Review games
20 Questions
The class asks up to 20 yes-or-no questions to figure out a secret person, place or thing.
By grade
Classroom Games for Middle School
Middle schoolers want games that feel grown up, social and a little competitive. These games work for unit reviews, the first week of school and the last ten minutes of class, without feeling babyish.
- π² 73 games
- β Free
- π₯ Board-ready tools
Review games
Around the World
Two students race to answer a flash card.
Team building
Back-to-Back Drawing
Partners sit back to back.
Brain breaks
Balloon Keep It Up
The class works together to keep a balloon in the air, counting every tap.
Icebreakers
Beach Ball Icebreaker
Write questions all over a beach ball and toss it around the room.
Review games
Board Relay Race
Teams line up and take turns running to the board to answer one step of a problem, then hand the marker to the next teammate.
Review games
Buzz
Students count around the room but say "Buzz" instead of any multiple of a chosen number.
Quiet games
Candy Corn Estimation Jar
Students estimate how many candies are in a jar, explain their strategy, then count together.
Review games
Categories
Pick a letter and a list of categories.
Review games
Charades
Students act out a word or phrase without speaking while their team guesses.
Review games
Classroom Bingo
Students mark answers on a bingo card as you read clues.
Quiet games
Classroom Boggle
Students find as many words as possible in a grid of letters.
Review games
Classroom Escape Room
Teams solve a chain of puzzles built from your unit content to unlock the final "lock" before time runs out.
Review games
Classroom Scavenger Hunt
Students search the room for hidden clues or items, answering questions to unlock the next clue.
Review games
Classroom Taboo
A student describes a vocabulary word to their team without saying the word or any of the "taboo" words listed on the card.
Review games
Connect Four Review
Two teams answer questions to drop a colored token into a grid on the board.
Quiet games
Count to 20
The class counts to 20 one voice at a time without planning who goes next.
Team building
Cup Tower Challenge
Teams stack plastic cups into the tallest tower, or a Christmas tree shape, without touching them with their hands.
Icebreakers
Desert Island
Students choose three items they would bring to a desert island and justify their picks.
Review games
Fact or Fiction
Teams hear surprising statements and decide whether each one is fact or fiction.
Icebreakers
Find Someone Who
Students walk around with a grid of prompts and find a classmate who matches each one.
Review games
Fly Swatter
Two students race to swat the correct answer on the board with a fly swatter.
Brain breaks
Four Corners
Students tiptoe to one of four labeled corners while a caller with eyes closed picks a corner.
Brain breaks
Guess My Number
Students guess a secret number and get clues like "higher" or "lower", or math clues like "it is a multiple of 4".
Review games
Hangman
Students guess letters to reveal a hidden word before the drawing is complete.
Quiet games
Heads Up, Seven Up
Seven students secretly tap classmates with their heads down, then the tapped students guess who tapped them.
Review games
Hot Potato Review
Students pass an object around while music plays.
Review games
Hot Seat
One student sits with their back to the board while teammates describe the word written behind them.
Team building
Human Knot
Students hold hands across a circle to make a tangle, then work together to untangle without letting go.
Review games
Jenga Review
Color-code Jenga blocks to question cards.
Review games
Jeopardy Review Game
A quiz-show board of categories and point values where teams pick a square and answer the question behind it.
Quiet games
Kim's Game
Students study a tray of objects for one minute, then the tray is covered and one object is removed.
Quiet games
Mad Libs
Students supply nouns, verbs and adjectives without seeing the story, then read the silly result aloud.
End of year
Mafia (Werewolf)
A secret-role game where the "mafia" tries to eliminate townspeople at night while the town debates and votes by day.
Brain breaks
Make 24
Students use four numbers and any operations to make exactly 24.
Team building
Marshmallow Challenge
Teams build the tallest freestanding tower from spaghetti, tape and string that can hold a marshmallow on top.
Review games
Math Baseball
Teams "bat" by answering questions: easy for a single, harder for a double, hardest for a home run.
Review games
Math War
Pairs flip playing cards and race to add or multiply them.
Review games
Memory Match
Students flip cards two at a time to find matching pairs, such as a word and its definition.
Team building
Minefield
One blindfolded student walks through an obstacle course guided only by a partner's voice.
Brain breaks
Mirror Game
Partners face each other.
Team building
Mummy Wrap Race
Teams race to wrap one teammate head to toe in toilet paper like a mummy.
Brain breaks
Ninja
Students stand in a circle in ninja poses and take turns making one swift move to tap another player's hand.
Review games
Odd One Out
Show four words, numbers or pictures and ask students which one does not belong and why.
Review games
Pass the Present
A gift wrapped in many layers is passed around while music plays.
Team building
Philosophical Chairs
Students physically move to the side of the room that matches their view on a debatable statement, then argue respectfully, moving if they change their mind.
Review games
Pictionary
One student draws a word on the board while their team guesses it before time runs out.
Review games
Quiz Quiz Trade
Each student holds a question card, quizzes a partner, gets quizzed back, then trades cards and finds a new partner.
Brain breaks
Rock Paper Scissors Tournament
Students play rock paper scissors, and losers become the cheering section of the winner.
Quiet games
Silent Ball
Students toss a soft ball around the room without making a sound.
Team building
Silent Line-Up
Students line up in order by birthday, height or name without talking.
Review games
Snowball Fight
Students write an answer or question on paper, crumple it up and throw it across the room.
Review games
Sparkle
Students spell a word aloud one letter at a time around the circle.
Review games
Spelling Bee
Students take turns spelling words aloud.
Review games
Stand Up, Sit Down
Read a statement.
Brain breaks
Stella Ella Ola
A circle clapping game: students pass a clap around while chanting, and whoever is clapped on the final count is out.
No prep
Story Chain
The class builds a story one sentence at a time, each student adding to what came before.
Quiet games
Telephone
A whispered message travels down a line of students and usually comes out hilariously different.
End of year
Telephone Pictionary
A sentence turns into a drawing, then a sentence, then a drawing, as papers pass around a group.
No prep
Thankful Alphabet
The class works through the alphabet naming one thing they are thankful for per letter.
Icebreakers
The Name Game
Each student says their name plus an alliterative word ("Jumping Jada"), and the next student repeats all the names before theirs.
Icebreakers
The Toilet Paper Game
Students take as many squares of toilet paper as they "think they will need" without knowing why.
Icebreakers
This or That
A fast two-choice warm-up: pizza or tacos, summer or winter.
Review games
Tic-Tac-Toe Review
Two teams play tic-tac-toe on the board, but must answer a question correctly to place their X or O.
Review games
Trashketball
Teams answer review questions, and every correct answer earns a shot at the trash can for bonus points.
Icebreakers
Two Truths and a Lie
Each student shares three statements about themselves, one of them false, and the class guesses the lie.
Review games
Who Am I?
A student holds a card to their forehead without seeing it and asks yes-or-no questions to figure out which person, animal or term they are.
Review games
Whole-Class Quiz Show
Run a quiz show with mini whiteboards: every student answers every question at the same time, so nobody sits out.
No prep
Word Chain
Each student says a word that starts with the last letter of the previous word: apple, egg, giraffe.
Quiet games
Word Ladder
Change one letter at a time to turn one word into another: CAT to COT to DOT to DOG.
Review games
Word Scramble
Teams race to unscramble vocabulary words.
Icebreakers
Would You Rather
Give students two choices and have them pick a side of the room, then explain their reasoning.
Brain breaks
Zip Zap Zop
Students pass "zip", "zap" and "zop" around a circle in order, faster and faster.
Quick picks
Top 5 to try first
- β 20 QuestionsThe class asks up to 20 yes-or-no questions to figure out a secret person, place or thing.
- π Around the WorldTwo students race to answer a flash card.
- βοΈ Back-to-Back DrawingPartners sit back to back.
- π Balloon Keep It UpThe class works together to keep a balloon in the air, counting every tap.
- π Beach Ball IcebreakerWrite questions all over a beach ball and toss it around the room.
Play online
Online middle school games for the board
Quiz ShowKahoot-style questions with colors, a countdown and team points. No student devices.βΆ Play nowTic Tac Toe ReviewAnswer a question to claim the square. Red X vs Blue O.βΆ Play nowMemory MatchFlip two cards, find the pair. Words, facts or translations.βΆ Play nowGuess the WordWordle with your own spelling words, hints and team turns.βΆ Play nowMystery PictureAnswer questions to remove tiles. First team to guess the picture wins.βΆ Play nowPass the BombA hidden random fuse, a challenge and a ball to pass. Boom!βΆ Play nowWould You Rather VoteBig A vs B choices, count the votes, reveal the result.βΆ Play nowWord ScrambleUnscramble the letters before the timer runs out.βΆ Play now
Board tools
Free tools for these games
Classroom TimerBig full-screen countdown with presets and an alarm.Open tool βRandom Name PickerPaste your class list and pick students fairly.Open tool βRandom Team GeneratorSplit the class into random groups in one click.Open tool βClassroom ScoreboardKeep team scores on the board for any game.Open tool βJeopardy Review Game MakerBuild a quiz-show review board and play it on the board.Open tool βHangman for the ClassroomPlay hangman on the board with your own words.Open tool βBingo Card GeneratorMake printable bingo cards from any word list.Open tool β
Questions teachers ask
Frequently asked questions
What are fun games for middle school classrooms?
Trashketball, Jeopardy review, Quiz Quiz Trade, Would You Rather and the Marshmallow Challenge are reliable hits with grades 6β8.
How do I use games for test review in middle school?
Have every student or team answer every question on whiteboards, award points for correct answers, and add a small bonus (like a trash can shot) so knowledge still decides the winner.
Explore
More classroom games
π§Έ Kindergarten (Kβ2)π Elementary Studentsπ Middle Schoolπ High Schoolβ Mathπ¬ ESLπ€ Vocabulary and Spelling Gamesπ§ͺ Scienceπ Review gamesβ‘ Brain breaksπ Icebreakersπ€ Team buildingπ No prepπ€« Quiet gamesπ§οΈ Indoor recessπ End of yearπ Back to schoolπ Halloweenπ¦ Thanksgivingπ Christmas & winterπ Valentine's Day