For younger students, build analogy worksheets around a theme that they are familiar with. You could use an animal analogies worksheet, where students have to fill in the blanks for statements such as "Bird is to fly as fish is to ______" and "Lion is to carnivore as rhinoceros is to ______." Gear the examples toward the specific age group. The first example is appropriate for first or second graders, while the latter is suitable for third graders. Select other themes that your students are interested in such as playing computer games, going on vacation or baking and cooking.
Divide late elementary or early middle school aged students up into pairs or groups and have them create a number of analogies. The pairs or groups can switch analogies with one another for completion. Once everyone is finished with this part of the assignment, have students explain their analogies, along with the correct answers. They must explain the rationale for their various analogies and why they make sense. Allow students to engage in a discussion if they believe that the analogy is incorrect.
Bring the students to the computer lab or pull up the games on a projection screen or SmartBoard in the front of the classroom. Have them visit educational websites, such as Quia, where analogy games are available. On this website, students have the option of a one player or two player game. This option is particularly helpful if there are not enough computers available to accommodate everyone in the classroom. Some of the analogies are bit complex, so consider using this activity for middle and high school students.
Set up a mock Jeopardy board on the classroom by taping pieces of paper to the blackboard. You could have one word for each category name. If the name of the category is "Apple," one of the clues could be "Apple is to red, as ___________ is to yellow." Students would have to answer in Jeopardy style by saying "What is banana?" Award bonus points on a test to the student or team with the highest amount of points. You could use this activity for virtually any grade, as long as you gear the words appropriately.