No-Contact, COVID-Friendly Classroom Activities

Oh, COVID. Leave it to a global pandemic to make teachers go back to square one and be forced to reinvent the wheel. While each school has its own policies, the main variables we’re working with this year are classroom activities with limited group work, no shared materials, and social distancing. I’ve spent the first few weeks this school year trying to figure out how to take the games and activities I love to do with my kids and adapt them into no-contact, COVID-friendly classroom activities.

And boy has it taken obscene amounts of creativity.

I’ve cobbled together six COVID-friendly activities that have worked, passed the social distancing test, and have been a hit with my students.

No Contact, COVID-Friendly Classroom Activities

#1 Paper Airplanes

Kids love making paper airplanes, so this is guaranteed to cause a ton of excitement.

This idea comes from one of my coworkers who started it with her third and fourth graders, which I then implemented with my fifth and sixth graders. And, to be honest, I don’t see why this couldn’t be used all the way to high school. That being said, I think second grade and down would find the folding a bit difficult, but you know your students best.

Each student makes a paper airplane. I gave my kids half-sheets of scrap paper that were heading for the recycle bin (reduce, reuse, recycle!) and told them how to fold it into a paper airplane. If any students already knew how, then I let them make it themselves and then silently decorate their airplane while the rest of the class followed my instructions.

Once everyone had their airplane, I made it clear that any planes thrown before I gave permission would be confiscated.

Then, I called on two kids at a time. They needed to create sentences using whatever grammar structure or vocabulary we were working on. The first student to say a correct sentence got to throw their airplane.

If you do this outside, you can see how far students can throw their airplane (after giving you a correct sentence, of course).

If you do this inside, draw a target on the board for students to aim at.

The genius behind this activity is that students are using their own materials (each student has their own airplane) and it can be taken inside or outside depending on your needs.

Additionally, earning the chance to fly their planes makes any concept you are teaching automatically more interesting. Win-Win.

#2 Two Truths and a Lie

Next up is a slight twist on the classic game, Two Truths and a Lie.

As a reminder, in Two Truths and a Lie the speaker states two true statements and one false statement about themself. The other players need to determine the false statement.

In order to play in class, first make sure you have some truths and lies prepared in advance.

As you dictate each statement, make it clear that students should stand if they find the first statement false, sit in their chairs if they think the second statement is false, or kneel if they think the third statement is false.

Remind them not to move until you’ve finished speaking and have said a predetermined magic word (like “Go!”).

I loved doing this activity with my kids because it got them moving, it doesn’t involve any materials whatsoever, and you can also do this outside. And, as a bonus, you can have students come to the front of the classroom and tell their own two truths and a lie.

#3 Jahoot!

Technically this is Kahoot!, but since I’ve changed it up a bit I call it Jahoot (Jen’s Kahoot, Jahoot!, Get it?!).

Now, to be clear, I love Kahoot. The problem is that I don’t have access to tablets, nor would I want to deal with having to clean them after each use. So my solution has been to create a Kahoot template on a powerpoint and have students raise school objects to show me their answers.

For example, if I have four answer choices. Students that choose answer one hold up a pencil, answer two holds up an eraser, answer three, holds up a crayon, and answer four holds up a book.

I purposely choose objects that each student will have so there is no passing out of materials nor sharing.

You can also have students work in groups. When I do this I don’t allow my students to change seats, move their desks closer to one another, or share materials. I group students that are near each other and ask them to talk from their desks.

Alternatively, you can play the real Kahoot! and have students hold up one of their blue, red, yellow, or green crayons.

Jahoot does take some prep work because you will need to create a Kahoot!, develop your own PowerPoint, or write your questions and answers on the board. However, it also gives you data in real-time on how your students are doing on any given topic.

#4 Stand Up, Sit Down

I’ve done Stand Up, Sit Down with first grade and I think it’s an all ages, all ability levels type of activity.

It works great for discussing like and dislikes. I ask students to stand up if they like something, and sit down if they don’t like something. “Stand up if you like pizza.”

This is no-prep activity, time filler, that’s easy to implement and use when you have a few spare minutes. I generally have my first graders do this (I repeat “Stand up! Sit Down” until they start giggling) when I see they’re getting restless.

#5 Around the World

So, the typical way to play Around the World involves two students answering a question and the first student to answer correctly moves to battle the next student, while the losing student sits down. The winning student continues to go around the classroom battling their classmates until they’ve made it back to their own seat (or, around the world).

I’ve made this COVID-friendly by having students stay at their desks. While the two students battling each other are standing up, the winning student never moves around the room. He or she remains standing at their own desk, while the losing student sits down.

Another alternative is to have everybody stand up. Then I go one by one asking students a question. Once a student has answered their question correctly, they sit down and I move on to the next student. To add to the suspense, I time how long it takes to go around the world (i.e. from the first student to the last).

This has worked great for all of elementary. I’ve used it to practice sentence stems and new vocabulary words.

#6 Interactive Stories

Finally, interactive stories are perfect for younger elementary students. I’ve done this with my first graders and it’s always a raging success.

You’ll need to find a book that has repetitive text or actions that students act out as you read it.

Sometimes, I can’t find a book that works for the particular skill we’re working on. In that case, I make my own book on a PowerPoint using the sentence stem we’re learning and free clipart I found online.

The latest book I’ve created is about a magician who accidentally transforms himself every time he says, “Abracadabra!” We’re working on body parts for this unit, so my students love to see the magician accidentally end up with two heads, or five feet, etc. They repeat the text as I read it and then guess what extra body parts the magician will have next.

If you don’t see yourself as creatively inclined, there are plenty of books that you can have students act out or repeat along with.

Interactive books get kids moving, repeating, and guessing what’s going to happen next.

I know this year is tough, at best, and impossible at worst. But there are COVID-friendly classroom activities that will work for your kids while keeping them (and you!) safe. These activities are easy to implement for a wide range of grades and ability levels. Adapt them to suit your teaching style and students -they’re sure to be a hit.