I’m sharing my favorite review game. This game is perfect for upper elementary students but can be adapted for younger or older students.

Honestly, the idea for this game came to me while watching Deal or No Deal. It has all of the elements of risk and hard choices, just like the game show, but without the young ladies holding suitcases!

Preparing the Game

To play this game with your students, you need three things.

First, you need envelopes. I like using library envelopes because they’re sturdy and colorful. They can also be arranged on my white board easily. Click here to see the ones I use:

* Please note that Thrive in Grade Five (Jenifer Bazzit) is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. *

Second, you need prizes. These can be purchased items, candy, or even no-cost things, like extra recess or free choice time.

Now, this is very important – You must have awesome prizes all the way down to blah prizes.

The fun of the game is that teams of students get to see what’s in the envelope they choose and keep it as their prize OR take a chance on another envelope later. Kind of like Deal or No Deal!

My prizes vary based on what I have available but my favorite top prize is a “first in lunch line” ticket while my bottom prize is a sticker. Some in between prizes were 10 minutes extra recess, line leader, treasure chest pick, choice of science video, etc.

Write the names of the prizes on separate slips of paper and place each slip inside an envelope.

Third, you need a way to arrange the envelopes. I simply use my white board. You can tape the envelopes to the board but I like to use adhesive magnets on the backs of the envelopes so that I don’t have to continually have to tape and peel.

Finally, be sure to have your list of review questions available.

How to play the game

Once the envelopes are arranged on your board, the fun can begin!

Divide your students into teams. I find that teams of four to five students work well for this game.

There are lots of ways to run the review game but here’s how I do it:

I ask Team 1 a question. If they answer correctly, they receive a point. I continue around the class by asking the rest of the teams one question each.

Once a team gets to three points, they choose a numbered envelope. I read the prize that’s in the envelope. If they want to keep it as their prize, they can do that or they can discard it and wait until they get another three points to choose a new envelope.

There’s always the chance that the next prize could be worse or we may run out of time and they don’t get to choose another envelope.

This game can go on for a while, depending on how well your students can answer the questions.

I hope you enjoy this review game. Let me know what you think 🙂