Games for Teachers
We don't have to tell you that fun classroom games are worth their weight in gold! Encouraging critical thinking, building social skills, and helping engage students with the curriculum? Yes, please. Get ready to bring game-based learning to your classroom with helpful printables, escape rooms, and more educational fun for elementary school students.
With a long list of benefits of learning games on hand, the teachers at Teach Starter have spent hours creating classroom card games, board games, scavenger hunts, and more that can help students build core competencies while having a whole lot of fun!
Game-based learning has gotten a lot of interest in recent years, but what exactly, is it? We know you've got a lot to do in your classroom and not a whole lot of time to do it, so our teacher team has put together a quick guide to gamification in education.
(Know all you need to know? Feel free to jump ahead to our printable and digital learning games!)
What Is Game-Based Learning?
In essence, game-based learning allows you to borrow from the gaming world to allow your students to engage with their lesson material in more dynamic ways. They can help improve student motivation and help students achieve learning objectives.
We like to think of it a bit like the parents who hide the broccoli inside the tasty hamburger. A little bit of gameplay helps the medicine — or core curriculum — go down!
Games aren't just fun, after all. They have failure baked into them, along with repetition, and the chance to accomplish goals along the way. Playing games in a classroom fosters many of those social and emotional learning skills, even when the topic at hand comes from the science curriculum or is focused on an ELA standard.
Why Are Classroom Games Good for Kids?
We hinted at some of the benefits earlier, but let's dig deep into the benefits of playing educational games in your classroom!
- They motivate students.
- Students develop critical thinking skills.
- They're student-centered.
- They build teamwork and leadership skills.
- Games encourage creativity and thinking outside of the box.
- They encourage students to challenge themselves.
- They improve student concentration.
Learning Games Ideas
Good teachers can make just about any lesson fun, but maybe you're looking for learning game ideas to mix things up. We thought you'd never ask!
Check out a few of our teacher team's favorite (and fun) ways to inject gameplay into your students' education:
- Digital escape rooms
- Card games
- Dominoes
- Active games
- Scavenger hunts
- Would you rather? games
- Bingo
- Board games
How to Use Games in the Classroom
Looking for a few fun ways to use games in the classroom? Our teacher team has a few quick ideas for you to try on for size!
- Play active games to help students get their wiggles out.
- Add a board game to your reading center or math center activities.
- Use flashcard-type or trivia games for material review.
- Explore new concepts in fun ways with games like 20 questions.
- Help students get to know one another at the beginning of a school year with teamwork games.
- Explore difficult concepts with skills-based games.
- Free Plan
Roll to Create a Creature - Drawing Game
Use a die and a chart to create a creature to include in a narrative text or a comic strip.
- Free Plan
Spring "Numberpillars" — Kindergarten Math Center Activity
Match numbers 1-10 with their various visual representations to build a fun mathematical caterpillar!
- Free Plan
Roll It! Operations Game
Use this fun game to practice all four operations and/or order of operations.
- Plus Plan
Escape From the Alien Invasion – Math Escape Room (Basic Fractions)
Save the planet from the alien invasion by identifying fractions, comparing fractions, creating models, and more with an exciting digital escape room.
- Free Plan
Perimeter and Area Dice Game
Use this area and perimeter dice game as a math center activity when teaching area and perimeter to your 3rd and 4th graders.
- Free Plan
Animals and Their Babies Memory Game
Play a fun Memory-style animal game for kids to learn about animals and their babies.
- Plus Plan
True or False? Active Listening Exercises
Improve listening skills in the classroom with an engaging True or False Active Listening Activity.
- Plus Plan
Funny Bunny Game
A fun and engaging game to be played in the primary classroom.
- Free Plan
Decimal War Card Game
Get your students comparing decimals with this fun card game for two players.
- Free Plan
Last One Standing Active Game
An active game that allows students to build their vocabulary knowledge.
- Plus Plan
Build a Pizza! Unit Fraction Game
Practice unit fraction with this fun ‘make a pizza’ game to be played in pairs or small groups.
- Free Plan
Digraph Coding Robot Mat
Practice identifying digraphs with the help of a coding robot and mat.
- Free Plan
Roll and Write - Simple and Compound Sentences
Practice writing simple and compound sentences with our Roll and Write activity.
- Free Plan
Roll, Count, and Cover - Dot Day Activities
Build fine motor skills and counting skills with a set of printable Roll, Count, and Color Dot Day Activities.
- Plus Plan
Dressing Up A Sentence - Interactive or Printable Activity
Encourage students to add more descriptive language into their sentence writing with this activity.
- Free Plan
Roll It, Make It, Expand It! - Place Value Worksheet
A worksheet for students to use when learning to write two-digit numbers in expanded form.
- Free Plan
Roll to Create a Gingerbread House
Have some Christmas fun without the mess with a Roll-to-Create Gingerbread House Art activity.
- Plus Plan
Digital Christmas Escape Room for the Classroom — Elf Investigation
This exciting Christmas escape room has been created by our teacher team to engage your upper elementary students this holiday season. Help the Mayor of Elfton catch the person responsible for some mischievous events in his town.
- Free Plan
Never Have I Ever Questions for Kids ... Getting to Know You Game
See fun "Never Have I Ever" questions for kids to break the ice in your classroom and help students get to know one another.
- Free Plan
Order of Operations Dice Game
Practice order of operations with this set of 6 dice activity mats.
- Free Plan
Group It Many Ways – Multiplication Activity
Promote hands-on learning with this activity, where students will practice making equal groups to represent multiplication.
- Plus Plan
Count the Chicks! Easter Counting Activity
Practice recognizing, counting, and subitizing numbers from 1-20 with this Easter math activity.
- Free Plan
Percent Match-Up!
Match fractions, decimals, and percentages with this printable math activity.
- Free Plan
Rolling for Cash — Printable Counting Coins Game
Print a customizable money game for kids that requires addition and skip counting skills to count coins.
- Free Plan
Roll and Read – Sight Words – Kindergarten
A fun game for students to practice reading sight words.
- Free Plan
Multiplying with Decimals Bingo Game
Get your students multiplying decimals by whole numbers with this engaging Bingo game.
- Free Plan
Weathering vs. Erosion vs. Deposition Vocabulary Game
Guide your students to review weathering, erosion and deposition vocabulary words with this free dice game.
- Plus Plan
Main Idea and Details in Nonfiction - Interactive Activity
Help your students easily find the main idea and support details in a nonfiction text with this interactive activity.
- Plus Plan
Easter Basket Digital Math Center
Save time lesson planning in the lead up to Easter with this Easter-themed Digital Math Activity.
- Plus Plan
Easter Bingo - Differentiated Vocabulary Activity
Build vocabulary skills surrounding Easter with a fun Easter game for kids!
- Free Plan
Roll and Cover – Telling Time to the Minute
Practice telling to the minute with this roll and cover game
- Free Plan
Famous Artists Card Game for Kids
A set of 54 famous artist cards to be used for a variety of card games.