Remote learning looks like it's here to stay and you may be wondering how to engage students and keep it fun during your distance learning activities. Here are a some of the best zoom ideas for distance learning to spice up your virtual class meetings that will get your students excited and ready to participate!
Zoom Ideas For Distance Learning
1. Puppets
One of the best strategies to get your students excited about a lesson, in class or online, is to use puppets! Think about Sesame Street and Mr. Rogers. What was one of the secrets to their success? Puppets! You don't need to invest in anything expensive. A simple stuffed animal, popsicle stick or paper bag puppet will do the trick.
You can even have special puppets for different subjects. How about Mickey The Math Whiz or Rita The Reading Expert? Give your puppets a cute name and have them make an appearance occasionally in your lessons. Kids will love it!
2. Make It Crafty
Kids love being creative and adding a simple craft to your lesson plan will get kids excited to participate. Simple seasonal crafts work well for your online lessons. Show kids easy crafts that they can do on their own like how to fold a paper in half to make a valentine heart. Another idea is to show kids how to fold paper to make snowflakes or how to make a simple fall tree.
3. Dress Up Days
Another zoom idea for kindergarten or first grade are some fun dress up days. Are you doing a counting lesson with your students. Read the book Caps For Sale and have the kids wear a crazy hat that day. In the spring, declare a rainbow week and have students wear a different color each day. Then plan your lessons around each of those colors of the day. Kids love dress up days, especially when their teacher joins in the fun!
4. Scavenger Hunts
One of the things I've learned about remote learning is you need to keep it fun. Have an impromptu scavenger hunt during your lesson. Something as simple as “find two things that are red” will get your kids excited. They just want to get up and move! Better yet, get creative with your zoom scavenger hunt ideas. Are you learning the blend”tr”? Set a one minute timer and send your kids to find something that begins with that sound. We even have monthly themed scavenger hunts that my kids love!
5. Memory Games
Another great zoom idea for distance learning is playing memory. Create a tray with 20 small objects that relate to your lesson. For instance, if you are doing a phonics lesson about digraphs you could put a piece of cheese, checker, chips, phone, shell, chain, wheel, etc. Show the students the tray and then have them put their heads down (no peeking!) and remove one object from the tray. Have students tell you what's missing and what digraph it begins with! You can do this same lesson with many subjects or even holiday themes.
6. Tell Jokes
Have fun with your students and tell some corny knock knock jokes! Kids love them and will enjoy taking a break from academics occasionally for a little laugh. We use these monthly themed Powerpoints with silly kid friendly jokes and then the students write their own jokes!
7. Boom Cards
One of the best discoveries I made for digital learning was Boom Cards! These digital task cards are engaging, developmentally appropriate for first grade and they add so much to your lesson! They're available for every subject and are interactive with draggable features. If you don't know what boom cards are, head over here to read all about how you can use them in your classroom. My kids love when I add math & literacy boom cards to our google classroom or one of our online meetings.
8. I Spy
Find out which kids are really paying attention with a little game of I Spy. Choose an object in your own background saying something like “I spy something blue” and have your students take turns guessing what it is. Or you can choose something from a student's background and let the guessing begin.
9. Guess The Sound
A fun zoom idea for distance learning is playing “Guess The Sound”. This activity will get your kindergarten and first grade kids listening as you play different sounds and the students have to guess what it is. YouTube has some great videos that you can share in your face to face or online meetings including Guess The Sound, Guess The Animal Sound, Guess The Disney Voice and Guess The Instrument!
10. Guess The Character
Another fun guessing game is Guess The Character. Write down a few clues for characters that your students would recognize – Disney, Marvel, cartoon or book characters. Give them the clues one at a time and see if they can guess who the character is.
11. Bingo
Another easy, no prep way to keep kids engaged in your zoom meeting is with bingo! Give each student a bingo card and show a bingo powerpoint as you share your screen with students (or just project it on your board if you’re face to face in your classroom). Kids will love taking a break from the curriculum and this is another of my favorite virtual class games.
12. Play Micro-Phony
Kids will love being chosen to be the micro-phony in this fun game. Choose a word or silly saying ahead of time (maybe….”pepperoni pickle pizza”) and send a private message to one student telling them the silly word. Next, have everyone mute their microphones and put their heads down or cover their eyes. The person chosen to be the micro-phony will unmute their microphone when nobody is looking and then say the silly word. When you say go, everyone puts their heads up and takes turn guessing who the micro-phony was that said the silly word.
13. Go Noodle
Whenever you need a little stretch break or movement, head to YouTube and turn on some Go Noodle. Kids love dancing to the silly songs! Go Noodle is just one of the many ways to use Youtube for distance learning.
14. Ten Minute Building Challenge
Give students a mini break with a ten minute building challenge. Choose objects that students will have in their home like toothpicks and marshmallows, cheerios or other cereal, macaroni or legos as the building materials. In this fun lesson idea, teachers give students ten minutes to build a structure out of the materials and then let them share their creation with the class.
15. How Many Words Can You Make?
Another favorite zoom idea for distance learning is using the letters in a word to create new words. Any word will do, but I like to use seasonal templates with words like snowman or valentine for this zoom game. Have students write the letters of the word on post it notes at home (or use this worksheet or google slide). Set the timer for 5 minutes and have them write down as many new words as they can come up with using the letters in the word.
16. Mystery Bag
Another fun game you can add to your lesson plans is guessing what's in the mystery bag. Gather a few objects from around your classroom or house and place them each in a small paper lunch bag. Then give the students 3 clues for each bag. Students can try to guess what's in the mystery bag. Would you rather have a no prep virtual game? Use these mystery bag powerpoint slides instead.
17. Directed Drawings
There's no need for you to be an artist to use directed drawings with your class over zoom or google meet. Art Hub For Kids on YouTube has a series of videos that you can share with your students to help them draw things like a monkey, Rudolph, an elf, T Rex, a lion and more!
18. Mystery Guest
Ask someone from your school to be a mystery guest in your classroom for the day. Recruit people like other teachers, your custodian or superintendent and have them sit out of sight from your computer camera and allow students to ask different questions to try and guess their name. Have your mystery guest disguise their voice and kids will get a kick out of trying to figure out who it is!
19. Simon Says
Another zoom idea for kindergarten or first grade, that will get kids up and moving, is Simon Says. But instead of the same old game we like to play this old favorite with a seasonal twist. Kids will love playing Snowman Says or Groundhog Says and follow the audio prompts on this powerpoint game with things like “Groundhog says put on your hat” and “Groundhog says hide from your shadow.” But if groundhog doesn’t say the command, don’t do it or you’re out of the game!
20. Yoga
When you're teaching remotely it's important to add some movement into your day. Another way to get kids up and moving is with a little yoga. Unlike other movement games that may get kids too excitable, yoga is a great way to move in a calm and peaceful manner. Share your screen and show this FREE yoga for kids powerpoint. Have students practice some new poses including downward dog, cobra and cow!
21. Teacher For The Day
A great way to get kids participating in class is by allowing them to be Teacher For The Day. Each student will choose something that they want to teach the class. Maybe they can teach the class a dance, karate moves, how to care for a pet, or how to bake cookies. The possibilities are endless. Have each student fill out their lesson plan (printable or digital) and assign them a day to be the teacher. Allow about 10 minutes for their lesson and then have the rest of the class write about what they learned each day.
22. Grocery Shopping Game
Tell your students you'll be going to the ABC Grocery Store and you need to make a list . Begin by saying “I'm going to the grocery store and I'm buying apples”. Next have a student continue by repeating what you said and adding something that begins with a B like “I'm going to the grocery store and I'm buying apples and bananas.” Continue in this manner having students try to remember all the things on the grocery list as it becomes their turn.
23. 20 Questions
Tell your students that you will be playing a game of 20 Questions (or however many students you have in your class). Think of something in your head (maybe an elephant, an apple or a television). Give each student the chance to ask one question to try and figure out what you are thinking about. Encourage them to ask questions like “Is it alive?” “Can it move on its own?” “Is it bigger than a child? to try and narrow down the answer. This simple game is another idea to help you and your students survive distance learning!
24. Show And Tell
Another no prep zoom idea for distance learning is a simple show and tell activity. Rather than having students bring just anything to class, have your show and tell revolve around a topic you're teaching that day. Some show and tell ideas: a picture of your favorite food, your favorite stuffed animal, your pet, something that will bounce, something that has wheels, a certain color or that begins with a specific letter of the alphabet.
25. Story Scavenger Hunt
Your students will love this idea! Choose one of your favorite books and prior to reading find 5 different pages where you can stop and have students find something in their house that’s in the book. As you’re reading the story, stop every few pages and set the timer. Tell students something that they must find (from the story) in one minute! Do this several times throughout the story. It’s like a little storybook scavenger hunt!
As you can see zoom or google meet lessons don't have to be boring! Ready to add a little fun to your online meetings? Click below and grab one of these no prep Fun Friday printable and digital resources and make your planning simple!
What are your favorite zoom ideas for distance learning? Add them to the comments below!
