In my travels around the country, educators regularly ask me for classroom game ideas. The kids love games, they say. Games can add liveliness, variation, and interest to a lesson. Games are experiential. I’ve seen games that facilitate learning in several ways. These games:
• provide practice and review of Hebrew decoding and prayer recitation skills.
• provide reinforcement in a relaxed setting.
• furnish incentives for task mastery.
• relieve the monotony of drill.
• provide an opportunity for student collaboration, socialization, and teamwork.
I’ve also seen games (many!) that are a waste of time and promote no productive learning. Sometimes they’re a cop-out for teachers who aren’t adequately prepared for class. Or they become an end in themselves with little learning resulting.
In order for games to succeed, teachers should:
1. Choose games that contribute to improving specific skills, for example, Hebrew decoding fluency and accuracy or remembering the names of the Hebrew months.
2. Use games that move quickly and have a specified amount of time allotted to them. Stop when students’ interest begins to wane.
3. Use games that are easy to organize and follow.
4. Make sure that all students in the class are actively involved and can experience success.
This last requirement is perhaps the most difficult to address. We can try to ensure that all students participate but how do we ensure they experience success? The opposite is likely to be true. We know that students need to feel emotionally safe in order to learn. Brain research clearly supports the link between emotions and cognition. But in class game participation, students may feel threatened and vulnerable.
Read this article about the risks of games in the classroom. You’ll see that “a primary pitfall of pitting students against each other in class is that they have different strengths, weaknesses, interests, and goals.” And that “team competitions can be even more stressful for students who, due to lack of confidence or ability, are unwilling or unable to carry their weight.”
If you suspect team competition might not work well in your class because of large differences in student abilities or styles, consider having students compete not against each other, but against their own individual potential. For example, students can time each other’s Hebrew reading with a stopwatch and try to improve their own best time. Or they can keep score of how many Bible quiz answers they know. They may also work in pairs or small groups to support one another.
I can’t help wondering why my nephew has given up team sports in favor of golf. I think it’s because he wants to be his own biggest challenger. He’s playing with others but for himself. The victory—and the defeat—will be all his own. Before you decide which classroom game to play, make sure that the purpose is clear, you are very well organized, and that students feel safe participating—or are given the option to opt-out and do something else constructive instead.
Here are some fun noncompetitive and kids’ party games you can adapt for the classroom.
