It’s fallen out of fashion in teaching to refer to something as a “time killer.” I get it. While I don’t recommend killing time for the sake of killing time, sometimes time killers have their uses. It gives students a mental break during the school day (or at the end of the school day). It helps them be more social as they get to know their classmates in a fun way. It can be used as a reward after a test or a quiz. Finally, these games can be used as warm-ups, cool downs, brain breaks, or in some cases, review.
All of these games can be used for large classes of children, teens, or even fun-loving adults, and they’re organized by the materials needed, so there’s sure to be something you can use even if you don’t have any resources available to you.
If you have a projector
1. Wordle (5-10 minutes)
Because the word changes every day, I’ve had classes in the past that used this puzzle as a warm-up every single day.
It can also be tweaked to use as a review for an in-class vocabulary word by simply writing your own blank spaces on the board and circling letters in yellow or green based on student guesses. I recommend writing your own “Wordles” on the board for younger students to ensure that the word isn’t too hard.
2. Funny fill-in (10 minutes)
This is basically a digital Mad Libs, and while Mad Libs require printing off before class, this Funny Fill-In can be projected from a computer screen when you suddenly have 10 or so unexpected minutes of downtime in class. Simply choose a story, then let students pick what words they want for their adjectives, colors, nouns, etc. Then read their creation out loud as a class. It’s sure to get lots of laughs and can be a clever way to break up the day.
3. Countdown (5-15 minutes)
This game is great because you can play multiple rounds. Split students into groups and make sure they have something to write on. Click “random fill” and wait for the letters to appear. Then students write as many words as they can before the timer goes off. The letters that show up are an anagram, meaning that many different words can be made from the letters that show up. Unlike an anagram, you don’t need to use all the letters that show up. Whichever team writes the most correctly spelled words wins. It’s a fast-paced game that gets students working together. It works great with all ages.
If you have a blackboard (white board)
4. The Bomb/Typhoon Game (20-40 minutes)
This game works great for review. On a piece of paper, make a key that only the teacher will see. This key should be a grid of 5 by 5 with the letters A-E along the side and 1-5 along the top. Then in each box of the grid draw either a question mark, a bomb, a typhoon, poison, or a red cross. Then put a 5 by 5 grid on the blackboard with A-E on the side and 1-5 on the top, but don’t fill in any of the boxes. Leave them blank. Split students into teams (2-4 teams works best). Teams take turns to choose a box on the grid, such as “A2,” and the teacher fills in the box with what was on her key. Here is what each of the symbols mean.
Question mark = Students must answer a question. They can get a point for a correct answer.
Bomb = -1 point for your team
Typhoon = Lose all your points
Poison = “Kill” someone on another team, so they can no longer answer questions
Red cross = Revive a “dead” person, and they can talk again
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