Fun Classroom Games for Third Graders

Games in the classroom help keep kids entertained while also teaching them lessons. The importance of giving students a chance to have fun while they learn is apparent when you see students show more enthusiasm toward the activity. The next time you want your third-grade students to engage more during a lesson, consider playing a game.

Theme Charades

After you've taught a lesson, test your students' understanding and memory of it by playing a spin on the classic game of charades. Prepare by coming up with categories pertaining to that day's lesson. For example, you can separate them by subject and have math and English categories, or pick a specific lesson and find subcategories within it. Come up with different charades that fall under each category and write them on slips of paper. Divide the classroom into as many teams as you have categories and give each team a category set. Every player on each team gets a chance to act out a charade. Once a team has guessed all the charades, the members sit down and wait for all the other teams to finish. They win the round. Once all the teams have finished a round, they switch categories. The team that wins the most rounds wins the game.

Four Corners

Four Corners forces kids to use their sense of hearing to determine their next move. Assign the corners of your classroom a number from one to four. Gather the students in one area of the room and pick one of the players to stand in the middle of the room while blindfolded. On the count of three, the group has to pick a corner in the room to occupy. When all the players have found a corner, the person in the middle calls out a corner number. The players occupying that corner get disqualified from the game. This process continues until only one student--the winner--remains playing.

Trivia Relay

To let your kids stretch their legs and refresh their memories on lessons you taught them the day before, play Trivia Relay. Before you play, think of trivia questions that pertain to a lesson. Divide the group into two or more teams and line them up behind a starting point. Clear a path for the students to quickly walk toward you. On the count of three, the players at the start of the line have to walk to you. When the players have made it to you, ask them all the same trivia question. The first to raise his hand gets to answer. Whoever guesses correctly gets to return to his team, allowing the next player in line to walk to you. Whichever team gets all its players back in line after having answered your trivia questions wins the game.