An elementary school classroom is a wonderful dynamic that needs to be continually cultivated. The lessons that these children learn will carry on with them for the rest of their academic careers, and into their adulthood. Games can be a viable strategy for teaching life specific lessons. A fantastic game to be played in the elementary classroom is called Tribes.

In the game of Tribes, the class is split up into different teams, and they are forced, through a series of tasks and challenges, to form bonds, and to learn to work together, creating a sense of community and an overall atmosphere of mutual respect. This game challenges players to become leaders or followers, and overall, the game will promote friendship and co-operation. The game is terrific, especially when played under the guise of fun instead of learning. This is a great game if you can find it, which should not be too difficult.

There are many great games that can be played in the elementary school classroom, it is just a matter of finding those few games that your particular students thoroughly enjoy and actively participate in when played. Elementary students love games, as it seems as though it is a break from the mundane monotony of rudimentary learning, but this is merely a subterfuge. Many of the best games that are played are actually building upon concepts being studied. This is the benefit of playing games within the confines of the elementary school classroom. It is the job of the teacher to promote the games to the students.

A great elementary game to play with your students is a variation of Wheel of Fortune or Hangman. The game is fun and exciting, and can provide a great outlet for creativity if the students are allowed to choose the words or phrases. This is also a great game for building vocabulary and reading skills. All students can learn from this style of game, whether or not they are an auditory learner (hearing the letters guessed appeals to their strengths, as does unscrambling words), a visual learner (actually seeing the words being formed), or kinesthetic learner (physically guessing the letters, writing them in, participating in the game). This gives the teacher the chance to appeal to all of the diverse learning styles, and incorporate a style of teaching that helps each and every student within the classroom.

Another tried and true game to play with the elementary school classroom isJeopardy, which gives the students the chance to participate in a question and answer style game that can reinforce all of the material that is going to be on an upcoming quiz, or to just reiterate important points from the latest lesson. Since Jeopardy is so well-known, and the chance to be the center of attention is present, this game can be rather beneficial to the student body. The beauty of playing games is that the students perceive it as a reward, even though they are merely reviewing material that has been recently studied.

Along the same lines as Jeopardy, Baseball Review can be a great game for the elementary classroom. The concept of Baseball Review is to break the students into two teams, and form a straight line, one behind the other. The first 'batter' is given a question based on their choice of going for a single, double, triple, or homerun. The questions are obviously harder when you go for the extra bases. If you get the answer correct, you physically move to a different location in the room, and advance accordingly based on the results of the next batters. This game gets the class moving around, appealing to the students. The game also breaks the ennui of studying, and gets the blood flowing to the brain. The team that scores the most runs before they acquire three outs for incorrect answers. Depending on the teacher, the game can go as many innings as they feel warrant the studying of the material.

Spelling Bees are always a great idea for a game in the elementary school classroom. Spelling Bees appeal to students because it is a chance to showcase their intellect. The game also helps students to spell, and increases their vocabulary. With each word that a student is given to spell by the teacher, a definition of the word, followed by a sentence using the word should be given. This game will help students immensely to earn an appreciation of the language.

A game such as Survivor can be great to play, but you must be wary of the rules of play, because you do not want students to be eliminated for reasons more social than academic. The game would be similar to Tribes, but on a more popular scope. The concept could work, however, and could force students from all walks of life to learn to get along with others, which will build a sense of community in the classroom. This game could foster a culture of mutual self-respect and admiration for others, all the while adding humility and compassion to their character.

Games in the elementary school classroom work best when they are built upon the premise of relaxation and reward, but in reality are strengthening skills already learned. Once you find out which game works best, the effective teacher can then utilize this game as a means to get students on task and focused.

As long as the games are conducted in a fair environment, and full inclusion is achieved, the elementary students will reap many benefits from playing games during some of their unstructured class time.

Learn more about this author, Bobby Coles.
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