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My Favorite Zoom Game to Play With Students!

classroom management edtech in-person teaching online education online learning tech in the classroom tech tips Jun 19, 2020

During distance learning, we as a school have been asking students for feedback on how it has all been going, and the biggest thing we hear is that students are craving social interaction!

That is when I created a scavenger hunt to do with them and they LOVED it! It was a way bigger hit than I thought it would be and the kids were asking about when our next scavenger hunt would be every single day!

It is also an amazing way to build community and help students show off different sides of their personalities!

Each week, my 5th graders and I have Zoom Meetings for Advisory. This is meant to be like a “recess” for them, where the rules of classroom Zoom meetings don’t apply. They can be goofy and fill the chat with random stuff and have fun!

During this time, I have the list open and I introduce the activity. Then I start with the first object on the list. I’ll say, “Go find something fluffy!” and then the students run around their house to find that object. I usually count down from 10 at some point to get them to grab the closest thing that works and get back to their computers.

Then we all show off what we have found. Students hold them up to the camera so we all can see. (Make sure you all are in gallery mode) and I try to look at what they found and call out some funny or unique things.

Then we move on to the next item. I try to keep things moving along so kids don't get bored and it stays fun and exciting, but give them enough time to actually find something.

Pro tip: If you have your own children at home with you while you are trying to teach, have them go find the objects for you! My Penny loved being my little helper! Otherwise, it can help to have your objects already collected so you can play too!

If you are in a school that isn’t doing live lessons, I highly suggest you try them, But you can also still do this activity asynchronously. Send the list to students and have them send back pictures. Create a presentation or a newsletter with all the pictures and send it off to students so they can see what each other found!

If this sounds like fun, check out my FREE Distance Learning Scavenger Hunt here! If you love it, check out the bundle that includes themed hunts including a social-emotional one and a Halloween one in my TPT store here!