25 Fun Zoom Games Teachers Can Play with Students of All Ages

Teachers and students don’t need an excuse to set aside some time for playing a game together. After all, teachers get to know their students best when playing team-building and academic games. Whether you’re planning a virtual Fun Friday for your class or a special game for your Morning Meeting, these Zoom games will also work through Google Meet!

1. Heads or Tails

This game is great for getting students out of their chairs and moving around a bit! Here’s how to play:

1. Present your screen to the Just Flip a Coin webpage.
2. Direct students to stand up in front of their cameras.
3. Ask them to choose “heads” or “tails.”
4. They should place their hands on their head for “heads” and on their hips for “tails.”
5. Flip the virtual coin.
6. If it lands on “heads” then any students with their hands on their heads can remain standing. The rest of the students who chose “tails” should be seated as they are out for this round.
7. Repeat until only one person is left standing!

For added fun, play multiple rounds and create a championship round at the end with all of the day’s winners.

2. Scattergories

This classic game is just as fun when played as a distance learning game. Present your screen to a list of topics (i.e. clothing items, toys, girl’s names, school supplies, and summer activities). Spin this letter wheel on your screen to pick a letter for each round. Give students 2-3 minutes to come up with one word per topic that starts with the letter you spun.

For example, if you spin a “G,” students might choose “Gameboy” for the toys topic. After time is up, you can either have each student share out their list, crossing off a word written down if anyone else in the class has it too, or you can send kids into breakout groups to share their lists in a smaller group. Any remaining words that are not crossed off count as a point. Keep the same topic list and spin a new letter. Repeat as many times as you want!

Bonus: Present your screen to this free Scattergories template.

3. Scavenger Hunt

This game could remain strictly fun or could be used for academic enhancements as well. Create a list of items for students to find around their house or outside and give students 5-10 minutes to collect as much as they can from the list.

For example, if you’re teaching about states of matter in science, challenge students to find as many solids and liquids as they can around their house and bring them back to their workstations to show the class. The rest of the class must either confirm or deny each piece of matter as being either a solid or a liquid. As a class, figure out if they found more solids or liquids in all.

4. 20 Questions

1. Choose a student to lead the game.
2. The leader will think of any noun.
3. They will tell the class if they are thinking of a person, place, or thing. No one else will know the item except the leader.
4. Students can ask up to 20 yes-or-no questions to narrow down what the item might be (i.e. Is it black? Is it smaller than a loaf of bread? Do most people own this item?).
5. If a student guesses the item incorrectly, it counts as a question.
6. The person who ends up guessing the correct item is now the new leader.
7. If the item is not guessed after 20 questions, the leader wins!

5. Top 5

1. This is a student favorite! Similar to Family Feud, the teacher will present a category, like “games to play at recess“. Students will jot down what they think the most popular answer is within this category.
2. The teacher will then present the Top 5 games to play at recess.
3. If number 5 is “football,” then any student who wrote this down (or typed it into the chat box) will receive one point.
4. The number 4 answer would receive two points, the 3rd answer receives three points, the 2nd answer receives four points, and the top, most popular answer receives five points.
5. So, if the top answer was “kickball,” then any student who wrote down kickball would get five points for this round.
6. Present 5-10 categories total and have students keep track of their score to determine a winner at the end.

6. Zoomed in Picture Game

1. Copy and paste 10 or so pictures into a Google slide or Word document.
2. Zoom in on them closely so that it’s hard to tell what the picture is.
3. Present this screen to students and have them write down their guesses of what the image is.
4. After all images are shown, go back to the first picture and zoom out to reveal each picture.
5. Each correct answer is good for a point.

Variation for younger students: Start by zooming far in on each image, then every few seconds, zoom out a bit more until the picture is somewhat obvious, but not completely given away. This variation serves as a way to provide hints for younger learners.

7. Category Is…

This is simple and easy for learners of all ages.

• Have a leader choose a category. Category ideas could be animals, winter activities, or school lunches.
• Go around the Zoom meeting and have each student continue to list one more item that fits into that category.
• Each student gets 5 seconds to name an item. Otherwise, they’re out.
• The game is over when only one student remains or all remaining students cannot think of another item within the category.

8. Continue the Story

Get your creative hats on! A leader will start a story and each student will add a line. Remind students that stories have a problem and solution, interesting characters, and a climax. They will have to work together, listening carefully, to make a story that makes sense!

9. Charades

Who says charades can’t live on virtually? Choose one student to begin and give him/her a topic idea. The students will then do movements or make gestures to act out the idea that fits within the umbrella topic idea. The student who guesses the correct action, gets to act out next! Topic ideas could include Disney movies, fiction books, or sports.

10. Two Truths and a Lie

Get to know students better by playing two truths and a lie. Teenagers love this game!

• Each student will list three facts: two true facts about themselves and one lie.
• Other students will guess which fact is the lie.
• Each student will get a turn until everyone has had a chance!

Encourage students to write down their three facts ahead of time, otherwise, it can be kind of obvious what the lie is if they stumble over it.

11. Balderdash

This is sure to make everyone giggle!

1. The teacher or a student leader will tell other students an unfamiliar word.
2. Each student will privately message a made-up definition to the leader of the game.
3. The leader will read each definition aloud along with the real definition mixed into the list.
4. Students will vote for the definition they think is real.
5. Anyone who guessed the right definition gets a point, and if a peer guessed your made-up definition, you get a point for each of those guesses as well.
6. The student with the most points wins!

All you have to do is google “words no one has heard of” and you’ll find a ridiculous list of words to use for the game.

12. Guess Who?

• Pretend the squares on Zoom are like the gameboard for Guess Who? On the day you plan to play, have students wear silly costumes that make them stand out on their camera.
• One student will think of a student while other students ask questions to try to figure out who the person is.
• For example, students might ask “Is your person wearing a sweatshirt?” or “Does your person have their hair in a ponytail?”

Bonus: If you’ve had any students reluctant to turn their cameras on, this game will encourage all participants to be visible!

13. Would You Rather

This game is perfect for a quick activity to start the day. Present students with two choices that they must pick between. For example, “Would you rather vacation to the beach or to Disney World?”

Then, engage students in conversations about why they chose the item they did. You could also then split students up into breakout groups based on the answers they give to have further conversations about their trips to the beach or Disney. Students will learn they have things in common with more classmates than they thought!

More Zoom games!

These classic classroom activities are easily transformed into Zoom games!

14. Kahoot!
15. Pictionary
16. Simon Says
17. Bingo
18. Freeze Dance
19. I Spy
20. Mad Libs
21. Guess the sound
22. Jeopardy
23. Hangman
24. Name the logo
25. Spot the difference

Students are never too old for a class game! It’s so wonderful to see them smile across screens and truly build that connection that we’re always striving for. If you try one of these Zoom games, be sure to share with Bored Teachers how it went!