Explore 7 Government Spending 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.

• SCOOT gets students out of their seats and moving around the classroom as they rotate from desk to desk answering task cards.
• Turn review into a team competition with TRASHKETBALL™, where students answer questions, earn shots, and try to outscore the other teams.
• The BIG TERRIBLE Game keeps the whole class involved as up to eight teams answer together and watch their scores swing above and below zero.
• In FRAZZLED, teams answer questions to uncover mystery points, but one wrong answer or unlucky bomb can completely change the game.
• In BUMP, correct answers earn students shots at the platform, where they can score even more points by bumping off opposing teams.
• GRUDGEBALL turns review into a battle where correct answers earn cannon shots to sink opposing teams before they sink you.
• The TERRIBLE Game rewards correct answers with positive or negative points that students can strategically assign to their own team or their opponents.

I’ve always found that students are much more willing to review when they feel like they’re playing instead of studying. 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.

Games may feel like fun to students, but research shows they can be serious learning tools, with measurable benefits for achievement, retention, and engagement. See the research.