands. This hands-on activity promotes creativity, problem-solving, and engineering skills as students work together to design and test their creations.

Culinary Science:

Combine science and cooking in a culinary science activity. Choose recipes that involve scientific processes like baking, fermentation, or emulsification. Students can follow the recipes, while you explain the scientific principles behind each step. This activity not only offers a hands-on learning experience but also instills an understanding of the science behind everyday activities.

Book Character Carnival:

Transform the classroom into a book character carnival, where students dress up as their favorite literary characters and participate in games and activities related to the books they’ve read. This activity celebrates reading, encourages book discussions, and sparks enthusiasm for literature. Students can also create booths and presentations showcasing the books they love, inspiring their peers to explore new reading material.

STEM Challenge Stations:

Set up STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) challenge stations where students can work in small groups to solve real-world problems. Provide them with materials and instructions for hands-on tasks like building bridges, designing paper airplanes, or constructing simple machines. This activity fosters teamwork, problem-solving skills, and a deeper understanding of STEM principles in a fun and collaborative way.

Journalistic Newsroom:

Transform your classroom into a bustling newsroom where students act as journalists and reporters. Assign them current events or historical topics to research and report on. Students can create news articles, videos, or podcasts to present their findings. This activity hones research, writing, and media literacy skills, allowing students to explore and share important stories in an engaging manner.

Book Club and Author Visits:

Start a book club where students can read and discuss books together. Invite authors (in-person or virtually) to talk about their works, writing process, and inspiration. Book club discussions encourage critical thinking, analytical skills, and a love for reading. Author visits provide students with unique insights into the world of literature and creativity.

Cultural Cuisine Day:

Organize a cultural cuisine day where students can bring in dishes from various cultures and countries. Encourage them to research the history and significance of the food they bring. As students share their dishes, they learn about different cultures, traditions, and culinary practices. This activity promotes cultural awareness, empathy, and appreciation for diversity.

Outdoor Nature Exploration:

Take learning beyond the classroom walls with an outdoor nature exploration activity. Whether it’s a field trip to a nearby park or a school garden, students can observe plants, insects, and wildlife in their natural habitat. Provide field journals for students to sketch and write about their discoveries. This activity nurtures environmental awareness, scientific observation skills, and an appreciation for the natural world.

Creative Story Starters:

Kickstart students’ imaginations with creative story starters. Provide them with intriguing opening sentences or images and ask them to continue the story. This activity promotes storytelling, creative writing, and critical thinking as students develop their narratives. You can also encourage them to share their stories with the class, fostering a supportive and enthusiastic storytelling environment.

Community Service Projects:

Engage students in community service projects that allow them to give back to the community. Collaborate with local organizations or charities to identify meaningful projects, such as a food drive, park cleanup, or visiting elderly residents at a care facility. This activity fosters empathy, social responsibility, and a sense of community, instilling important values that extend beyond academic learning.

Recommended:

• 21 Easy Social and Emotional Activities for Preschoolers
• 23 Fun Indoor Obstacle Course Ideas for Kids
• 20 Fun Disney Activities for Preschoolers

Sohaib Hasan Shah

Sohaib's journey includes 10+ years of teaching and counseling experience at BCSS School in elementary and middle schools, coupled with a BBA (Hons) with a minor in Educational Psychology from Curtin University (Australia) . In his free time, he cherishes quality moments with his family, reveling in the joys and challenges of parenthood. His three daughters have not only enriched his personal life but also deepened his understanding of the importance of effective education and communication, spurring him to make a meaningful impact in the world of education.

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Educationise

11 Activities That Promote Critical Thinking In The Class

52 Critical Thinking Flashcards for Problem Solving

Critical thinking activities encourage individuals to analyze, evaluate, and synthesize information to develop informed opinions and make reasoned decisions. Engaging in such exercises cultivates intellectual agility, fostering a deeper understanding of complex issues and honing problem-solving skills for navigating an increasingly intricate world. Through critical thinking, individuals empower themselves to challenge assumptions, uncover biases, and constructively contribute to discourse, thereby enriching both personal growth and societal progress.

Critical thinking serves as the cornerstone of effective problem-solving, enabling individuals to dissect challenges, explore diverse perspectives, and devise innovative solutions grounded in logic and evidence. For engaging problem solving activities, read our article problem solving activities that enhance student’s interest.

What is Critical Thinking?

Critical thinking is a 21st-century skill that enables a person to think rationally and logically in order to reach a plausible conclusion. A critical thinker assesses facts and figures and data objectively and determines what to believe and what not to believe. Critical thinking skills empower a person to decipher complex problems and make impartial and better decisions based on effective information.

More Articles from Educationise

• 10 Innovative Strategies for Promoting Critical Thinking in the Classroom
• How to Foster Critical Thinking Skills in Students? Creative Strategies and Real-World Examples
• 9 Must-Have AI Tools for Teachers to Create Interactive Learning Materials
• The Future of Education: 8 Predictions for the Next Decade
• The Latest in EdTech: 5 Innovative Tools and Technologies for the Classroom
• 8 Free Math Problem Solving Websites and Applications

Critical thinking skills cultivate habits of mind such as strategic thinking, skepticism, discerning fallacy from the facts, asking good questions and probing deep into the issues to find the truth.

Importance of Acquiring Critical Thinking Skills

Acquiring critical thinking skills was never as valuable as it is today because of the prevalence of the modern knowledge economy. Today, information and technology are the driving forces behind the global economy. To keep pace with ever-changing technology and new inventions, one has to be flexible enough to embrace changes swiftly.

Read our article: How to Foster Critical Thinking Skills in Students? Creative Strategies and Real-World Examples

Today critical thinking skills are one of the most sought-after skills by the companies. In fact, critical thinking skills are paramount not only for active learning and academic achievement but also for the professional career of the students. The lack of critical thinking skills catalyzes memorization of the topics without a deeper insight, egocentrism, closed-mindedness, reduced student interest in the classroom and not being able to make timely and better decisions.

Benefits of Critical Thinking Skills in Education

Certain strategies are more eloquent than others in teaching students how to think critically. Encouraging critical thinking in the class is indispensable for the learning and growth of the students. In this way, we can raise a generation of innovators and thinkers rather than followers. Some of the benefits offered by thinking critically in the classroom are given below:

• It allows a student to decipher problems and think through the situations in a disciplined and systematic manner
• Through a critical thinking ability, a student can comprehend the logical correlation between distinct ideas
• The student is able to rethink and re-justify his beliefs and ideas based on facts and figures
• Critical thinking skills make the students curious about things around them
• A student who is a critical thinker is creative and always strives to come up with out of the box solutions to intricate problems
• Critical thinking skills assist in the enhanced student learning experience in the classroom and prepares the students for lifelong learning and success
• The critical thinking process is the foundation of new discoveries and inventions in the world of science and technology
• The ability to think critically allows the students to think intellectually and enhances their presentation skills, hence they can convey their ideas and thoughts in a logical and convincing manner
• Critical thinking skills make students a terrific communicator because they have logical reasons behind their ideas

Critical Thinking Lessons and Activities

11 Activities that Promote Critical Thinking in the Class

We have compiled a list of 11 activities that will facilitate you to promote critical thinking abilities in the students. We have also covered problem solving activities that enhance student’s interest in our another article. Click here to read it.

1. Worst Case Scenario

Divide students into teams and introduce each team with a hypothetical challenging scenario. Allocate minimum resources and time to each team and ask them to reach a viable conclusion using those resources. The scenarios can include situations like stranded on an island or stuck in a forest. Students will come up with creative solutions to come out from the imaginary problematic situation they are encountering. Besides encouraging students to think critically, this activity will enhance teamwork, communication and problem-solving skills of the students.

Read our article: 10 Innovative Strategies for Promoting Critical Thinking in the Classroom

2. If You Build It

It is a very flexible game that allows students to think creatively. To start this activity, divide students into groups. Give each group a limited amount of resources such as pipe cleaners, blocks, and marshmallows etc. Every group is supposed to use these resources and construct a certain item such as building, tower or a bridge in a limited time. You can use a variety of materials in the classroom to challenge the students. This activity is helpful in promoting teamwork and creative skills among the students.

It is also one of the classics which can be used in the classroom to encourage critical thinking. Print pictures of objects, animals or concepts and start by telling a unique story about the printed picture. The next student is supposed to continue the story and pass the picture to the other student and so on.

4. Keeping it Real

In this activity, you can ask students to identify a real-world problem in their schools, community or city. After the problem is recognized, students should work in teams to come up with the best possible outcome of that problem.

5. Save the Egg

Make groups of three or four in the class. Ask them to drop an egg from a certain height and think of creative ideas to save the egg from breaking. Students can come up with diverse ideas to conserve the egg like a soft-landing material or any other device. Remember that this activity can get chaotic, so select the area in the school that can be cleaned easily afterward and where there are no chances of damaging the school property.

6. Start a Debate

In this activity, the teacher can act as a facilitator and spark an interesting conversation in the class on any given topic. Give a small introductory speech on an open-ended topic. The topic can be related to current affairs, technological development or a new discovery in the field of science. Encourage students to participate in the debate by expressing their views and ideas on the topic. Conclude the debate with a viable solution or fresh ideas generated during the activity through brainstorming.

7. Create and Invent

This project-based learning activity is best for teaching in the engineering class. Divide students into groups. Present a problem to the students and ask them to build a model or simulate a product using computer animations or graphics that will solve the problem. After students are done with building models, each group is supposed to explain their proposed product to the rest of the class. The primary objective of this activity is to promote creative thinking and problem-solving skills among the students.

8. Select from Alternatives

This activity can be used in computer science, engineering or any of the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) classes. Introduce a variety of alternatives such as different formulas for solving the same problem, different computer codes, product designs or distinct explanations of the same topic.

Form groups in the class and ask them to select the best alternative. Each group will then explain its chosen alternative to the rest of the class with reasonable justification of its preference. During the process, the rest of the class can participate by asking questions from the group. This activity is very helpful in nurturing logical thinking and analytical skills among the students.

9. Reading and Critiquing

Present an article from a journal related to any topic that you are teaching. Ask the students to read the article critically and evaluate strengths and weaknesses in the article. Students can write about what they think about the article, any misleading statement or biases of the author and critique it by using their own judgments.

In this way, students can challenge the fallacies and rationality of judgments in the article. Hence, they can use their own thinking to come up with novel ideas pertaining to the topic.

10. Think Pair Share

In this activity, students will come up with their own questions. Make pairs or groups in the class and ask the students to discuss the questions together. The activity will be useful if the teacher gives students a topic on which the question should be based.

For example, if the teacher is teaching biology, the questions of the students can be based on reverse osmosis, human heart, respiratory system and so on. This activity drives student engagement and supports higher-order thinking skills among students.

11. Big Paper – Silent Conversation

Silence is a great way to slow down thinking and promote deep reflection on any subject. Present a driving question to the students and divide them into groups. The students will discuss the question with their teammates and brainstorm their ideas on a big paper. After reflection and discussion, students can write their findings in silence. This is a great learning activity for students who are introverts and love to ruminate silently rather than thinking aloud.

Finally, for students with critical thinking, you can go to GS-JJ.co m to customize exclusive rewards, which not only enlivens the classroom, but also promotes the development and training of students for critical thinking.

Read our next article: 10 Innovative Strategies for Promoting Critical Thinking in the Classroom

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Thanks for the great article! Especially with the post-pandemic learning gap, these critical thinking skills are essential! It’s also important to teach them a growth mindset. If you are interested in that, please check out The Teachers’ Blog!

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15 active learning activities to energize your next college class

The evidence just keeps growing – postsecondary students engage more, learn more and accomplish more with active learning. In yet another proof point, a meta-analysis from the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that student exam scores improved 6% when active learning approaches were used. And students in traditional classes were 1.5 times more likely to fail than those being taught with interactive methods.

Are you ready to move to a different way of teaching but need some ideas to get you started? Or maybe you’ve been running your courses this way for years but want ideas that work for hybrid and HyFlex learning. Whether your classes are in person, online or somewhere in between, here are 15 active learning activities to try with your students this semester.

1. Think-pair-repair

In this twist on think-pair-share , pose an open-ended question to your class and ask students to come up with their best answer. Next, pair learners up and get them to agree on a response. Get two pairs together, and the foursome needs to do the same thing. Continue until half the group goes head to head with the other half. If some of your students are online, breakout rooms in your conferencing software let you do the same thing virtually. Here’s how it works in Zoom .

2. Improv games

If your classroom is museum-level quiet no matter how you try to liven things up, try some low-stakes (read: not embarrassing) improv activities. In the three things in common game , pairs figure out the most unexpected things they share (this can also be done online in breakout rooms). Or challenge your students to count to 20 as a group with one person saying each number – but no one is assigned a number, and if two people talk at the same time, everyone starts again at 1. (If some students are in the room and some remote, you’ll need classroom audio with full-room coverage for this to work. Here’s how Nureva ® audio can help .)

3. Brainwriting

You’ve probably tried brainstorming, but have you tried brainwriting ? In this approach, students are given time to come up with their own ideas individually before sharing them out loud or posting them to an online whiteboard or other shared platform. Building in space for individual reflection leads to better ideas and less groupthink.

Help students build accountability by teaching each other. Start by dividing them into “home groups” (4 or 5 people works well). Again, breakout rooms in Zoom or Google Meet make this simple even if some people are remote. Assign each person in the group a different topic to explore – they’ll regroup to work with all the students from the other groups who are exploring the same idea. Once they’ve mastered the concept, students return to their home group and everyone shares newfound expertise.

5. Concept mapping

Collaborative concept mapping  is a great way for students to step away from their individual perspectives. Groups can do this to review previous work, or it can help them map ideas for projects and assignments. In pre-COVID times, you may have covered classroom walls with sticky notes and chart paper – now there are many online tools that make it simple to map out connections between ideas.

6. The one-minute paper

How much could you explain in one minute? At the end of class, set a timer and ask students to record their most eye-opening revelation or biggest question. This activity lets students reflect on learning and build writing skills – plus you’ll get a window into their understandings and misunderstandings. Here are  more prompts  you can use to get students writing.

7. Real-time reactions

When students are watching a video, a mini lecture or another student’s presentation, have them share their real-time reactions. This helps students spot trends and consider new points of view. You can set up a hashtag to allow for  live tweeting , or use the chat function in your conferencing software.

8. Chain notes

Write several questions on pieces of paper and pass each to a student. The first student adds a response (use a timer to keep things moving quickly) and then passes the page along to gather more responses. Multiple contributions help build more complete understanding. A digital alternative involves using shared documents that multiple students are invited to edit. Then your class can examine the responses and identify patterns and missing pieces.

9. Idea line up

Choose a question that has a range of responses, and then ask students where they stand – literally. Have them come to the front of the classroom and organize themselves in a line, based on where on the spectrum of answers they find themselves. In a hybrid classroom, get them to place themselves on a virtual number line instead.

10. Mystery quotation

Test how well students can apply their understanding of an issue or theoretical position. After they’ve explored a topic, show them a quotation about it they’ve never seen before. Their task is to figure out the point of view of the person behind the quotation – and justify it to the class. Students can debate this issue in small breakout groups before beginning a whole-class discussion.

11. Idea speed dating

Have students cycle through your space, or through breakout rooms in Zoom or Google Meet, sharing insights about a topic or their elevator pitch for an upcoming project. As they present their learnings multiple times on several “ speed dates ,” students’ presentation skills and perspectives will grow.

12. Peer review

The process of peer review is as old as academia, and it’s never too early to start. Have students swap drafts of their essays, proposals or lab reports, and then come up with comments and questions for each other. Make sure to be clear about what the goals are (using rubrics helps). For example, students could identify compelling arguments, unanswered questions and holes in logic.

13. Quescussion

Ever played Jeopardy? Then you’re ready for quescussion. It’s like a standard class discussion but only questions are allowed (students call “Statement!” if someone slips up). If you play this game at the beginning of the course, the questions can help shape your course. If you have students both in the room and calling in from a distance, make sure the remote learners get equal airtime and that your audio system is picking up student voices clearly.

14. Sketchnoting

Instead of taking traditional lecture notes, try getting your students to sketch a picture that represents what they’ve learned during class. Remember, it’s not about the quality of the art – it’s about how drawing prompts students to visualize their understanding and look at their learning from a different perspective.

15. Empathy mapping

Take a page from the designers’ handbook and get students to explore deeper by embracing a perspective. It’s deceptively simple – write down what a person says, thinks, does and feels . The ability to slow down and immerse yourself in another point of view is valuable. In design thinking, empathy maps help designers create better products for users. But this process can be just as valuable for analyzing characters from literature, historical figures or political stances.

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Editor’s note: This post was originally published August 2018 and has been updated.

Topics: Higher education Hybrid learning

Posted on April 2, 2020

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63 Outdoor Learning Activities Kids will Love

As a parent, and teacher, I try to get my children outside as much as possible. I am always looking for new outdoor learning activities. I was once told that (almost) any activity you can do inside a classroom, you can do outside.

There is a lot of truth to this and with the right materials, you can easily take learning outside. Although I used many of these activities as outdoor classroom ideas for kindergarten, children of all ages can enjoy the activities and ideas.

Whether you are an educator looking for outdoor education activities, or a parent or caregiver simply looking for outdoor activities for kids you will find lots of ideas in this collection.

I have gathered a collection of 63 outdoor learning activities. I hope they inspire you to try an activity outside!

The activities are sorted by subject area for quick reference. Some of the activities are simply ideas of how to bring learning outside. Other activities are specifically centered around nature and wilderness.

All of the activities can be done outside and involve learning! I hope you find some ideas that inspire you!

For a printable outdoor activity, a link to a printable outdoor scavenger hunt escape room is included. Simply print and play!

Outdoor Classroom Ideas by Subject

*Click the link below the picture for full activity description.*

This simple alphabet activity can be done just about anywhere, at any time. It is a great way for kids to practice letter formation and have fun in nature.

With this activity, kids will have fun recognizing their letters and then spraying the letters with water.

For children practicing sight words, have some fun finding, and splashing the sight word with a bucket of water.

Can you find two words/pictures that rhyme? This giant memory game is sure to be a favorite with kids!

This Sight Word Scrub is a great, hands-on, way to learn and practice sight words.

This Beginning Sound, Melt and Break is perfect on a hot day!

Create a nature journal with children to record some of their outdoor experiences.

Sometimes a simple, cozy reading nook is all kids need. Bring their love of reading outside.

You only need a few simple materials, and lots of sunshine, for these kid created works of art!

Get kids moving with a scooter board and some chalk.

Focus outdoor learning with a collection of hands-on activities all in a printable booklet. From STEM building challenges to art projects, kids will love working their way through the booklet and activities.

There are so many outdoor learning activities you can do with these vocabulary vases.

Did you know you can make paint using natural materials? You can with this nature paint activity.

Kids use the nature surrounding them to create these pieces of art. A small amount of clay, paint and lots of creativity is all you need.

Winter Outdoor Education

During the winter months, you can mix the snow into your outdoor education program. It is a wonderful sensory experience for kids to paint in the snow. It’s beautiful too!

Mix a bit of science and art with this exploding paint bombs activity.

How cute are these? This is a perfect outdoor education activity because kids use items they find in nature to create art.

Kids will love getting their hands messy with this outdoor sensory activity.

If your kids like drawing and creating using sidewalk chalk, they will love this liquid sidewalk chalk. It is easy to make and the color is bright and beautiful!

Kids love collecting rocks. Put those rocks to good use with this nature art outdoor learning activity. It mixes a bit of art and math into an activity you can use over and over again.

Keep creating and drawing outside with this homemade sidewalk chalk activity. Our favourite was the rainbow block of chalk!

STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Math) Challenges

This is one of my all time favorite outdoor education activities. With only a few materials children are challenged to build a tent or structure. It is hours of fun!

Teach kids about gravity in a fun, outdoor activity as they watch their superheroes fly!

Add some extra learning during a hike. Learn about compasses and direction.

This activity incorporates a bit of science and math into a human body activity that kids will love.

This solar oven would be great when camping at home! The activity includes lots of science and fun.

Outdoor Learning Activities

Create something for a marble to roll down into a bowl. Kids get their hands on the materials and solve the challenge.

Kids create their own javelin and use it for a STEM activity! A easy way to get kids outside learning and moving.

More STEM and Hands-On

If your kids are interested in birds and their nests, this inquiry project is a perfect hands-on outdoor learning activity.

Kids love playing with ice especially if there are tiny treasures inside to dig out. Perfect for fall!

Kids create their own balloon rocket with this science experiment.

Outdoor learning activities do not have to require lots of preparation. Sometimes, just giving children materials and watching what they create results in amazing learning.

What if you simply gave children a collection of fabrics?

Outdoor learning is not limited to the warm months. Kids love being outside in all weather. This building activity can be done year round.

Teach kids about friction!

Create balloon rockets, then test and race them outside.

Small world play is a favorite with young children. This frog habitat is a great way for kids to learn about frogs.

Outdoor Learning Activities – Science

Can you do anything to make ice melt faster? Watching ice melt has never been this exciting!

Trap, inspect and learn about bugs right in your own backyard!

What lives in dirt? Kids discover all of the living things in the dirt.

Kids learn about photosynthesis in a way they can understand and see!

Kids explore their senses as they work through an outdoor scavenger hunt.

A simple sound hunt activity encourages kids to become aware of their surroundings.

Outdoor Learning Activity Printable

Help kids recognize various leaves and try out some fun experiments.

With this activity kids record what they find and explore with their senses.

Learn how to identify various clouds with this activity.

How many nests can you find? Mix math with science with this nature hunt.

Go rock pooling with children with this outdoor learning activity kids will love.

Where do all the animals go in winter? This fun outdoor scavenger hunt leads kids to find animals in their “natural” habitat.

Show kids how sunscreen protects their skin from the sun with this experiment.

Find and spray number activity!

Outdoor Learning Activities Math

Make a regular hike or walk through the forest even more engaging with a free printable scavenger hunt . There is lots of math mixed in as children are challenged to find twigs the length of their hand and stones smaller than their fingernail. The sheet is printable, and free!

A number scavenger hunt will get kids excited about numbers as they hunt to find the numbers in order.

This Outdoor Number Order Sort is a great, hands-on way to increase number recognition.

Test kids memory skills with this memory match game using various materials found in nature.

Get kids moving with this simple outdoor learning activity that incorporates a bit of math and physical education.

Keep kids moving with these field day activities to do outside.

Match and represent numbers using rocks in this hands-on outdoor learning activity.

Challenge children to search for all of the beautiful patterns in nature.

Being able to sort by seeing the differences in objects is an essential skill. Try out this outdoor education sorting activity.

Outdoor Learning Activities Sensory

If you are planning a camping trip, this printable escape room is a perfect activity to take with you. Simply print and play and to add to the excitement of the trip. Simply print ahead of time, and use materials you (likely) already have with you.

This is one of my favorite outdoor education activities! Let kids get a bit muddy as they “bake” with this sensory activity.

If you are looking for an active game, this is a great way to get kids moving outdoors.

Kids explore their senses with their feet with this bare foot sensory activity.

5 days filled with outdoor learning activities, such as “Campfire Day”.

Leaf Weaving works on fine motor skills for little hands.

Kids love playing with cookies cutters and play dough, but used outside with snow creates a whole new sensory activity.

Instead of throwing out paper, recycle and create this seed bomb.

Outdoor Learning Activities – Social Studies/History

Children learning about World War 1 will be engaged with this outdoor learning activity for WWI.

For your convenience, this post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases and I may earn a small commission at no cost to you.

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Outdoor scavenger hunt escape room.

Escape rooms are very popular right now! Take the fun of an escape room outside to your own backyard with this printable backyard escape room. No special materials needed, simply print, set up in minutes and play!

Earth Day Printable Flip Book

Celebrate the earth with a collection of Earth themed activities. Ideal for classroom use or homeschool. Click image for more information.

Outdoor Learning Choice Board

Looking for a printable collection of outdoor learning activities that you can do at outside at home or school? Download the free choice board from Hands-On Teaching Ideas. Once you subscribe, and confirm, you will gain access to the Free Resource Library and be able to download lots of free resources.

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More Kids Activities and Hands-On Teaching Ideas

Looking for more hands-on teaching ideas? Below are a collection of favorite and most popular activities, including science experiments, escape room puzzles and STEM challenges.

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30 creative activities for well-being.

Inspired by Apple’s 30 Creative Activities and created by Tech Learning Collective , these 30 Creative Activities for Well-Being can be used to support students in the classroom.

Wellbeing is linked to enhanced learning outcomes, academic achievement, mental health and responsible life choices, and we know fostering teaching and learning practices that support student wellbeing is so important. 

Using many of the native built in apps on iPad including Keynote , Pages , Numbers , Clips and GarageBand these activities will help teachers explore kindness , gratitude , and mindfulness in creative ways. 

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Posted on March 20, 2023

These are perfect well - being and wellness prompts and activities. Something for everyone and for everyday! Thank you!

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Thanks Cheryl. Thinking of more everyday. I now know why Apple came out with 30 More! So many ideas.

An excellent variety of activities that investigate the use of the native apps. I love activities that teach students to use the apps without even realizing that they are learning new apps as their focus is on the content or the activity. As a music professor, I’m particularly fond of your GarageBand and Voice Memos activities.

I’ll download this resource and share it with my music education students who will likely use them with their students. Thanks for sharing this!

Thank you. Voice memos is so easy to use. Capturing your own sound effects - laughter, chatting, environment. And bringing into GarageBand 🙌🏻

Posted on March 21, 2023

What a great resource! Thank you! Passing this along in our next newsletter.

Thank you 😊

Too great! Thank you for sharing this resource!

Enjoy 😊

Thank you for this- will defiantly be taking it back to other teachers

Wonderful thank you 😊

WOW these are awesome! Thanks so much for sharing.... I would with lots of teachers in New Zealand so will be sharing this great resource with them. Thank you!

Posted on March 22, 2023

This is Awesome!

Posted on March 23, 2023

Thanks for sharing this wonderful resource, Julie! These activities would be great opportunities to center wellbeing with learners of all ages!

Agree totally Jessica. Something for all ages.

Posted on March 24, 2023

Love this!! Thank you for sharing!

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Explore how Microsoft's partnership with Khan Academy is enhancing the future of education with AI innovation and tools for teachers >

• Learning accelerators
• Published Jan 11, 2024

Reflect activities for student engagement

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• Social emotional learning
• Microsoft 365

At the start of 2024, Microsoft invites you and your students to reflect, express gratitude, and set goals. Use Microsoft Reflect, a Learning Accelerator that helps young people develop social and emotional learning (SEL) skills, to kick off the new year successfully. Establishing clear, measurable, and personal goals can have a substantial effect on people of all ages both inside and outside of the classroom. What was once a 10-minute free-write activity in early January can, with planning and dedication, become a lasting force for change in a person’s life.   

John Hattie’s Visible Learning study measured the impact that different factors have on students’ academic growth. According to the meta-analyses, setting learning goals has a positive impact on learning outcomes. Simply put, when students set goals, they are building lifelong skills that they can use to make positive changes in their lives.  

Harness the power of positive change in your classroom—embark on the journey of transformative goal-setting with Microsoft Reflect today!  

Setting goals with students informs teacher practice, engages and motivates students during the learning process, and creates a partnership between the teacher, student, and parents.” Sanée Bell, Ed.D., Educational Leader and Assistant Superintendent of Teaching and Learning in Katy ISD, Texas, United States

Setting up for success with new year’s goals 

Reflect is available as a web app and within Microsoft 365 Education tools like Teams for Education , PowerPoint, and OneNote . You can use any of these platforms to create check-ins for your students. Additionally, Reflect has created a collection of experiences and resources that you can share with your students to transition into a successful 2024. Explore the Reflect Activity Hub for ready-to-use activities, lessons, and materials!  

Goals vary from person to person and are unique to the individual. Reflect has created several worksheets to help you and your students set goals and practice other positive habits in the new year. Check out the Reflect worksheets —print the PDFs or digitally embed them in a OneNote page distributed to students: 

• SMART Goal Planner —guide students through setting meaningful goals, breaking them into actionable steps, and monitoring progress to improve planning and perseverance.  
• Gratitude Clouds —provide students with a structured and meaningful method to practice gratitude, fostering a sense of appreciation, and promoting positive thinking. 
• Reflect and Grow —goal setting is important in short intervals as well as long ones. By helping students process a day’s events and emotions, they can foster emotional awareness, and enhance communication skills.  

Take a brain break 

According to a 2021 study on the brain’s consolidation of skill , resting at set intervals increases a learner’s ability to develop new skills. The study also suggests that the majority of skill learning takes place during “offline,” or non-practice time, and that micro-breaks are 4 times as effective for skill learning than overnight rest. This all means that intentional breaks every 10-15 minutes for elementary students or 20-30 minutes for secondary students can have a significant academic and social impact for learners. 

Reflect has curated a collection of short, inclusive brain break activities designed to promote mental fitness, refresh the mind, and refocus.  

• Take a breath:  Pause for a moment to breathe mindfully and reset focus. 
• Stretch break: Stretch and boost focus with a quick two-minute stretching routine. 
• Coloring book:  Combine emotional intelligence and art to explore a range of emotions and creativity. 
• Memory game: Develop emotional vocabulary by matching emotions and with Feelings Monster cards.  

Reflect also partnered with Calm —the leading mental health brand with the #1 app for meditation, sleep, and relaxation—to integrate science-backed content designed to help users meet their new goals of sleeping more, stressing less, and living better. Explore all of the Calm activities in the Reflect app .  

For educators and students who want more activities—stories, music, lullabies, exercises, and meditations designed specifically for kids—they can  enjoy a 40% discount on a subscription to Calm .  

Explore Reflect’s partner collections 

Reflect has partnered with several of your favorite classroom tools to expand social and emotional learning. Through these partnerships, you and your students can have safe spaces for reflecting, setting goals, and discussing emotions.  

Minecraft Education is a popular immersive learning platform for all young people. Introduce your students to Reflect World , a space designed to help students develop social-emotional skills through a creative and immersive experience. This world is an ideal start for beginner users in upper-elementary or middle school grades. Exploring the colorful Reflect World requires collaboration, problem solving, and communication. 

Reflect teamed up with Kahoot! , a game-based app for learning and trivia games, to help students develop vital SEL skills. With nearly 50 Kahoot! games available in four different languages, you can find the right activities at the right time.  

• Setting goals: Goal setting is a vital skill. It helps us to stay on track and create the life we dream of! Your students can use Reflect to stay on track with your goals by thinking through the reasons that we set goals and strategies for reaching goals. 
• Start the school year strong:  Don’t let the title fool you. This game is perfect for the return to school in January with questions focusing on classroom community and goal setting. 
• Gratitude:  Gratitude means being filled with appreciation. Your students can show gratitude for the good things in their lives—big or small! Being grateful can help them feel better and build stronger relationships. 

Microsoft Flip , a free web and mobile app for recording, editing, and sharing video assignments, and Reflect pair together perfectly. Using Flip and Reflect together can help students share and discuss feelings and challenges in a safe, accessible, and inclusive environment. With built-in tools like Immersive Reader , designed to make all written text accessible, all students can engage in the conversation. Start off with these discussion topics: 

• Taking on challenges : Help students understand that challenges are a part of the path to excellence. Framing challenges as part of the process can keep them motivated and set them up to encourage each other through complicated tasks.  
• Kindness for myself :  Use this topic to jumpstart conversations about growth mindset or accepting feedback. It could be a helpful warm-up for a writing workshop where students edit one another’s work. Setting students up to accept and mobilize feedback without feeling down about themselves is vital to establishing perseverance. 
• Working towards a goal : Use this topic before having students write their own goals. It can jumpstart their understanding of why goals are important and what types of goals they could consider, as well as get them thinking about how working towards a goal is an ongoing effort. Often, we write down or set goals mentally, but don’t follow through. Having students recognize that problem through role play can help them recognize it in themselves!  

Join Microsoft Education in fostering a positive beginning to the new year for you and your students. Reflect brings together an array of resources and experiences, supporting the cultivation of healthy habits and a dedication to personal growth. Explore the Reflect Activity Hub for ready-to-use activities, lessons, and materials and build a culture of well-being with your students this year.

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Hands-On Activities for Special Education Students

There are many different types of activities that can be done with special education students to help them learn. Many times, these students need more concrete and hands-on activities to help them understand concepts.

What are Some Teaching Strategies for Special Education Students?

Teaching strategies for special education students can vary depending on the student’s needs. There is no one teaching strategy that can work for all students with special needs. Each student requires a different approach to be successful.

Every student has unique needs, and what works for one may not work for another. However, there are some general strategies that can be effective for many students with special needs. One important strategy is to provide clear and concise instructions. This means breaking down tasks into small, manageable steps and using language that the student can understand. It can also be helpful to use visual aids such as pictures or diagrams to accompany verbal instructions. Another useful strategy is to allow ample time for the student to complete a task. This means giving them plenty of time to process information and avoiding rushing them through an activity. It can also be helpful to provide breaks throughout the lesson so the student can take a break from concentrating if needed. It’s also important to be flexible in your approach and be willing to adjust your plans as necessary based on how the student is responding. Some days may require more or less review than others, and it’s important to go at the student’s pace rather than trying to stick rigidly to a plan.

Finally, it’s essential to build positive relationships with both the student and their family members or caregivers. Special needs students often benefit from having a trusted adult they feel comfortable communicating with about their progress and any struggles they may be experiencing.

What are Examples of Hand-on Activities?

There are countless examples of hands-on activities that can be beneficial for children and adults alike. Here are just a few examples:

• Arts and crafts: Activities like painting, drawing, sculpting and other forms of creating art can be great for fine motor skills development and self-expression.
• Building with blocks or puzzles: These types of activities can help with problem-solving skills, planning ahead, and eye-hand coordination.
• Cooking or baking: Following a recipe (or making one up!) can teach patience, measuring skills, and the importance of paying attention to detail. Plus, you get to eat the delicious results!
• Gardening: Planting seeds, watering plants, pulling weeds…gardening is a great way to get outside, get some exercise, and learn about the natural world around us.

What are Some Common Hands-on Activities for Special Children?

There are countless benefits to incorporating hands-on activities into your special education students’ lesson plans. Not only do these types of activities help students learn and retain information better, but they can also be a lot of fun!

Here are some ideas for hands-on activities that can be used with special education students: 1. Use manipulatives when teaching math concepts. Manipulatives are objects that can be touched and moved around to help explain a concept. For example, use blocks or counters to teach addition and subtraction. This will allow the student to physically see and touch the numbers they are working with.

2. Get creative with art projects. Art is a great way for students to express themselves and it can also be used as a tool to teach academic concepts. For example, have students create a collage to represent fractions or use clay to sculpt three-dimensional shapes.

3. Use movement breaks throughout the day. It’s important that special education students get plenty of physical activity throughout the day because it helps them stay focused and attentive in class. 4. Modeling clay – This is a great activity for helping students understand concepts like shapes, sizes, and textures. Plus, it’s just plain fun to get messy with clay!

5. Painting – Like modeling clay, painting is another activity that can help students understand concepts like colors and mixing colors together. It’s also a great way to encourage creativity and self-expression.

6. puzzles – Puzzles are not only great for building problem-solving skills, but they can also be very calming and relaxing for students. If you have some extra time, try working on a puzzle as a class! 7. sensory bins – Sensory bins are perfect for kids who need some extra tactile input. You can fill them with anything from rice to shaving cream to water beads. Just make sure you supervise closely so that the kids don’t end up eating any of the materials!

How Do You Engage Students With Special Needs?

When it comes to engaging students with special needs, educators must first understand the individual student’s strengths, weaknesses and interests. Once this is established, lessons and activities can be designed specifically to appeal to the student and help them succeed. Here are some tips on how to engage students with special needs in the classroom: 1. Get to know your students individually. This means taking the time to learn about their unique learning styles, abilities, and interests. When you know your students well, you can more easily target instruction to meet their needs. 2. Make use of technology. Technology can be a great leveler for students with special needs, providing them with access to information and tools that they might not otherwise have. Use apps, websites and software that allow students to work at their own pace and level of ability. 3. Be flexible in your approach. Not every lesson will go according to plan but that’s okay! Be prepared to adapt your teaching methods on the fly in order to engage your students with special needs better. Try different activities or switch up the delivery of instructions until you find what works best for each individual student.

4. Encourage social interaction among classmates. It’s important for all students – including those with special needs –to feel like they belong in the classroom community. Help facilitate socialization by organizing group work or project-based learning opportunities where everyone can contribute equally.

Fun Activities for High School Special Education Students

It can be difficult to find activities that are both fun and appropriate for high school special education students. However, there are a number of options available if you know where to look. Here are some ideas for fun activities for high school special education students:

• Sports teams – Joining a sports team is a great way for students to stay active and socialize with their peers. There are many adaptive sports programs available, such as wheelchair basketball or Special Olympics.
• Art classes – Students can express themselves creatively in art classes. There are often specialized classes available for students with special needs. 3. Music therapy – Listening to music or playing an instrument can be relaxing and therapeutic for students with special needs. Music therapy sessions may be offered through the school or community.
• Drama club – Participating in a drama club can help build confidence and communication skills. Students may have the opportunity to perform in front of an audience or work behind the scenes on a stage crew.
• Outdoor recreation – Getting fresh air and spending time outdoors is important for everyone, including students with special needs. Many adaptive recreation programs are available, such as adaptive skiing or horseback riding.

Fun Activities for Special Education Students at Home

There are many fun activities that special education students can do at home to help them learn and grow. Here are just a few ideas:

• Create a sensory bin: Fill a large container with things like sand, rice, beans, or even just water and let your child explore with their hands. This is a great way to work on fine motor skills and sensory exploration.
• Make homemade pizzas: Let your child help measure and mix the ingredients, then top the pizzas with their favorite toppings. This activity works on math skills and following directions while being delicious!
• Go on a nature walk: Explore your neighborhood or nearby park and look for birds, bugs, flowers, etc. This is a great opportunity to work on observation skills and get some fresh air at the same time.

Social Skills Activities for Special Needs Students

Special needs students often have a difficult time socializing with their peers. However, there are many activities that can help these students develop the social skills they need to be successful. Here are a few social skills activities for special needs students:

• Role-playing – This activity allows students to practice how to respond in various social situations. They can role-play with each other or with adults.
• Social stories – These stories provide information about specific social situations and how to handle them. They can be read together as a class or individually.
• Group games – Games such as charades, Pictionary, and others can help special needs students learn how to interact with others in a fun way.
• Conversation starters – Prompts such as “What did you do today?” or “How was your weekend?” can help special needs students initiate conversations with their peers.

Fun Activities for Special Education Students Online

If you’re looking for ways to keep your special education students engaged and learning, there are plenty of great options available online. Here are just a few ideas:

• Use online games and puzzles to help with fine motor skills, memory, and problem-solving. Websites like www.abcya.com offer a wide variety of educational games that are both fun and challenging.
• Utilize social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter to create groups or pages specifically for your class. This can be a great way to stay connected with students and their families, share resources, and post announcements or reminders.
• Take advantage of online video conferencing tools like Skype or Google Hangouts to connect with other classrooms or experts from around the world. This can provide some amazing learning opportunities for your students!
• There are tons of great websites that offer free educational resources, lesson plans, activities, etc., specifically for special education students. A few of our favorites include www.teachtotalspecialedstudents.com and www.

Teaching students with Autism through hands on activities- special needs

Special education students often benefit from hands-on activities that help them to learn and retain information. In this blog post, we share some ideas for hands-on activities that can be used with special education students. These activities can be used to teach a variety of subjects, including math, science, reading, and writing.

Dwight Hughes Sr

I am Dwight Hughes Sr., your specialist in Special Education and Preschooler topics at EduEdify.com. Holding a PhD in Early Childhood Education, I bring a depth of knowledge and experience to guide parents and educators in nurturing the younger minds. My mission is to share evidence-based insights, cultivated from years of academic and field research, to help every child flourish during their formative years.

Move Your Way® Toolkit for Schools

This toolkit is for anyone working to encourage physical activity in a school setting — like physical education and health education teachers, classroom teachers, coaches, after-school program leaders, and school administrators. Others promoting student health and well-being — like school nurses and parent teacher associations (PTAs) — can also use the information in this toolkit to support their work. 

Want to learn about the Move Your Way campaign? Check out this short video ! 

Browse this toolkit to:

Learn how physical activity benefits students — at school and beyond

Make a plan to get students moving, step into action , share move your way materials with parents and caregivers.

Kids and teens need movement to grow healthy and strong. Regular physical activity strengthens muscles and bones, helps prevent health problems like diabetes and heart disease, and reduces symptoms of anxiety and depression. 

Physical activity also has clear benefits for life at school. For example, students who are physically active tend to:

• Have better grades
• Miss fewer school days
• Have better focus in class 

Beyond that, physical activity in schools can help support school connectedness — students’ belief that peers and adults in the school support, value, and care about their well-being. School connectedness can make it less likely that students engage in risky behaviors like substance use and help improve students’ mental and physical health and well-being.

• Browse CDC Healthy Schools’ Physical Education and Physical Activity webpage for facts, figures, and frameworks.
• Learn about School Connectedness and how to promote it.
• Check out these 10 Actionable Tips to Support Youth Mental Health Through Sports [PDF - 2.2 MB] .

Whether you’re starting a school-wide physical activity initiative or you just want to provide students, parents, and caregivers with educational materials — it helps to make a plan. That way, you can be sure everybody is on the same page and working toward a clearly defined goal. Use these tips to plan your physical activity project:

• Set clear, achievable goals. What are you trying to achieve with your efforts? It helps to be specific — instead of “Get students to be more active,” set clearly defined goals like “Get students to move for at least 10 minutes each day during recess.” 
• Build support within your school. Who in your school community can support your physical activity project? Consider involving school leadership, PTA representatives, or other teachers. 
• Involve students. Try to include students of all ages in the planning process — they can add an important perspective and voice. Students can also serve as “ambassadors” to promote physical activity and model healthy behaviors for their peers.
• Keep accessibility top of mind. Make sure your physical activity project or initiative is accessible to everyone in the school community. For example, do you need to adapt activities to work for students with movement limitations or non-verbal communication styles? Or choose playground equipment suitable for students who use mobility devices? 
• Find partners in your community. Don’t forget about the larger community outside of school — are there organizations or individuals who can support your physical activity efforts? Think local health departments, hospitals, or community organizations. Also consider partnerships that might help you better engage all students, like an organization that could donate adaptive equipment. Use this National Youth Sports Strategy (NYSS) Champions directory to find organizations in your area that focus on youth with disabilities.
• Evaluate your progress. When trying a new strategy, it’s important to assess what’s working well — and what isn’t. Check in with school leadership and other teachers regularly: Have they noticed a difference in students’ activity levels? What problems are they experiencing? You can also use more formal evaluation measures like surveys. 

Want to learn more about planning a community-wide physical activity campaign? Check out the Move Your Way Community Playbook .

Move Your Way in the field: Building community partnerships

Move Your Way campaign pilot community Southern Nevada Health District (SNHD) partnered with the student wellness club at a local elementary school to plan and host a Move Your Way event for students. Students collaborated with their physical education teacher to create lesson plans focused on the Physical Activity Guidelines. After the student-led lesson, all students were encouraged to get active outside. Parents, faculty, and staff joined the students as they walked, ran, or skipped laps around the school. SNHD attended the event, offered more information about the campaign, and distributed Move Your Way materials to families. 

Now that you’ve made a plan, it’s time to put it into action. Try the strategies below to get students moving throughout the school day and beyond. And use Move Your Way’s engaging materials in English and Spanish to support your efforts!

Around school

Kids and teens spend a big chunk of their time at school — that’s why creating a school environment that encourages physical activity is so important. Start with these simple tips:

• Show the benefits of getting active at a glance. Print the “60 Minutes” Poster for Kids and hang it in hallways, classrooms, and the gym.
• Focus on fun. Getting physically active is a great way to build some play into the school day and enhance learning. Whether it’s playing active games or having a classroom dance party — just have fun with it!

In the classroom

Try these strategies to encourage physical activity in the classroom:

• Take movement breaks. Getting up and moving together can get antsy students back on track and reduce disruptive behaviors. Try arm circles, jumping jacks, or running in place — and consider incorporating yoga and other mindfulness activities to help improve students’ focus and lower anxiety and stress.
• Add activity to academics. Why not use movement to practice and reinforce academic lessons? For example, play a round of “beach ball spelling” — where students take turns calling out the letters of a word as they throw a beach ball to one another. Or you can set up movement-based learning stations so students can stand and walk around the classroom while completing tasks.
• Get smart about getting active. Use the Fact Sheet for Kids to teach students the what, how, and why of physical activity — and send home a copy of the Fact Sheet for Parents .
• Make a pledge. Print the Move Your Way Pledge Sheet and have students write down how they plan to get active. Then hang students’ pledge sheets up in the classroom. At the end of the week, ask students to share their experiences: Did they meet their physical activity goals? If not, how can the school community support them? 
• Check out CDC Healthy Schools’ Classroom Physical Activity webpage for additional resources and strategies.
• For more movement break ideas and printable cards, download this CDC fact sheet [PDF - 4.1 MB] .

Recess is an opportunity for students to have unstructured playtime with their friends — and you can use this time to encourage them to get creative and have fun while getting active. Try these tips:

• Call on young artists. Use chalk or paint to draw game boards or areas for activities like hopscotch on sidewalks or blacktops. This is also a great way to engage older students in creating something for their peers.
• Promote active play. Offer a variety of games and activities so each child can find something they enjoy. And you don’t have to plan every activity yourself — let kids design and lead their own games to help them build leadership and social skills. If your budget allows, consider investing in play equipment like jump ropes, playground balls, or bean bag toss games to support different ways to play. 
• Plan for bad weather days. Identify indoor spaces where students can get moving when it’s raining or too cold or hot to spend recess outside — like the gym, empty classrooms, or a spacious hallway. You might have to create a schedule to avoid overcrowding.
• Get your community involved. Ask local businesses to donate new or gently used adaptive play equipment — or partner with nearby community centers, YMCAs, or gyms to provide access to indoor activity spaces.
• Check out CDC Healthy Schools’ Recess webpage to learn about strategies and policies for recess planning.
• Get more tips for Active Outdoor Recess and Active Indoor Recess .
• Use this Painted Play Spaces Playbook [PDF – 1.2 KB] as a guide to add colorful game designs to outdoor play areas.
• Looking for games that don’t require equipment? Check out this Game Library for ideas.  

Avoid using physical activity to discipline students

Kids and teens are much more likely to get moving if they have positive associations with physical activity. That’s why it’s important not to use physical activity as a punishment (like having kids run laps) or take away opportunities for getting active (like not allowing students to go to recess).

During school events

Take advantage of school events — like open houses and back-to-school festivities — to educate parents, caregivers, and people in the community about the benefits of physical activity. Try these tips:

• Set up shop. Decorate a table or booth with the Move Your Way posters for parents — and use them as conversation starters to talk with people about physical activity. You can also hand out the Fact Sheet for Kids and the Fact Sheet for Parents . 
• Engage local partners. Local health departments, hospitals, or community organizations with a physical activity focus may be willing to set up a table and share educational materials — and even hand out goodies like water bottles, jump ropes, or balls.
• Show (and tell). If you have multimedia equipment available, consider streaming the Move Your Way videos for families during the event. 
• Get moving together. Incorporating movement breaks or active games into events can help parents and caregivers remember the joy of physical activity. Need inspiration? Watch this video showcasing accessible exercises.
• Create a challenge! Many kids love a bit of friendly competition — and they love getting their adults involved. Set up a sack race, obstacle course, or a scavenger hunt and have kids compete against parents, caregivers, or teachers.  

Use the Move Your Way teen video challenge to engage older students

Most young kids naturally want to move,   but encouraging older middle school or high school students to get active can be tough. If you’re looking for a way to engage older students, consider a multimedia classroom project — like the Move Your Way teen video challenge! 

The  Tips for Creating Your Own Move Your Way ®  Teen Video Fact Sheet [PDF - 805 KB] has everything teens need to get started, and they can watch the  Move When You Can and  Try Something Different videos for inspiration. Consider making it an assignment or an extra credit activity. Or make it a raffle —  students who create a video get the chance to win a prize!

Want to learn more about making physical activity accessible for youth with disabilities?

Explore the National Center on Health, Physical Activity and Disability’s educator webpage . 

Interested in customizing materials for your school? You can swap out photos or add your school’s logo to Move Your Way materials through the  CDC State and Community Health Media Center. If you have questions about using Move Your Way materials, want to create your own, or would like help implementing physical activity strategies in your school, please contact ODPHP.

One of the best ways to encourage physical activity outside school is to get families moving together. Getting active as a family not only helps kids and teens stay healthy — it also means everyone gets to reap the benefits of physical activity. The Move Your Way campaign has lots of resources to help families find activities that fit their lives and create healthy, sustainable routines. Try the strategies below to support parents and caregivers in getting the family active.

Hand out educational materials

You can print these materials and send them home with students — or hand them out at school events.

• The Fact Sheet for Parents helps parents and caregivers understand what kinds of activity kids and teens need to stay healthy and offers tips for helping kids get active.
• The Sports Fact Sheet for Parents helps parents and caregivers understand the benefits kids and teens can get from playing sports and offers tips to help them get their kids involved.
• With the Pledge Sheet , parents can be role models for their kids by showing how they’ll get active and making a commitment to move more.

Promote physical activity in your newsletter, email, or blog

Use or adapt the content below to promote physical activity in your email outreach, newsletter, or blog. 

Subject: Get tips to get your kids moving

Body copy:  It’s no secret that kids and teens need regular physical activity — it makes their bodies grow strong, it helps them stay at a healthy weight, and it can even help them focus better in the classroom. 

How much is enough? Kids and teens need at least 60 minutes of physical activity throughout the day. That includes a mix of heart-pumping movement like running, dancing, or jumping rope, plus activities that strengthen muscles and bones — like playing sports or climbing at the playground. Use this interactive tool to help you fit more activity into your kids’ day.

But the best way to encourage kids and teens to get active? Get the whole family moving so everyone can enjoy the benefits of physical activity!

Check out the Move Your Way campaign for actionable tips and resources to add more physical activity to your family’s routine. 

Promote Physical Activity Through Social Media 

Use Move Your Way sample messages, graphics, and GIFs to promote physical activity on your own or your school’s social media channels. You can adapt the messages to fit your needs!

Add Move Your Way to your website 

Want to make Move Your Way part of your website? Download the Move Your Way web badges and widget for an easy way to add physical activity resources to your site. 

• With the Move Your Way Activity Planner web badge and widget , school staff, parents, caregivers, and other adults can use an interactive tool to help them build their own personalized weekly activity plan.
• The Move Your Way Parent Interactive Graphic web badge links parents and caregivers to an interactive tool they can use to see how kids can fit in 60 minutes of activity a day. 

The Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (ODPHP) cannot attest to the accuracy of a non-federal website.

Linking to a non-federal website does not constitute an endorsement by ODPHP or any of its employees of the sponsors or the information and products presented on the website.

You will be subject to the destination website's privacy policy when you follow the link.

New partnership provides teachers and students with STEM learning experiences

WMU students designed, built and launched catapults for an STEM assignment in Dr. Meredith Reinhart's teaching methods course.

Dr. Suzan Piazza , chair of the Department of Teaching, Learning and Educational Studies adds, "INSPIRE will build a foundation for improved early childhood and elementary science education that will likely increase future success in science and the pursuit of STEM-related careers and will thus improve the economic impacts of the pandemic in this underserved community."

PROGRAM ACTIVITIES

Dr. Meredith Reibnhart, left, and WMU students hold a python during a class visit from the Critchlow Alligator Sanctuary.

The INSPIRE program will be looking to improve STEM education from multiple angles, including:  

Teacher training:  Culturally-relevant professional development workshops will be provided each summer for preschool through 3rd-grade teachers.

• Inquiry-based learning:  Teachers will be equipped with resources and strategies to support inquiry-based learning within their classrooms, fostering curiosity and a deeper understanding of STEM concepts.
• Family engagement:  Over 1,800 families will have access to free monthly educational science events, including transportation to WMU and partner locations (see below).
• Online resources : Through an interactive website, all families within the two school districts will have access to STEM resources and opportunities to win educational prizes through online contests. Prizes will include memberships to science organizations, children's books, and other related materials. 

COMMUNITY PARTNERS

With a shared goal of improving STEM education for Comstock and Kalamazoo children, WMU will be connecting with the following organizations for events and future learning experiences: Air Zoo Aerospace and Science Museum, Critchlow Alligator Sanctuary, Kalamazoo Nature Center, Kalamazoo Valley Museum and the Wolf Lake Fish Hatchery.

WMU EDUCATION STUDENTS

The INSPIRE program will also be providing valuable hands-on experiences for Western's future educators. Undergraduates in education programs will have the opportunity to work with children at science events and student teach within the classrooms of INSPIRE teachers.

"The INSPIRE program has ignited our education students' passion for science and will provide them with invaluable real-world insights and mentorship," says  Katherine Suender , faculty specialist I in elementary education.

Interested in joining the INSPIRE program as a teacher leader or teacher participant? Please contact  Dr. Meredith Reinhart .

For more WMU news, arts and events , visit  WMU News  online.

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CLE Students Learn About Local Environment at Tallman Mountain State Park

by SOCSD Communications | Jun 5, 2024 | District Highlights

It was the PERFECT day for Cottage Lane Elementary School’s annual Earth Day event at Tallman Mountain State Park on Friday!

The outdoor education day is organized by CLE Technology teacher Jacob Tanenbaum and features various hands-on activities that aim to teach students about their local environment. “Every year, we put together a day of outdoor education where volunteers as well as our staff put together activities and learning centers using Tallman Mountain State Park as a teaching space. Our students spend the day rotating from activity to activity while enjoying the park,” explained Tanenbaum. “We are so grateful to Clark Alexander and his amazing staff at Tallman as well as our wonderful volunteers for giving us a day of learning in the beautiful park.”

This year, students rotated between stations hosted by volunteers and local experts from Veolia Water, Orange and Rockland, Lamont Doherty, the Rockland County Soil and Water Conservation District, Keep Rockland Beautiful, Rockland Green, the Turtles of the Western Highway, beekeeper Kristan Gallo Bridges and Hudson Valley Humane Society.

Thank you to all of the CLE staff and community partners that helped make the 2024 CLE Earth Day a success!