Teachers have many items in their teacher toolbox, and some easy classroom games for those last few minutes of class should be there too.
We have all been there. It is the last five (or three or six) minutes of class. You have gotten through everything you planned for the day. The students have finished their assignments. You don’t want to start something new. And your class should not be left to their own devices. What do you do?
While you can always pull out an old standby like journaling or a fast-finisher activity, today I want to share some fun, creative, easy classroom games you can keep ready for these situations.
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6 Easy Classroom Games for Those Last Few Minutes
Option One: Analogy Puzzles
Black:White::Up: _____________
Cat:Pounce::Frog: _____________
Computer:Mouse::Table: _____________
Learning how to make analogies can be an important skill for some standardized tests, but it also gives students practice with both concrete and creative thinking. Keep a book or list of ability-appropriate analogies handy, and when you have a couple of minutes free, have students practice completing an analogy or two.
These are easy to write on your board or smart screen. They can even be fun to do as a group or in teams for points. You can also have your students come up with their own as a way for them to use their critical thinking skills.
How do analogy puzzles work? Analogy puzzles are about matching comparisons: A is to B as C is to D. For example, Black is to White as Up is to Down. Check out this blog post at Teacher Thrive for an even more detailed explanation of how to do these, as well as levelled word analogies you can use in the classroom.
Option Two: Poetry Reading
We tend to think of poetry as a specific unit in class, but poetry is not an art form meant only to be dissected and analyzed – it is meant to be read and enjoyed for itself. While not traditionally used as part of easy classroom games, poetry is a great way to keep students learning and exploring.
Have a couple of books of short poems (or curate a binder of them for your classroom). When you have a few minutes at the end of class, read one to your students. Better yet, ask students to volunteer to choose one to read.
You could also try these poem of the day websites with your students (be sure to preview the content ahead of time): Poem of the Day – Poetry Foundation and Poem of the Day – poets.org.
Exposing students to a variety of poems regularly can be educational and enjoyable and can normalize poetry as something that is not just confined to “artsy” or “academic” circles.
You could also have the class write poems, such as haikus or acrostic poems. Have a jar full of words they could use for an acrostic poem or a list of themes for haikus, and get students to put their thinking caps on to complete poems based on that word or theme.
A poetry digital escape room could also be a fun idea, depending on how much time you have. Learn more about it here: Poetry Digital Escape Room
Option Three: Would You Rather
If you’re looking for easy classroom games, maybe you want something to get students thinking and talking. “Would you rather” questions can be a great way to do this. They can be fun to share and can be as deep or as silly as you like.
Here are some examples:
- Would you rather eat a spider or a slug?
- Would you rather win $1 million all at once or $50,000 every year for the rest of your life?
- Would you rather be super smart or super athletic?
- Would you rather be asked to clean the house or mow the lawn?
Keep a list of various questions handy and pose one to your students when you have a few minutes.
If you like quick and easy questions like this, you might also enjoy my 365 Attendance Questions resource which has a variety of questions that can be used for daily attendance —- or even for times when you need easy classroom games to fill spare time. To learn more, check out this blog post: 22 Interesting Ways to Use Daily Attendance Questions.
Option Four: Top 10 Lists
Top Ten Lists (or Top Five Lists) can be fun for students to create and debate. Keep a list of topics handy, and when you have a few moments of class time to use up, bring it up to your students.
These can be done as a whole class, with students shouting out answers, or in smaller groups (it can be fun to share the best responses at some point). Topics can be as diverse as you like.
Here are a few examples:
- Best Meal
- Worst Excuse for Being Late for Curfew
- Best Personal Quality
- Best (or Worst) Place to Go on Vacation
Remember, the point of these questions is not to produce one final list but to get students thinking and talking. When it comes to easy classroom games, we want them to be simple and quick since the amount of time to fill can vary.
Option Five: Traditional Games
Games like charades, Pictionary, and Taboo are all fun activities that can easily be modified for classroom use. Have a list of words/topics/items/etc. that can be pulled out on short notice and used. These words can be related to what you are teaching or your curriculum in general, or they can be just a fun list that you put together.
When you have a few minutes, have students run a round or two. If you like, you can keep a running score and even periodically give prizes. If you don’t want to go through the work of putting your word lists together, get a copy of one or more of these games and just keep the sets of idea cards in your room. They can often be found for cheap at secondhand stores or garage sales. Or you could pick them up on Amazon:
If you’re looking for more ideas for easy classroom games, look at these blog posts: Using Puzzles and Games in the Classroom to Engage Students or Level Up: Incorporating Fun Games into Your Classroom for Interactive Learning.
Option Six: This or That
Similar to “Would you rather,” this or that questions are perfect when you have just a few minutes to fill and you want something short and easy to keep students engaged. After a period of focused work, using lighthearted questions can give students time to relax and refocus.
Here are some examples:
- Dogs or cats?
- Summer or winter?
- Pencil or pen?
- Books or movies?
- Pizza or hamburgers?
To answer these questions, students could raise their hands to indicate their answers, or they could have a quick think-pair-share moment with their seat partner and discuss their answers, which they could then share with the class. If students have personal whiteboards, they could write their answers as 1 or 2 and then share them with the class.
These types of questions are straightforward and can easily spark quick decision-making among students.
A few minutes at the end of every class may not seem like much, but when you add that time up over multiple days over a school year, that time becomes significant. Whether you are looking for a directed academic activity or just something fun to keep the chaos to a minimum, having easy classroom games in your back pocket may be what you are looking for. These types of games also help build your classroom community. So don’t just let students talk for those last five minutes – make them count.
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