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.
- Plus Plan
Would You Rather...? Back to School Edition
Have fun getting to know your students with our“Would You Rather…?” Back to School Edition game.
- Plus Plan
Letter-Sound Correspondence Games - A-Z Alphabet Race Bundle
Practice letter-sound correspondence with a set of 26 Alphabet Race printable games.
- Free Plan
Nothing but Nouns Game
A game to practice working with common, proper, and collective nouns.
- Free Plan
Order of Operations Dice Game
Practice order of operations with this set of 6 dice activity mats.
- Plus Plan
Find Someone Who Icebreaker
Build a classroom community and help your students get to know each other with a fun getting to know you activity.
- Plus Plan
Number Recognition BINGO (Numbers 0 — 20)
Solidify your students’ number recognition skills for numbers 0 - 20 with this printable Bingo game!
- Free Plan
Fact Family Find and Flip - Addition and Subtraction Up to 20
Addition and subtraction game cards demonstrating the relationship between fact families.
- Plus Plan
Audience Swap Challenge Game
Help students understand why authors write and who they write for with this fun, interactive Audience Swap Challenge Game.
- Plus Plan
Suffixes Interactive Activity
Explore suffixes with this fun and engaging suffix digital activity ready to use in the classroom.
- Plus Plan
Writing Simple Sentences - Write the Room Activity
Use this simple sentence writing activity to learn how to write simple sentences with words around the room
- Free Plan
The Bean Game
A fun active game to play at any time.
- Plus Plan
Random Pairing Generator - Partner Cards
Use these printable partner cards as a randomized pair generator when grouping students in the classroom.
- Plus Plan
Who’s the Audience? Digital Activity
Use this Who’s the Audience? Activity when discussing and identifying the purpose and audience of a variety of different community signs and texts.
- Plus Plan
Groups of 4 - Random Grouping Cards
Divide your students into groups of four quickly and easily with Printable Student Grouping cards.
- Plus Plan
Brain Break Activities with Instructions
Pick from different games to play with your class when they need a brain break!
- Plus Plan
Compound Sentences Interactive Game
Use this camp-themed simple and compound sentences interactive game to help students practice identifying simple and compound sentences.
- Plus Plan
Adverbs and Adjectives Interactive Activity
Share this interactive drag-and-drop activity with your students to allow them to practice the correct use of adverbs and adjectives in the English language.
- Plus Plan
How Does It Move? Game
Engage your little learners in the study of motion with a self-checking ‘How Does It Move?’ Game.
- Free Plan
4x4 Blank Bingo Template Pack
Create your own bingo games with custom content using our Printable Bingo Template Pack.
- Plus Plan
What’s for Dinner? Carnivore, Herbivore, Omnivore Game
Play ‘What’s for Dinner’, a Carnivore, Herbivore, or Omnivore game to explore animal teeth and eating habits.
- Plus Plan
Interactive Parts of a Plant Game
Discover the features of plants with a self-checking Parts of a Plant Game for early learners.
- Plus Plan
Which Doesn’t Belong? Vertebrate or Invertebrate Game
Identify examples of vertebrates and invertebrates with an engaging Which Animal Doesn’t Belong? Vertebrate or Invertebrate Game.
- Plus Plan
The Locked Theater Whole Class Escape Game
The Locked Theater is an engaging whole class escape game designed for team building and collaboration.
- Plus Plan
Think Like a Scientist - Science Inquiry Game
Encourage scientific thinking and teach your students how to identify scientific questions with an engaging interactive game.
- Plus Plan
Interactive Shadow Matching Game
Introduce your students to the concept of shadows with an interactive Shadow Matching Game.
- Plus Plan
Noun Phrase Interactive Activity
Engage your students with this interactive noun phrase digital activity that helps them build descriptive noun phrases by using the correct order of adjectives.
- Plus Plan
Emotions Bingo
Play Emotions Bingo to help your little learners practice recognizing emotions.
- Plus Plan
Roll an Adventure Story - Storytelling Dice Game
Roll and write an adventure story using our Roll An Adventure Storytelling Dice Game.
- Plus Plan
Count on Facts Board Game: Counting On 1
Provide your early learners with this count on facts board game to engage them as they learn to add by counting on one.
- Plus Plan
Adding Numbers Game Board: Making Ten Board Game
Introduce this Adding Numbers Game Board: Making Ten board game to your students to give them the practice using the “make a ten” addition strategy.
- Plus Plan
Adding Unlike Fractions Escape Room – The Lost Time Traveler
Have your super-sleuth students solve this fractions escape room to find out the location of the lost time traveler!
- Plus Plan
Language and Social Context Matching Game
Explore language and social context with this fun matching activity that helps students understand how our speech changes depending on the situation.