Time fillers.

One thing I have learned very quickly is that new teachers need an arsenal of quick educational time fillers. These are class games that you can play when a lesson finishes early and there is only ten minutes or so until the bell.  They can also be used as transitions between lessons. The internet has a wealth of time filler ideas but it takes a long time to sift through them. So, I have compiled a short list here that I have had success with in the classes that I have taught.

Alliteration Names

• Students think of a word to describe themselves that begins with the letter of their name. Throw a bean bag from person to person as students recite the other person’s alliterative name: Lazy Louise throws it to Clever Craig who throws it to Silly Sam etc.

Inspirational Initials

• Ask the students to think of an imaginative way to use their initials: LD- Lovely Diamond etc. This is a great way to talk about adjectives and nouns. The letter of their first name could be an adjective while the letter of the second name is a noun.

Book Titles and Authors

• Think of some book titles and some funny related author names: This is great when you separate the students into small groups. Give them a time limit and see how many they can come up with.

‘Treasure Hunt’ by I. Digg

‘The Galaxy’ by C. M. Starrs

‘Togetherness’ by U. N. Me

Squiggles

• Choose a student to draw three different squiggles on the whiteboard. That student then moves to the back of the room and faces away from the whiteboard. Choose three students to turn each squiggle into a drawing within a certain time limit. Those students then sit back down into the group. The student who drew the squiggles returns to the front of the room and chooses the drawing he or she likes best. The student who drew the drawing then takes a turn to draw three new squiggles.

Buzz

• Nearly every class I have taught asks me if they can play this game. It’s suitable for younger students. Students stand in a circle and count to 10 or 20 (over and over) one at a time around the circle. When they get to an allocated number such as 9, that student must say ‘Buzz’ and sit down. I use days of the week with younger students and when they get to ‘Sunday’ that student must sit down. For older students continue counting past ten using multiples of certain numbers: students say ‘Buzz’ and sit down when they get to 6, 12, 18, 24 etc.

Noughts and crosses with a twist

• Draw a noughts and crosses grid on the white board and label the top  1, 2, & 3 and the side  A, B, C.  Choose two students to play, one is noughts and the other is crosses. They need to turn away from the white board so that they can’t see it. Explain that they need to visual the noughts and crosses grid in their mind. The top left square is 1A, the top middle square is 1B, the top right square is 1C. The middle square in the second row is, of course, 2B etc. Have them take turns calling out a position while the teacher fills out the grid. If a nought or a cross has already been placed in a square and the student repeats this, the teacher pretends to write the request again. The winner can remain to challenge another player or two new players can take part.

Guess my number

• This is a mathematics game that involves two players and the whole class. I make two cardboard circles and use a paperclip to attach a number card to each circle. This then slips onto the head of each player (but be careful not to show the number cards to the class or the players). Turn the players to face the class. The class then multiplies the two cards together and calls out the answer. The two players can then face each other to see their opponent’s number. The first player to identify their own number wins. Subtraction, and addition can also be used or for an added challenge, change the result so the class has to multiply the numbers and add 1 etc.

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