10 Classrom Games Anyone Can Lead
The types of activities you choose will depend on the age of the kids in your classroom and the amount of space you have to work with. Try them out to find which ones fit your kids and space best.
Print this game list out and have it available in your classroom for you and your volunteers to use for every program. Go the extra mile and laminate it to make sure it stays around and doesn’t get thrown away,
1. Four Corners
Number each corner of the classroom with a 1, 2, 3, or 4 and choose a student to be ‘IT’. This person must stand in the middle of the room, close their eyes, and count to 10 while everyone else in the room chooses one corner of the room to run to. The person who is ‘IT’ calls out a number (1, 2, 3, or 4) and everyone who is in that numbered corner is out. The game continues until only one person is left, and then that person becomes ‘IT’ for the next round.
2. Simon Says
Have each student stand in an area where there is more room for them to move around, and then lead them through different gross motor movements: "Simon says stand on one leg", "Simon says do 3 jumping jacks", "Simon says hop like a bunny", etc. At some point throughout the game, provide a command without first saying ‘Simon says’, and whoever completes the movement is out. Continue playing until you have a winner, and then appoint that person to become "Simon."
3. Heads Up, 7-Up
Choose 7 (or fewer) students to come to the front of the room, and have the rest of the students sit with their heads down, eyes closed, and one thumb raised in the air. Next, ask each of the chosen students to tap one student on the back (or thumb) before returning to the front of the room and then say, ‘HEADS UP, 7-UP!’. Each student who was tapped must stand up and has one chance to guess who tapped them. If they guess correctly, they swap places. If they don’t, they sit down.
4. Animal Walks
Write a bunch of different animals on different pieces of paper, throw them into a hat, have each student choose one, and then have him or her walk across the classroom while pretending to walk like the chosen animal and see how long it takes the rest of the students to figure out what the animal is.
5. Have a dance party
This is a great way to help children get their wiggles out to help promote focus, and it also helps reset everyone’s mood. Play music on your phone (or other media device) and dance!
6. Duck, Duck, Goose
Have students sit in a circle, facing inward, while one player, who is "it", walks around tapping or pointing to each player in turn, calling each a "duck" until finally calling one a "goose", which designates the chosen player as the chaser. The chaser (goose) then stands and tries to tag the chasee (it), while the chasee tries to return to and sit where the chaser had been sitting before. If the chasee (it) succeeds, the chaser (goose) becomes the chasee and the process begins again. If the chaser (goose) tags the chasee (it), the chaser (goose) may return to their previous spot and the original chase (it) restarts the process.
7. Stone Statues
Have the person that is "it" count down from ten. During that time, the players need to assemble into any position posing as a statue. Once time is up, everyone needs to be still. Anyone caught moving by the person that is "it" is eliminated. The only things you are allowed to move are your eyelids. You cannot move your mouth, legs, or hands. Realize that even if you move, you are not out unless the person playing "it" sees it. Have the "it" person start looking for movements. Once the person that is "it" catches you, you are out. Eliminated players can help "it" check the remaining players for movements but cannot eliminate them themselves. They can, however, tip "it" about where to look for movements.
8. Fun With Masking Tape
There are so many fun activities for kids you can create with nothing other than a roll of masking tape. You can create a game of indoor hopscotch or tic-tac-toe or devise an obstacle course of straight and zig-zag lines your students have to complete by crawling, jumping, walking backwards, and/or while holding something heavy.
9. Fun With Balloons
Blow up a few balloons and let your students hit them across the room, or take it a step further by setting up a game of indoor balloon volleyball. You can see who can keep the balloon up the longest. You can work as a group to see how many times you can hit the balloon before it hits the ground. The possibilities really are endless!
10. Hula Hooping
Challenge one another to see who can keep their hula hoop in motion the longest, and if you have several hula hoops, you can use them to set up obstacle courses.
