Memory Work Review Games

While on a search for simple memory work review games that can be prepared easily and implemented “on-the-fly,” I’ve found (and made) some ideas that I just wanted to share with others! The thought here is that… if a teacher can find 6 games that his/her students like, those games can be repeated once per quarter.  If the children enjoyed it before, they will be excited to see it again… right? So, if students in a class like six of these games, this list of games should get us through this year and several more… right?

• Wastebasket Wads:  Tutor/Parent asks a question.  Whoever raises his/her hand first and answers gets to shoot a crumpled sheet of paper in the wastebasket.
• Egg Race Relay:  Divide students into teams if there are parent helpers in class.  If not, have all students in the same line. Place bucket/bowl of plastic eggs at start line. Parent/tutor asks the student a question.  If student answers correctly, he/she balances a plastic egg on a spoon and sets it in an egg carton (or another bowl/bucket) at the finish line.
• Repetition with Aerobics:  As a class, repeat the memory work faster and faster until you can’t say it anymore.  Add in jumping jacks, hops, running in place, etc. Move slowly at first and speed up as you sing/say the memory work faster and faster.  (May be better for introducing new grammar.)
• Musical Chairs:  Set up chairs in a circle.  Place grammar topics on the backs of the chairs (one per chair) and place the same topics in a bag.  Play a classical music CD or a memory work audio CD. Children listen to the music and dance, walk, stomp, and/or tiptoe to the sound of the music.  When music stops, all students find a chair.  The student sitting in the chair of the subject drawn out the baggie is the student who answers.
• PingPong MuffinTin Game:   Have students draw one of 7 pingpong balls out of a bag (labeled with subjects).  Each muffin tin hole is assigned a week. Throw the pingpong ball in the muffin tin.  (Might work better on a tabletop and with small bean bags??)

Using the games and stuff you already own at home:

• HedBanz: Timeline or Science Review with the Hedbanz game.
• Jenga:  Label Jenga blocks with Week # and Subject.
• Toss Across. Answer a review question before taking your shot.
• Connect 4 Shot. Answer a review question before taking your shot. You can use any Connect 4 game!
• Trivial Pursuit. Customized cards are not needed! You can just use a Trivial Pursuit game and reassign each color to a certain memory work category (e.g., red = Math question). If you’d like a template to make customized cards, visit this post.
• Candyland. Just use the cards that come with the game and assign certain color/number combinations to particular categories (e.g., 1 red square = Math question). Students can move after answering the question.
• Family Feud. Split up into two teams, have one member from each team come to front.  Place a bell or buzzer or “that was easy” button between them.  Ask the question and play just like Family Feud.  You can make taking score optional, or create some “Will the Winners Lose” cards so that you never know if they’re going to earn points, subtract points, or give points to the other player.
• Memory is a good memory work game for things like fine arts vocabulary (e.g., matching “half-note” with a picture of a half note). Susan Paradis has Piano Teacher Resources that can also be used for general music theory.
• For Jeopardy, you can create a tri-fold board with subject headings and envelopes for sliding memory work review cards in…

There are so many different games we enjoy that are simple to convert into a review game! If you have a board game, think of a way you can ask questions from review instead of questions from the game.

While on a roadtrip to Louisiana, we even used LEGOs for a review game…

That one was definitely a favorite!

Coffee-Can Popsicle-Stick games

Wiggly Worms. Popular with the young crowd! Students sit in a circle with can in the middle. At a turn, the student pulls a stick out of the can. If they get a subject, the entire class answers the question together for that subject. If they get a worm, every student stands up and wiggles like a worm. (Also can be played so that student has to answer question individually.) Return the subjects back to the can after each turn. You can simply write the subjects on popsicle sticks, or we have a template you can download here.

Team CanDo Challenge. This has been popular for the older students because it gives them a chance to work through a variety of activities: pictionary, charades, hum-a-tune, follow-the-leader, Geo I Spy, team unscramble, head-to-head, and pop quiz. During a turn, the student pulls a stick out of the CanDo Challenge Can. The tutor/parent determines the week for which the challenge will be completed, and the student completes the CanDo Challenge for that week’s memory work. Return the CanDo Challenge stick back to its can or leave it out until other challenges have been completed (for variety). When all six weeks of memory work have been completed for that subject, set the sticks for that subject aside (if they are drawn) and allow student to select another. Team CanDo Challenge – Download here!

You can also just write these on a popsicle stick, but I like pretty pictures. Or… we also have a Brainium Spinner template.

Fill-er Up:  Give each student a blank sheet of paper.  Have student draw a tic-tac-toe symbol on the paper with a box around it (dividing the paper up into nine sections).  Or Download our template with instructions here.  After a student answers a question, have all of the students write a number 1-9 in one of the sections.  After all nine boxes are full (with numbers 1-9), select one of the nine happy-face boxes.  The student with the highest number in that box wins.

There’s also Review Game Dice, Who Get’s to Say It, or What-to-Do and How-to-Say-It. You can pick and choose which dice to use, as the download includes a subject die, an action die, a voice die, and a weekly die.  (About the weekly die:  During review time, tutors are supposed to review the previous six weeks’ memory work.  The weekly die is just a way to randomly select the week from the previous six weeks, but it is optional.) You can download the Review Game Dice here. Or… you can purchase some durable large dry-erase dice here.

Who Gets to Say it. This is a VERY simple game in which a roll of the die determines who gets to say the memory work. Download it here.

What-to-Do and How-to-Say-It. An alternate form of the game dice option above. Just place these in some cans and draw them out. Download it here.

You can also adapt games offered at Susan Paradis or Color in my Piano (These are music teacher sites, but many of the games can be adapted for other subjects.  For example, we use the fly-swat game for phonics practice.)

Other Review Game Ideas

1. Latin Conjugation File Folder Game
2. Pronoun File Folder Game
3. Coffee Can Popsicle Stick Games
4. Timeline Cards, Science Cards, and Hedbanz
5. Bang! Review Game (Can substitute other subjects for rhythm cards)
6. Review Game Dice and Other Ideas
7. Jenga Review Game
8. Battleship Math Review Game
9. Memory Work Review with LEGOs
10. Trivial Pursuit Review Game Cards
11. More Lego Review !!
12. Trash to Treasure and other Simple Review Games
13. Half-a-Hundred Acre Wood: John 1 Latin Flashcard Games
14. Battleship Review Game {Great for Tutors!}
15. Memory Work Review Game Extravaganza
16. Latin Noun Declension File Folder Games & Cues
17. Memory Work – The Sticker Incentive
18. Memory Work Chart {Free Printable}
19. Zap!
20. Beach Ball Review
21. Build a Hamburger Game
22. Memory Work Games for Sunday School
23. More game ideas
24. Another extensive set of memory work review games at SproutingTadpoles.

And if you have a review game idea, we’d love to hear!  Just jump down to the comments! I’ve started by including links to our own games to make them easier to find.