7 Games and Activities for Middle and High School

Students
So far we have covered a lot of games geared towards younger audiences,
although they can be applied to older students too. Now we offer resources
specifically for older students.

1. Famous Pairs
Create a list of well-known famous pairs. For instance, peanut butter and jelly,
Romeo and Juliet, Superman and Lois Lane, etc. Each participant should
receive a post-it-note with one half of a famous pair on their back.

Moving throughout the room, with only three questions per person, the
participants try to figure out who the person is on their back.

Once the person has discovered who they are, they need to find their partner.
If the other partner has not figured out his/her identity, they must not reveal
themselves until they know.

2. The Best Parts of Our School

Many students are negative when it comes to their interpretation of school. In
an effort to recognize what is good about your school, this activity is
connective and a communication skills builder. This activity should be
conducted over three days.

The first day is spent with each student listing 10 things that they consider the
best parts of their school. The second day is spent in groups. The groups will
create a coordinated list of agreed-upon best parts of their school. The third
day is spent creating a class collective list after each group presents their best
parts of their school ideas to the class.

3. The Enigmatic Self

We are often mysterious to others. This game promotes self-awareness about
what you find mysterious about yourself. In this activity, students write down
three things about themselves that no one else knows. In groups of 3 or 4
students, each read the mysterious aspects to each other.

Each group collects the mysteries. At a later time, each group reads the fact
list and the remainder of the class tries to guess who the facts are from on the
list. Encourage deep respect for these mysteries. Encourage students to
celebrate the uniqueness of each other.

Classrooms with solid trust are often built on awareness and appreciation of
each other.

4. Stand Up for Fillers

How many people use “like” or “um,” or “uh” or “so,” or “right” to fill a silent
space? It is a nervous habit that is often rooted in the perceived discomfort of
silence. This activity helps eliminate these fillers in conversation or in public
speaking.

Each student is given a topic that they will speak about for 1-3 minutes (topic
is not important; it should be simple). During their speaking time, the
remainder of the class will stand when they hear any of these fillers occur in
the speech.

The class is listening and the speaker is hyper-aware of the words that they
use. It is a deliberate shock to the speaker to see the entire class stand when
they hear these fillers and helps to be mindful about using precise
vocabulary.

5. Blindfold Game
Create an obstacle course with everyday items in the classroom. Sort
students into two groups. One person is blindfolded while the rest of the group
decides how to communicate (from their seats) instructions on how to
navigate through the course wearing a blindfold. Time each group and discuss
which communication style was the most effective.

This activity builds trust and requires accurate communication to successfully

navigate through the course. *Be sure to have at least one person to stand
near the blindfolded student to help them stay safe during the course.
6. Drawn Understanding
Have two students sit back-to-back. One student has an object and the other
has colored pencils and paper. The student with the object must describe it in
as much detail as possible, without directly saying what it is.

The second student must draw the object as best they can, based on the
communication of the student with the object.

7. Find It Together
Another blindfold is needed for this activity. Divide the group into pairs. One of
the students is blindfolded. It is their job to retrieve specific objects from a
designated circle. The other student guides their blindfolded partner to retrieve
the correct object.

This game can get chaotic because of other blindfolded participants. It

requires discussions after the activity, as well as voice recognition and
teamwork. A closing discussion question could be something like, “How did
people ignore the distractions of other sounds?” It can lead to great
conversations on listening and volume control.

5 Communication Games and Activities for College

Students
Students at the college level have likely developed some effective
communication skills. At this level of education, there are still deep needs to
practice communication—it is a skill that needs work.

1. The Guessing Game

This activity is a fun way to introduce and show the difference between closed
and open questions. Split your class into two equal groups/teams. One person
from each team will leave the room for a minute and think of a business object
(any common business object that can be found in any office like a stapler,
printer, etc.).
When each person returns, it’s the team’s task to ask him/her closed-ended
questions only to try and guess the object. If needed, explain that closed-
ended questions are those that can be answered only by a yes or no. Once
any team finds the object, this means that they won this round. And they can
go for another round.

After two or three rounds, end the game and lead a classroom discussion. Tell
the group that it took a long time and effort to find out the object in each
round, but what if they had no time and only one question to ask to find out
the object: what would that question be?

The question would be “What is the object?” which is an open-ended

question. Open-ended questions are an excellent way to save time and
energy and help you get to the information you need fast.

However, closed questions can also be useful to confirm your understanding

or to help you control the conversation with an overly talkative
person/customer.

2. One Word Letters

Divide into pairs. Each team has one piece of paper and two pencils. The
instructor will start a clock (2-minute time limit). During the two minutes, the
pair will write a single letter between them. Each of them will add only one
word at a time. The pair is to write as quickly as possible, not going back to re-
read anything, but the last word added.

Grammar and spelling are unimportant. Punctuation is only added for sense in
the letter. The letter may be written to anyone that the pair decides. It does not
need to be a finished letter.

Once the time is up, the letter is read aloud to each other, or the group if
classroom trust is solid.

Something interesting occurs when this activity is repeated. The original

letters are nonsensical and amusing.

As the process is repeated, the pair’s language begins to become more

cohesive. It makes for a rich discussion.
3. Study Groups
Creating space for college students to manage a group culture is practice for
future employment and collaborations. Study groups are one way to create
the space for effective communication skills to be fostered.

Setting up the study groups for the class can form new bonds between
students, and challenge them with handling situations that students might not
naturally enter. The benefits of effective learning and the development of
cooperative communications skills are far reaching (Colbeck, 2000).

4. Team Debate Projects

Collaboration is an important skill for students to have in the world of
employment, opinions, and creating solutions. To understand any selected
course material, have students argue a point against another within a
mediated session.

There are many resources on how to facilitate team debates. Discuss the
complications that may arise with debates, and how they can practice listening
and being willing to change their mind if the argument is convincing.

5. Peer Mentoring
Leadership development requires advanced communication skills. A
productive way to develop these skills is through the active engagement of
peer mentorship programs. The give and take that exists within this
relationship will fully develop skills in both parties.

Mentors benefit from the self-confidence boost that their guidance is needed,
while mentees benefit from advice and a role model.

2. Picture Telling with Writing

To promote creative communication, this activity engages descriptive
language and storytelling. Hold up a picture with people in it. Have the group
write about what the people are doing and feeling in the picture.