Teacher Hack: How to Gamify almost any Activity

My 6th graders LOVE playing games as a class, especially board games. At first I begged off playing them in class because I struggled to find content specific games, but the unfair game showed me that almost any worksheet can be used as the basis for a game you just need to have a framework for gamifying it.

For the unfair game it was a chance spinner and a selection of prizes.

To create board games for my class all I needed was a game board and dice. I invested in a set of game board clip art to project, although I could also print them off for partner work, and some dice (my students like to use 12 sided dice and a game board with a lot of spaces). With these two items I’ve been able to turn almost any supplemental activity into a giant board game.

Sometimes I incorporate in games I already have like AdSumMuDi, but other times I use a straight forward math worksheet or generic reading comprehension questions. I’ve also used a deck of playing cards or even exercise cards.