Home >> Games & Cards >> Kids Games

Five-Minute Filler Games for Middle School

Five-minute filler games take up small pockets of time in between classroom lessons or the last few minutes before the dismissal bell rings. Middle school students can enjoy these quick games, as the games provide a break from daily school lessons. Five-minute filler games can also prevent the students from getting restless and causing disruptions. Encourage the students to play along and try their best by awarding small prizes like lollipops or pocket journals to game winners.

Mini-Lessons
- At the end of each school day, select one student to go to the front of the class and reteach something he learned in class that day. The student can draw on the chalkboard or dry-erase board to help explain the lesson. The student has five minutes to teach the lesson. Each day of the week, select another student to do the same thing. The student who does the best job that week earns a small prize. This five-minute filler game also encourages the students to pay close attention to daily lessons, as they never know when they might be teaching the next mini-lesson.
Art Contests
- Give each student an index card to use for a quick art contest. If you read a book during class, have the students draw a scene from the book on the index card. When learning about certain states or the world, have the student draw a map from memory. The students can also draw a quick picture of a lesson they learned in class that day. Award prizes to the best, funniest and most artistic art drawings.
Memory Games
- Test the memory of your students by collecting a variety of items, such as a marker, eraser, key chain and apple, in a box. Throughout the day have each student go look in the box. At the end of the day or in between a lesson plan, give each student a sheet of paper and have him write down all the items he can remember from the box. The student who remembers the most items wins the game. Another idea is to remove one item from the box when the students are not looking. Ask one student to go to the box and guess the missing item. If he guesses correctly, he earns a small prize.
Money Games
- Read a description of a house for sale and have the students guess how much the house costs. As the students guess, write down the low guesses on one side of the chalkboard and high guesses on the other side. The students must use their math skills to figure out the correct amount of their house. This game gives students a chance to think mathematically, as well as learn what things really cost. Another idea is to use daily items found at your local retail store instead of houses.

Kids Games