Explore 7 Enlightenment Ideas review games designed by a teacher to engage students and reinforce curriculum. When students are having fun, they forget they are reviewing, making games a great way to practice Social Studies.

• GRUDGEBALL combines question review with a battle for survival as teams fire cannons, sink opposing ships, and fight to be the last one afloat.
• Turn review into a team battle with BUMP, where correct answers earn shots and students can bump their opponents off the platform for extra points.
• FRAZZLED turns review into an unpredictable competition where teams win points, lose points, steal points, and try to avoid the dreaded bomb.
• The BIG TERRIBLE Game gets up to eight teams answering every question while unpredictable positive and negative points keep everyone guessing until the end.
• In TRASHKETBALL™, students compete to answer questions quickly and correctly to earn chances to shoot and score for their team.
• SCOOT gets students out of their seats and moving around the classroom as they rotate from desk to desk answering task cards.
• The TERRIBLE Game rewards correct answers with positive or negative points that students can strategically assign to their own team or their opponents.

A good review game can completely change the energy in the classroom and get students excited to practice what they’ve learned. The competition gets students paying attention to every question, communicating with their team, and getting genuinely excited when the answer is revealed. Over time, that excitement carries beyond the game itself, as students start preparing because they want their team to have a better chance of winning next time.

Want the evidence behind the games? Research comparing game-based learning with traditional approaches has found improvements in achievement, retention, and student motivation. See the research.