9 Engaging Review Games for First Grade That Kids Will Actually Like

If you’re looking for an engaging way to review concepts with your kindergarten or first grade students, why not try playing some fun review games? Review games can help keep students engaged while they practice and reinforce the material they’ve learned.

We’ve talked before about using games for teaching or reinforcing specific concepts like rhyming. But some games you can use to review just about anything! Here are a few ideas to get you started:

Beach Ball Bash Review Games

Take a blow-up beach ball and write a different review question on each section of the ball. Have students sit or stand in a circle. Students will toss the ball across the circle to another classmate. The student that catches the ball will read and answer the question their right thumb is touching.

Charades

Create a set of cards with words or phrases related to the material you are reviewing. Have the students act out the words or phrases for the rest of the class to guess. This review game is definitely more difficult and might work best with science or social studies topics.

Jeopardy! Review Games

Create a Jeopardy board with categories related to the material you are reviewing. Divide your students into teams and have them answer questions for points. This would take a lot more effort and time on your part. However, after you came up with a basic board, you could easily reuse it in the future and simply swap out the skills for your students.

Relay Race

This game is a fun way to review math facts and skills. To play, divide the class into two teams and set up a series of stations around the room. At each station, have a different math activity or problem for the students to solve. For example, one station could be a number line, another could be a set of flashcards with addition and subtraction problems, and another could be a measuring activity. Have teams race to complete all the stations and solve the problems. The first team to finish wins.

Memory Match

Create a set of review cards with questions and answers on them. Have your students match the questions to the corresponding answers. If questions and answers are too difficult for your students, you can simplify this idea and have students match easier things like words to pictures, addition sentences to sums, etc.

Quiz Bowl Review Games

Split your students into teams and have them answer questions related to the material you are reviewing. You could make this as simple or complex as you like. At the very least, I would suggest you determine your questions ahead of time and write them down to reference during the game.

Scavenger Hunt

Hide items around the classroom related to the material you are reviewing. Have the students find the items and match them to the correct answer.

This game could work well for reviewing phonics topics. For instance, you could hide items around the classroom like a hairbrush, a whistle, an old phone, and a dollhouse chair. Students could hunt around the room for objects that contain digraphs. After the objects are found, students can label the objects and underline the digraph in each word.

You could use this concept to review sight words. To play, write the sight words on slips of paper and hide them around the room. Have students work in teams to find the words and put them in order to form a sentence. The first team to find all the words and form a correct sentence wins.

Spin the Wheel Review Games

Create a physical or digital wheel with a variety of questions. Each student will spin the wheel and answer the question the wheel lands on.

Picker Wheel is one of my favorite resources for creating this type of review game. You can input over 40 questions on one wheel – you can even upload images as your questions. After you spin the wheel, you can also “hide choice”, meaning that question won’t be asked again.

Storytelling Circle

This game is a great way to review reading and writing skills. To play, have students sit in a circle and take turns telling a story. Start by having one student tell the first sentence of the story, then have the next student add the next sentence, and so on. As the story progresses, encourage students to use sight words, descriptive words, and proper grammar. The story can be as long or as short as you like and can be about any topic the students choose.

These review games are just a few examples of the many fun and engaging ways you can review important concepts and skills with your kindergarten or first grade students. Try them out and see how much your students enjoy learning through play!

If you’re in the market for some review games to use in your classroom, check out these fun games from Resource Ranch!