Making Learning Fun

Make group training sessions more fun and worthwhile by using games to reinforce learning. Here are some ideas to get you started. Our thanks to trainers who have created and shared some of these game ideas.

AALAS Flash CardsFlash cards

Put some fun into learning with AALAS in a Flash or Regulatory Flash in creative ways. You can also make your own flash cards to play these games.

How to play:

Play one entire card at a time.
Score one point for each correct answer.
Can be used with employees, coworkers, supervisors, or even by yourself (no peeking at the answers!).

Other ways to play:

Tic-Tac-Toe:

Players place an “X” or an “O”in a tic-tac-toe grid for each question they answer correctly.
The first person to have three Xs or Os in a row (across, down, or diagonal) wins!

Ultimate Quiz Bowl:

One person asks the questions to a group of people.
Any player who answers a question wrong is removed from the game.
The last person “standing” wins!

think idea

Mastermind:

Need a greater challenge?

Instead of answering the questions, question the answers!

Players are given the answer and must provide the appropriate question to score.

Other Card Games

Round Robin:

Using index cards, make a series of cards with a question on the front of the card and write the answer on a different card.
Depending on how long you want to make the session, you can tailor the number of cards to fit the time allotted.

  1. flash cardsThe first card should have a question on the front and no answer on the back. The person holding this first card reads the question out loud.
  2. The other participants look at their index cards to see if they have the answer. The person who does flips their card over and asks the question on that card.
  3. Continue until all questions have been asked and answered.
  4. Game ends with a card that has only an answer on it, no question.

You can make it competitive as a group by repeating the exercise to see if you can beat the time.

Zoink:

Preparation Steps:

Type questions and answers together. Separate each question/answer pair with a line space. Print and cut into separate slips of paper.
Fold each strip and put all strips into a container.
Make a set of cards (these can be laminated for durability) with various points (1 point, 2 points, and 3 points). Have more 1-point cards than 2-point cards than 3-point cards.
Create a few cards with the word ZOINK on it.

Playing the Game:

You can play this with teams or individuals.

  1. A team or individual can pick a question, or the trainer can pick a question (if the answer is on the same slip). That team or individual must try to answer the question correctly.
    • If they answer correctly,they draw a card. Points are added to their score. If they pull a ZOINK card, they lose all of the points they have earned.
    • If they answer incorrectly, the other team can try to answer the question.
  2. The second team tries to answer the same question.
    • If they answer correctly, they draw a card.
    • If they answer incorrectly, the correct answer should be read aloud to the entire group.
  3. The second team has a turn to pick a question, and the same process continues.

The team or individual with the most points wins the game.

Website Resources

Bingo:

Use a free bingo card generator: http://myfreebingocards.com/bingo-card-generator

Sample Games to be Used in the Classroom

This website resource from the Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Center for Teaching Excellence provides Instructions for Playing and a PowerPoint template for the following 7 games:

  • Bingo
  • Family Feud
  • Hangman
  • Hollywood Squares
  • Jeopardy
  • Who Wants to be a Millionaire
  • Pyramid