Explore 14 Historical Thinking Skills review games designed by a teacher to engage students and reinforce curriculum. Give students a break from worksheets and bring Social Studies review to life with a classroom game.

• GRUDGEBALL combines question review with a battle for survival as teams fire cannons, sink opposing ships, and fight to be the last one afloat.
• The BIG TERRIBLE Game gets up to eight teams answering every question while unpredictable positive and negative points keep everyone guessing until the end.
• The TERRIBLE Game adds strategy to review as correct answers uncover positive or negative points that can help your team or hurt your opponents.
• FRAZZLED keeps students guessing as correct answers reveal surprise points, wrong answers can reward the other team, and bombs can wipe out a score.
• SCOOT gets students out of their seats and moving around the classroom as they rotate from desk to desk answering task cards.
• BUMP combines fast-paced question review with a competitive challenge where students land shots and knock other teams off the platform.
• TRASHKETBALL™ gets teams racing to answer correctly, then rewards them with shots at the trash can to score points.

Turning review into a game is one of my favorite ways to get students participating without making practice feel like more work. You’ll see students lean into the questions, debate answers with their teammates, and hang on every result as the game unfolds. 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.

The excitement is great, but the research is even better—educational games have been linked to stronger achievement, retention, and motivation. See the research.