Looking for engaging, low-prep grammar games to help students review essential grammar concepts? In this post, you’ll find creative, teacher-tested games perfect for reviewing parts of speech, commas, punctuation, quotation marks, and sentence structure.
Whether you’re teaching elementary, middle school, or ESL students, these easy-to-set-up activities require minimal materials and provide maximum fun and learning. Use them as a grammar warm-up, quick review, or energizing end-of-lesson activity to reinforce grammar in a way that students love. Read on for five simple and effective grammar games to bring grammar practice to life!
1. Parts of Speech Relay
- Setup: Label sections of the board with different parts of speech (noun, verb, adjective, adverb). Prepare a set of 6 words with different parts of speech for each team. Create "obstacles" for students to fulfill on their way up to the board. For instance, maybe there's a desk for students to crawl under, a chair for students to sit on, a spot to do 5 jumping jacks.
- How to Play: Divide students into teams of 6. Give each team a marker. Give each team their list of 6 words. The first student in line races to the board. On the way, they need to complete the obstacles you set up. Then, they should write the first word under the correct part of speech. They pass the marker to the next teammate, who does the same with the next word. The team with the most correctly categorized words in the quickest time wins.
- Why It Works: This game energizes students, encouraging quick thinking and reinforcing their understanding of parts of speech in a competitive format.
- More: ⭐⭐⭐ Speaking of grammar...check out this FREE scope and sequence to help you plan all of your grammar instruction!
`2. Quotation Mark Scramble
- Setup: Write a sentence with dialogue, leaving out the quotation marks. Mini-white boards for pairs of students.
- How to Play: Students work in pairs to decide where the quotation marks should go and rewrite the sentence on a mini whiteboard. The first pair with a correct answer wins.
- Why It Works: It strengthens understanding of quotation mark placement and allows students to collaborate and discuss punctuation in a hands-on way.
- More: Get students ready for this game with this fun doodle desk mat filled with essential rules for quotation marks!
3. Sentence Makeovers
- Setup: Provide sentences with multiple errors (e.g., run-ons, fragments, or misplaced modifiers).
- How to Play: Students work in small groups to fix the sentences. They can use colored pens to makeover the sentences together correctly.
- Why It Works: This game encourages students to edit and improve sentence structure, making sentence correction engaging and interactive.
- More: Help students develop a deep understanding of sentences with this interactive flipbook.
4. Punctuation Scavenger Hunt
- Set up: Write 10 sentences with intentional punctuation errors on slips of paper (for example, missing commas, incorrect quotation marks, or misplaced apostrophes). Hide these sentences in different locations around the classroom—taped under desks, on the back of chairs, or hidden in bookshelves.
- How to Play: Teams search the room to find the hidden sentences. Once they locate a sentence, they write down the sentence exactly as they see it and then write a corrected version, identifying what punctuation was wrong and how they fixed it. When teams have found and corrected all 10 sentences (or when time runs out), review the sentences as a class. Each team earns a point for each correctly corrected sentence. The team with the most points wins the game!
- Why It Works: This game encourages students to actively look for punctuation errors and think critically about how to fix them. Moving around the room adds a sense of adventure, and working in pairs or teams encourages collaboration and discussion about grammar rules.
- More: Extend this game with learning stations and doodle notes all about punctuation!
5. Grammar Hot Potato
- Setup: Use a small ball or beanbag for the "hot potato." Prepare a set of grammar-related questions (covering anything from parts of speech to punctuation rules).
- How to Play: Pass the "hot potato" around the circle as music plays. When the music stops, the student holding the potato answers a grammar question. If they get it right, they stay in; if not, they help come up with questions or answers in the next round.
- Why It Works: This game combines the fun of a classic game with rapid-fire grammar review, encouraging quick recall and keeping everyone engaged.
- More: Keep grammar fun and engaging with this set of doodle notes grammar curriculum. It includes everything you need to help students learn about grammar in a fun and creative way!
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These easy grammar games are low-prep, educational, and perfect for reviewing grammar in any classroom!
Don't forget to grab the FREE Scope and Sequence for planning your grammar and mechanics curriculum here.
