Charades, a well-known party game, can keep fifth-graders entertained during a rainstorm. Write down words or phrases on index cards, and put the index cards in a box. Ask one of the students to pick a card, and instruct him to act out the word or phrase he picked out without using any verbal cues. Ask the other students to guess the word or phrase he's acting out. Whoever guesses correctly is the next person to pick a card.
This game helps keep children entertained while testing their memory skills at the same time. Have the students sit in a circle. Ask one of the students to say a sentence, such as, "I went to the beach." The student sitting next to him repeats the sentence and adds an item, such as, "I went to the beach to swim." Continue the process until you get to all the students. If a student forgets a line, he is out of the game.
In this game, students hear three statements from one student. They must figure out which statement isn't true. For example, the student who is "it" can say statements like, "I've been to Europe," "I'm scared of dogs" and "My favorite sport is basketball." The student who correctly guesses which statement isn't true is the next person to be "it."
Give your students a few magazines each, and list 20 items for them to find inside the magazines. Examples include a car, fashion model, camera and a pair of shoes. Instruct them to flip through the magazines and clip out the items they find on the list. The student who finds all the items first wins the game.