Substitute Teacher Activities: 12 Classroom Games for Grades 6–12

The best substitute teacher activities for grades 6–12 are games with clear rules, a short setup, and a built-in way to keep the room under control. Below are 12 classroom-safe games, each with setup time, exact rules, and a control tip, plus a ready question bank with answers so you can start playing in two minutes.

A good game is not a break from learning. It is review the students actually want to do, and it gives you a reason to set the rules for the whole period.

Three rules for any game with a sub

Write these on the board before you announce a game. They work for every activity on this page.

1. The game stops when I say stop. Pick one signal, such as a raised hand or “Freeze,” and practice it once before you start.
2. Points can be lost. Shouting out, arguing a call, or leaving a seat without permission costs the team one point. Say it once and then follow through the first time it happens.
3. Everyone writes. Every student keeps a paper with the questions and their answers. You collect it at the end. That turns the game into work you can leave for the teacher.

If the room gets too loud twice, switch to a quiet game (see numbers 9 and 10). You do not need to argue about it; just change the game.

Games for substitute teachers: quick review games

1. Trashketball

Setup: 3 minutes. A trash can (emptied) and a few balls of scrap paper.

Rules: Split the class into two to four teams. Ask a question. Every student writes an answer on their paper. Call on one team at random; if their answer is right, they earn one point and one shot. Tape a close line (1 extra point) and a far line (2 extra points) on the floor.

Control tip: Only the shooter stands. Anyone else out of their seat costs the team its turn.

2. Stand Up, Sit Down

Setup: 0 minutes.

Rules: Read a true-or-false statement. Students stand if they think it is true and stay seated if false. Anyone wrong sits out until the next round. Last few standing win.

Control tip: Students who are out keep score on paper so they stay involved.

3. Whiteboard Showdown

Setup: 1 minute. Mini whiteboards if the room has them, or half-sheets of paper.

Rules: Ask a question, count down from 10, and everyone holds up their answer at once. Every correct answer earns that student’s team a point.

Control tip: Holding up early or late means no point. It keeps everyone silent during the countdown.

4. Whiteboard Jeopardy

Setup: 5 minutes. Draw a grid with four categories across the top and 100 to 400 down each column.

Rules: Teams take turns picking a square. Their team gets 15 seconds to agree on one answer and one speaker. Wrong answers lose the points. Cross out each square once it is used.

Control tip: Only the named speaker can answer. Anyone else calling out forfeits the square.

5. Bell Ringer Bingo

Setup: 5 minutes. Students draw a 4×4 grid and fill it with 16 answers you write on the board in random order.

Rules: Read questions one at a time. Students mark the answer on their grid. Four in a row wins; the winner reads their marked answers back to prove it.

Control tip: A false bingo costs the student their next turn. This uses any set from our bell ringer questions nicely.

Fun activities for substitute teachers: guessing and thinking games

6. Who Am I?

Setup: 0 minutes.

Rules: Read one clue at a time. Teams can guess after any clue, but a wrong guess locks them out for that round. Fewer clues used means more points: 3 points after clue one, 2 after clue two, 1 after clue three.

• “I was born in Kentucky in 1809.” “I was the 16th president of the United States.” “I gave the Gettysburg Address.”
• “I am a planet.” “I am the sixth planet from the Sun.” “I am famous for my bright rings.”

7. Two Truths and a Lie (academic version)

Setup: 0 minutes.

Rules: Read three statements. Students write which one they think is false and why. Example:

• The Declaration of Independence was adopted in 1776.
• At sea level, water boils at 100 degrees Celsius.
• The Sahara is the largest desert on Earth.

Control tip: Have each team write its own set of three. Teams take turns stumping each other.

8. Categories

Setup: 1 minute.

Rules: Write five categories on the board (for example: a country, an animal, a food, a job, a science word). Call a random letter. Students have 90 seconds to write one answer per category starting with that letter. Answers nobody else wrote are worth 2 points; shared answers are worth 1.

Control tip: Students read answers aloud one row at a time, and you are the only judge.

Quiet games that calm a loud room

9. Silent Ball

Setup: 1 minute. One soft ball or a wad of paper.

Rules: Everyone sits on their desk or stands at their seat. Students toss the ball to each other. Any sound, a bad throw, or a dropped catch means that student sits down. Last three standing win.

Control tip: This is a reward game. Use it for the last five minutes after real work is turned in.

10. Silent Line-Up

Setup: 0 minutes.

Rules: Without talking, the class lines up in order by birthday (January 1 to December 31). They can use hand signals only. Check the order out loud when they finish. Then try first name alphabetical order.

Control tip: Any talking restarts the clock. Write the time on the board and challenge the next class to beat it.

Exit-ticket games to close the period

11. Exit Ticket Relay

Setup: 2 minutes. Write three review questions on the board.

Rules: Rows compete. The first student in each row answers question 1 on a shared sheet and passes it back; the next student answers question 2, and so on. The first row with all correct answers wins. More ideas are on our exit ticket games page.

Control tip: Only the student holding the paper can talk, and only in a whisper.

12. Last Word

Setup: 0 minutes.

Rules: With five minutes left, each student writes the most important thing they did or learned today in exactly ten words. Volunteers read theirs, and the class votes for the best. Collect every slip for the teacher.

Ready question bank (grades 6–12)

Use these for Trashketball, Whiteboard Showdown, Jeopardy, or Bingo when the teacher left nothing to review. They are mixed-subject so they work in any room.

1. What is the largest ocean on Earth?
2. How many sides does a hexagon have?
3. What is the chemical symbol for sodium?
4. Who was the first president of the United States?
5. What is 15 percent of 80?
6. Which planet is called the Red Planet?
7. What is the past tense of “run”?
8. What is the capital of Canada?
9. In what year did World War II end?
10. What is the square root of 144?
11. Which part of a plant or animal cell holds most of its DNA?
12. Solve for x: 3x + 5 = 20.
13. What part of speech describes a noun?
14. What gas do plants take in from the air for photosynthesis?
15. What is the longest river in Africa?
16. How many U.S. states are there?

Which substitute teacher activities to use when

• Class is calm and the plan ran short: Trashketball or Whiteboard Jeopardy.
• Class is loud or new to you: Stand Up, Sit Down or Silent Line-Up. Both give you control within a minute.
• Five minutes left: Last Word or Exit Ticket Relay.
• Older students who think games are childish: Two Truths and a Lie, or Categories. Competition sells itself with high schoolers.

For a longer list of no-prep ideas sorted by time, see 25 ideas for substitute teachers. Our sister site also keeps a list of substitute teacher games you can print.

FAQ

Are games a good use of time when I’m subbing?

Yes, if they review real content and every student writes answers you collect. A game with a paper trail is work; a game without one is free time.

What if the class gets out of control during a game?

Use your stop signal, take a point from the team causing the problem, and if it happens again, switch to a quiet game. Do not raise your voice over the noise.

Do high school students like these games?

Most do, especially anything with teams and points. Let older students write their own questions or clues; they take it more seriously when they are the ones stumping their friends.

What do I need to bring?

A marker, scrap paper, and a printed question set. Everything here works without technology.

Keep a game ready every day

Every day’s Daily Bell Ringers set doubles as a game question bank. Browse by grade in the bell ringer library, or grab the free 1,000 bell ringers and exit slips so you always have questions on hand.