3 Test Review Games that You can Play TODAY

There’s hardly any avoiding test prep this time of year. Or, if you don’t have tests to take, you likely want to do some sort of end-of-year review before you send your babes off to the next grade. Sometimes that can be fun, but often that review takes the form of state-provided workbooks or backline masters from textbooks. Yawn. I love not having to create all of the content myself, and sometimes we just plain don’t have a choice and there are some review materials that we have to use. But that doesn’t meant that it always has to look the same!

Today I’m sharing three game ideas that are literally zero prep. These are for the teachers who have some test prep to do, and it ain’t pretty, but you don’t want to run a torture chamber, so you want some ways to spice things up. I’ve got you covered, friend.

Stinky Feet

I couldn’t tell you the origins of this game, but you need to start by drawing a giant foot on your whiteboard or a piece of chart paper. You cover the foot with a bunch of sticky notes, and on the back of each sticky note, write a positive or negative amount of points. *Write in pencil so the kids can’t see through the sticky notes!

When a team or students answers a test review question correctly, they come up and select a sticky note. The number that you wrote on that sticky note, be it +20 or -5, ends up being the points that the team gets for their question.

The kids don’t EVEN question why this game is called stinky feet. They just roll with it. And they love it.

Teacher, Teacher

Ok, I’m going to put a disclaimer on this one by letting you know that I don’t particularly understand why my students find this to be entertaining. 😂 Just goes to show that kids will get into anything if you act excited enough about it.

Put each of your kid’s names on a popsicle stick. Chances are you already have this done somewhere in your room. Assign the kids a test review question to work independently. When it looks like everyone is finished call out “Teacher, Teacher! Come teach us!”, and pull a name out of the cup. The student who is chosen gets to come up to the front of the room and teach the way that they found the answer, using any of your teaching supplies that you typically use. So, I have expo markers that only I touch, and some kids prefer to write out their answers and teaching on my whiteboard. Others prefer to display their work under the document camera.

My kids beg to play this, and I feel like I’ve really duped them, because it’s not a game at all. No points are assigned. No prizes. No rules. It’s basically like calling on them for an answer with a little bit of pizzazz. 😂 Whatever works, friends!!

Mystery Points

I’ve talked about this one on Instagram before! It’s similar to Stinky Feet, in the sense that the kids don’t know what each question is going to be worth before the answer it. All you need to do is dump a bunch of items that are four or five different colors in a bag or basket. Math manipulative like counters, unifix cubes, or counting bears work for this. But so do crayons, markers, marbles, beads, or any other colorful item that you have!

List out each color on the board, and write a points value next to it. Blue = 5 points, Green = 10 points, etc. As teams get answers correct, they can take turns coming up and closing their eyes to draw for points. You can do this with a twist and call on teams to get points based on how cooperatively they are working, or how quietly they wait for everyone to be done, etc. You can make it work for you and how you’re feeling that day, because you’re the teacher and you hold all of the power. 😉

So there you have it, friends! 3 easy, literally-no-prep games that can spice up the review packets, workbooks, worksheets, etc. that we all have to force ourselves through these days. Keep these in your back pocket for the day when you feel like you and your kiddos can’t. even. do. one. more. worksheet. Just a little change in routine makes everyone feel a little bit better about the test prep in their lives!

If you’re looking for review that is pre-loaded with content, here are some ideas for you! Card games, board games, and a review book!