Erin Emery-Dumas

I’m sure we ALL know about Kahoot by now, but have you heard of Gimkit or Blooket? I hadn’t prior to my internship, but now they are a staple in my teaching toolbox. Both of these sites have advantages over Kahoot, specifically the fact that questions continuously come back, almost like virtual flash cards. You can create your own questions, or search a topic that you are interested in and use a set that someone else has created. They also have multiple versions of the game to use with the same set of questions. There are both free and paid versions for each of these websites. I have the free version of Blooket, and the paid version of Gimkit.

Gimkit

“Gimkit is a game show for the classroom that requires knowledge, collaboration, and strategy to win.”

This is my personal favorite for 4th and 5th grade students. The free version allows you to have up to five players. Before I paid for the premium version, I’d have students in small groups working together on one Chromebook in order to play all of the games. I decided, though, that I’d like the paid version! I believe it was only $60 for a full year, and it allows you to have unlimited players.

At the time of this blog post, they have a TON of different games to play for each set. There’s Capture the Flag, Fishtopia, Snowbrawl, Tag: Domination, Farmchain, One Way Out, Snowy Survival, Trust No One (which is like Among Us and is my students’ FAVORITE), the Floor is Lava, Humans vs. Zombies, Draw That (like pictionary), What Is… (like Jeopardy), Infinity Mode, Super Rich Mode, Boss Battle, Hidden Mode, Drained Mode, and of course Classic Mode.

I use this game to help students identify things like note and rest values, as well as pitches on the treble clef staff. The games can be a bit complex, which is why I save it for my older classes. I have had success with 3rd grade playing this game as well, but they tend to do better with Blooket.

Blooket

“Blooket is an exciting new take on the modern classroom review game. It aims to match action with education to create the ultimate learning experience!”

I like to use this game for 2nd and 3rd grade classes. There is a paid version, but I don’t have it, so I can’t really speak for that one as much. The free version has a lot of capabilities, though, which is why I continue to use it! After looking into it, there’s a Plus version for $36 a year, and a Plus Flex version for $4.99 a month.

Right now, there are also a bunch of games available, and my students love all of them! There’s Gold Quest, Crypto Hack, Fishing Frenzy, Tower Defense, Tower Defense 2, Monster Brawl, Deceptive Dinos, Battle Royale (where students go head to head!), Café, Factory, Racing, Blook Rush, Crazy Kingdom, Tower of Doom, and again, Classic. My personal favorite of all of these is probably Café, but my students love Crypto Hack because they have to guess the password that other students have selected.

On this game, I’ve created sets for the same questions that I have on Gimkit, as well as a set to help students identify instruments of the band and orchestra. I like this one more for younger students because the games are a bit more intuitive and easy to grasp.

Overall, both of these games are a TON of fun and my students love them equally. I just tend to use them for different age levels because of the different versions that you can play in each of them. If you have any other virtual game recommendations, let me know!