Boost Engagement and Skill Mastery with Classic and Popular Games
Welcome! You’re about to access a curated collection of my favorite tips, strategies, and free printables designed to help you engage your students with classic and popular games in a meaningful and impactful way. These strategies will support everything from test prep to skill mastery, using the games your students already love.
General Tips for Using Games in the Classroom
Grab the guide for my best tips on how to make any game work for your classroom, whether for review, skill practice, or test prep. Download the PDF for a printable guide that you can reference any time.
Grab the GuideReady to Dive In?
Explore the specific sections below for tips and free printables for my favorite games.
Keep scrolling or click one of the buttons above to go directly to a section.
Jenga
Jenga is incredibly versatile and can be used in small groups, whole group instruction, or as a center activity. It’s perfect for quicker fast paced skills like math and grammar.
You can use traditional or colored Jenga.
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FREE Jenga Games for Specific Skills (Colored Jenga)
Pie Face
Pie Face is a high-energy, high-engagement game that works well for tackling tricky skills like constructed responses or any task that requires intense focus and effort.Â
Because it’s such a messy, fun game, it helps keep students motivated to push through challenging tasks.
Bean Boozled
Bean Boozled is perfect for adding excitement to test prep or review sessions. The unpredictability of the game keeps students engaged and eager to participate, especially when tackling tough skills or content review.
 Note: Parental permission or approval is recommended. Use with caution. :)Â
Minute to Win It Challenges
Minute to Win It challenges are a fantastic way to embed academic skills into quick, high-energy games.
These challenges are great to mix with tasks that require focus and effort as they require more prep and can get out of hand.
Spoons
Spoons is a fast-paced, highly engaging game that helps students review skills in an exciting and interactive way. With minimal materials and prep, it motivates students to actively participate and think critically.
Note: This game DOES not work any task or questions. You will need specific game cards for it to work.
If you are a member of All-Access Reading or All-Access Math, you have access to all of my Spoons games. In order for the links below to work, you must be signed in to your account.
Tic-Tac-Toe
Tic-Tac-Toe is a great, simple way to gamify practice. It’s easy to teach, quick to replay, and engaging for most students. Once a game ends, they can erase the board and start over, keeping the activity fresh and fun. The partner setup is ideal because it’s collaborative without being overwhelming.
If you are a member of All-Access Reading or All-Access Math, you have access to all of my Tic-Tac-Toe games. In order for the links below to work, you must be signed in to your account.
Dots and Boxes
Dots and Boxes is a simple, engaging game that promotes critical thinking, collaboration, and strategic decision-making. It’s flexible enough to use in partner play or as a whole group activity, making it a great option for gamifying practice in any subject.Â
Classic Board Games
Have a game you love that is not one of my favorites? This section is for you!
Repurpose your favorite classic board games like Connect Four, Sorry, or any quick game to engage students while reinforcing essential skills. These games can be adapted for math, reading comprehension, and critical thinking practice, making them perfect for review sessions or test prep.
Are You an All Access Member?
If you’re already a member of my All-Access Reading or Math Membership, you’re in for a treat!Â
Below are the best resources available in your portal that will keep your students engaged without the need for additional games, as well as test prep resources that pair perfectly with high-energy games for review.
All-Access Reading Members
You won’t even need games for these—the engagement is built right into the design! The text and questions are already included, so these resources are ready to go:
- Reading Puzzles: Keep students engaged while developing critical thinking skills.
- Color-by-Reading: Ideal for independent practice and review, and they’re fun!
- Reading Spinner Centers: An interactive way for students to practice and reinforce reading skills.
- Reading Game Boards: Turn reading activities into a game with these easy-to-use game boards.
- Tic-Tac-Toe Games:Â Add a competitive element to fiction and nonfiction reading practice with these tic-tac-toe games.
- Spoons Games:Â Use this fast-paced, engaging game to review literacy skills.
- Morphology Dots & Boxes: COMING SOON!
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Do you want to use games for reading test prep?
Check out your test prep section for resources like task cards, constructed response tasks, and other specific types of tasks you'd like to target. Click here to go directly to the test prep category now.
All-Access Math Members
Like the reading resources, the engagement is built right into these math activities, with questions and tasks already prepared for you:
- Partner Games: From Tic-Tac-Toe to Bump, these games help students practice math skills in an engaging and collaborative way.
- Game Boards: Perfect for embedding math practice and review without needing additional setup.
- Roll and Answer Activities: Easy and effective for reinforcing math concepts.
- Task Cards: Use these with any game board for skill review.
- Spinner Math Centers: A great way to bring some excitement to your math centers.
- Spoons Games: Use this fast-paced, engaging game to review math skills.Â
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Do you want to use games for math test prep?
Check out your test prep section for multiple select, short answer, multiple-choice, and constructed response practice. Click here to go directly to the test prep category now.
