4 Fun Water Games to Review Grammar and Literacy in Middle School ELA
When the weather gets hot and the end of the year grows closer, our students want nothing more than to GO OUTSIDE. They beg and plead to play outside, and honestly, why not? Learning can happen outside just as well as it can in the classroom, so why not try one (or more) of these fun and creative water games to review your grammar and literacy concepts with your middle-school ELA class? Here are four summer activities with a whole lot of water and even more learning:
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Pass the Sponge
This fun water activity is perfect for grammar review!
Divide your class into two teams and give each team a big sponge and two buckets—one empty and one full of water. Each team should line up in a single-file line, sitting crisscross applesauce on the ground. The full bucket goes at the front of the line, and the empty bucket goes at the back. The person at the front of the line should soak the sponge in the bucket, then pass the sponge over their head to the teammate behind them. When it gets to the last person, they should squeeze the water into the empty bucket and then run to the front of the line to repeat the process. At the end of 3 minutes, the team with the most water in the back bucket wins!
So how exactly is this activity academic? Before you begin the race, choose a part of speech (noun, verb, preposition, etc.). Each player will have to say a word that falls into that category before they can pass the sponge to the next person, and they cannot repeat any words their teammates have said! You will want to stand between the two teams so you can make sure your students understand the part of speech and are coming up with good examples.
After measuring the water in the buckets, you can pick a new part of speech and start the fun all over again!
Target Practice
Play this game to review any concept that can be assessed with True/False questions!
Divide your class into two equal teams, and have them line up in two parallel lines with two empty buckets between them. Ask a True/False question to the whole class. Students who think the answer is true should make a fist on their chests. Students who think the answer is false should make a flat hand on their chests. If more than 50% of the team gets the answer correct, they can stay standing in the same position. If more than 50% of the team misses the answer, the team should take one big step away from the bucket.
After asking 10-15 review questions, give each student a water blaster or water balloon. Tell one team to aim for the bucket on the left and the other team to aim for the bucket on the right, making sure to stay standing in their lines. Whichever team fills up their bucket the most wins!
Balloon Pit
This is such a fun way to review correct punctuation! Use a sharpie to write punctuation marks on water balloons, and then fill them up with water. Dump all of the water balloons into a cheap kiddie pool.
When you’re ready to play, divide your class into teams of 4 or 5 students each. Line them up in single-file lines a few yards away from the kiddie pool. Hold up a sentence without punctuation for the whole class to see. You can make up your own sentences or use these pre-prepared sentence signs. When you say go, the first person in line should run to the kiddie pool and grab a balloon with a punctuation mark needed in that sentence. Then they should run back to their team. If more punctuation is needed in the sentence, they should tag the next person in line. If no more punctuation is needed, they should call you over to check their punctuation. If a balloon falls or breaks, they will need to run back to the kiddie pool and find another balloon with the correct punctuation.
Continue to play this game until you start running low on balloons. At the end, you can all throw the balloons at each other to cool down!
Ice Cube Melt
This is another engaging review for any ELA concept that can be assessed with True/False questions. Divide your class into equal teams of 5-10 students and give every other student an ice cube to hold in their hands. Have each team stand in a circle so that every other person in the circle is holding an ice cube.
Ask the whole class a True/False question. Students who think the answer is true should turn to face their circle, and students who think the answer is false should turn their backs to their circle.
Quickly scan the groups to see which teams had over 50% of their team members answer correctly. These teams can pass their ice cubes clockwise. Teams not at 50% correct will need to continue holding their ice cubes in their same hands.
Continue asking questions that review your class concepts as your students turn to show their answers and pass their ice cubes along.
Whichever team melts all of their ice cubes without dropping them wins!
I hope your students have tons of fun with these engaging water games! For more ideas, check out this free pdf of 15 creative ELA games. Keep cool and keep learning!
