5 Easy Tricks to Turn Any Learning Activity into a Game
You’ve probably noticed by now, but I absolutely LOVE to play learning games in my middle school classroom. My students are more engaged in our lessons when they get to access their competitive side, and the classroom energy is generally more positive when my students are playing the games. Unfortunately, there’s not always a ton of time to prepare games for my students to play, so I came up with a list of 5 easy tricks to turn any learning activity into a game:
Set a timer.
This is almost too easy, but when I set a timer and say, “On your mark, get set, go!” my seventh graders immediately lunge into action, even if what they are doing would normally be considered boring. I tell them to see how much they can complete in a certain amount of time, and then at the end, we reveal a “winner.” Obviously, I wouldn’t want to stress my kids out with time constraints every day, and I certainly wouldn’t want to shame students who work more slowly. Every once in a while, though, this little timer trick is perfect for adding a spark of excitement to an otherwise dull activity.
Transfer worksheet questions and answers to index cards.
If you’re short on time, you can have your students do this for you, but essentially, I just write the individual questions and answers on index cards and pass them out to the students. Then they have to race to find the person whose card matches theirs. When they find their “partner,” they high-five and sit down!
Blindfold someone.
I don’t know why this is so entertaining, but my students have so much fun when we break out the blindfolds. Whatever the learning activity is, just blindfold some of the students while other students on their “teams” tell them how to complete the learning activity. (You can combine this trick with #2 by giving the blindfolded kids question cards and having them pin-the-tail as they try to stick their questions to the answer cards that you have posted on your classroom walls.)
Divide the class into teams and keep points.
This one almost doesn’t need to be said, but it’s just such a simple way to add competition to a learning activity. As long as the teams are evenly split, it doesn’t need to be an embarrassing or shameful experience for anyone. Letting teams compete to answer questions correctly can be good, clean fun!
Add a pair of dice.
One year I found inflatable dice at the Target Dollar Spot, and they were a huge hit in my classroom. Even if the students are just throwing the dice to see which question they should answer next, the surprising prop immediately gamifies the experience.
What other fun tricks do you use to turn “boring” learning activities into games? Check out these 15 Free ELA Games for Middle School for more ideas!
