Setting up a Match Game for kids allows them to have fun in a team environment while reviewing current areas of study. Separate the class into two teams. Give each team a pile of pictures, and a separate pile of names that describe the pictures. Children work together to match the names to their respective pictures before the other team does. If one team claims to be complete, check to see if they matched all items correctly. If not, the game continues until one team does so. You can base the match game on a theme, such as the class's current history unit, having them match historical figures to their titles. You can also choose to make the game a mixture of subjects and topics.
Heads Up, Seven Up is a classic classroom game that helps kids have fun and wind down at the end of a long day of learning. Assign seven students to stand at the front of the class, while the remainder place their heads down on their desks, and put their hand out in a fist. While the students' heads are down, the chosen seven each walk about and touch one other student's hand. The students whose hands are touched then put their thumbs up. Once the seven have finished choosing, everyone who has been touched stands up, and guesses who picked them. If they guess correctly, they switch places with that person and begin the next round of the game.
The Beanbag Game is great as an icebreaker game to help children gett to know their classmates better. Have students stand in a circle. Start off the game by asking a question, such as "What is your favorite color?" and then toss a beanbag or ball to one of the students in the circle. They will then have to answer the question, proceeding to ask a new question and toss the bean bag to a new person. The bean bag cannot be tossed to one person twice until everyone in the circle has had one turn. Continue until every child has answered a question and then begin again, perhaps adding new rules about the type of question to be asked. You can even choose to make it educational, having students ask questions pertaining to a current topic of study or specific area of interest.
The Word Brainstorm game allows students to get competitive while calling in their vocabulary repertoire. Separate students into groups of two or three. Give each group a piece of paper and a writing utensil. Then call out a letter, and a topic. For example you could say "The letter is S, and the topic is Books." Students will then have to brainstorm as many words on the topic that begin with the chosen letter until you tell them time is up. You can then move on to more letters and categories. When the game is complete, have each group go through the answers they got for each session. You can then count which team got the most answers by section, keeping a tally on the chalkboard and determining an overall winner.