I bet you have your go-to games and activities that you can use at the last minute in the classroom when you quickly need a filler or a distraction.

These are games that can work with all ages, with any number of students, any time of the day, and played inside or outside.

These are my reliable top five classroom favourites;

• Heads Down, Thumbs Up – good game to settle and quieten the students - four children are chosen to come out the front. The teacher calls ‘heads down, thumbs up’ and the rest of the class rest their heads on the table and close their eyes. Their elbows should be resting on the table also with their thumbs pointed upwards. The four students out the front that had been chosen, walk quietly around the room and choose to squeeze someone’s thumb before going back to the front of the room. If a chidl’s thumb is squeezed they should put their thumb down. Once the four students are back out the front the teacher calls ‘heads up, stand up’ and the four children who had their thumbs squeeze must guess who it was that touched them. If they guess correctly they replace that person and come out the front for the next turn. If they guess incorrectly the student sits back down in their seat to continue playing.

• Spelling Bingo - a game of luck not skill. Students write five words from their spelling list on their individual whiteboard. The teacher calls out words randomly from the list. Students tick a word on their board if it is said. The first child to tick all five of their words first wins. I usually play two or three rounds.

• Circle Champion - everyone loves this one. It can be played in a circle with the students sitting on the floor or with students sitting at their tables. It can be played with sight words, trivia, or for maths with a dice using addition, subtraction or multiplication. Students sit in a circle. One child is chosen to stand behind another. A dice is rolled or sight word is shown and whoever says the correct answer first moves on behind the next student in the circle. The child to make it ‘all around the world’ or the most places wins the game.

• Who is Missing? - this one is just for fun. Someone is chosen to leave the room, another is chosen to hide, everyone else shuffles around to sit somewhere differently. The student that left the room comes back in and must guess within fifteen seconds who it is that is hiding. The student that hid can then be the next child to guess.

• Shipwreck – usually played outside but can be played inside if you are prepared for some chaos. Good game to practice listening skills. Identify four sides of the playing area as bow, stern, port and starboard. Students start in the middle and the teacher calls out an action which the students must do. The slowest person for each round is out. Call ‘Captains coming’, children stand to attention. ‘Captains gone’, children poke their tongue out and put hands up waving them about. ‘Scrub the deck’ children get down on knees and mime scrubbing the floor. ‘Man overboard’, children mime jumping off the boat. If you call ‘bow, stern, port or starboard’ students run to that side of the boat. Keep playing into only one student is left.

What are your go to games that your class love? We would love it if you joined the conversation and left a comment below.