30 Fun Activities for High School Students with Educational Twists – The TPT Blog

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Students learn more effectively (and attend school more regularly) when they’re having fun. That’s all well and good for younger grades, but is it possible to make your high school class fun enough to entertain the average teenager?

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The answer: Absolutely! Find inspiration for your next class game or puzzle with a list of fun activities for high school students. From subject-specific review games to engaging brain breaks, we’ve got something for every class and every high schooler to enjoy.

Memorable Math Activities for High School Students

If your high school students claim that math isn’t fun, it’s time to prove them wrong. Gamified and challenge-based math activities for high schoolers are a great way to break up a complex class session and keep teenagers engaged in the subject matter.

• Card Games: Turn your math review sessions into card games for students to play each other in pairs or small groups. 
• Math Board Races: Split the class in half and have two team representatives try to solve a math problem to score points for their team. 
• Math Corners: Label each corner of the room with a different possible solution, then read out the problem and have high schoolers run to the corner with the solution they believe is correct.
• Asphalt Geometry: Lay several masking tape triangles outside, then challenge teams to try and measure as many as they can in a set amount of time (spread them out to make the activity more physically challenging).
• Beach Ball Math: Write a solution to a math problem on each panel of 3-4 beach balls, then play some music. Bounce the balls to students and stop the music; the students holding the balls determine whether they are holding the one with the right answer.

Make math meaningful and fun with crosswords

Crosswords aren’t just for language arts anymore! Review important math concepts with resources that put solutions into a crossword format for a fun twist on studying numbers and equations.

Arithmetic & Geometric Sequences Crossword Puzzle Activity Worksheet
By Amazing Mathematics
Grades: 8th-10th
Subject: Algebra
Standards: CCSS HSF-BF.A.1, A.1a, 2; HSF-LE-A.2

This CCSS-aligned resource presents the first three terms of 31 arithmetic and geometric sequences for students to solve. While the resource is designed for advanced students, it could be a good review activity for older high schoolers.

Connect advanced math concepts to game formats

Math puzzles are high schoolers’ favorite way to learn and revisit important concepts! Apply more advanced geometry and algebra ideas to classic math puzzles and games to intrigue and interest your high school students.

Parallel Lines and Transversals Angle Measures Activity – Geometry – Sudoku
By Generally Geometry
Grades: 7th-12th
Subjects: Geometry, Math Test Prep
Standards: CCSS 8.G.A.1c

If your math students love Sudoku puzzles, they’ll love Math-Doku! An engaging worksheet reviews a variety of angle measures by combining geometry concepts with Sudoku puzzle formats. Use the activity as a homework assignment or for early finishers in class.

Stimulating Science Activities for Secondary Students

With explosive experiments and dazzling demonstrations, science class is already a playground of fun activities for high school students. Add these games and challenges to your biology, physics, chemistry, anatomy, or any other high school science class for some extra pizzazz.

• Science Escape Room: Plan a science-themed escape room (such as a periodic table of elements escape room, or a human body escape room) based on concepts from your most recent unit.
• Spread the Germs: Pass out paper “germs” during an epidemiology unit and see how quickly students can trace, cut, and trade their germs with peers. Which “disease” spread the quickest?
• Invent an Animal: Assign biomes to groups of students and encourage them to invent an animal with traits that would survive the most successfully. Then, switch the animals between biomes and have groups determine which adaptations their new animals would need to survive.
• Cytosis Hula Hoops: Take the class outside and place a stack of hula hoops around 50 feet away. Have one person per team run and get a hula hoop, then go through “mitosis” by putting another student in the hula hoop with them. Both students run in the hula hoop to the finish line, then back to double again (4 students inside). Keep going until one group can keep running with the most students.
• Sound Wave Playlists: Using sand particles on Chladni plates, have students experiment with the songs that give the best sound wave demonstrations. Make a class playlist with the best examples.

Review scientific concepts and terms with engaging puzzles

Sub days and review sessions may not be the best time for new lab activities, but they’re great days for low-prep fun high school activities. Print out classic worksheet games that review scientific concepts for an upcoming test or to prepare for an experiment the next day.

Naming Compounds Crossword Puzzle Chemical Nomenclature Review Activity
By Science from the South
Grades: 9th-12th
Subjects: Chemistry, Physical Science

This no-prep science crossword puzzle encourages students to use chemical formula clues and rules when deciphering each chemical compound name. Ideal as a sub day activity or homework assignment, it’s a great way to reinforce important knowledge in an accessible way.

Engaging ELA Games and Activities for High School

Reading poetry and short stories can be lots of fun (at least, we think so!). For high schoolers who may not find these activities enthralling, adding a competitive or physical element can get students more engaged in ELA class.

• Fun Writing Prompts: Intersperse riddles for high school students with your more serious writing prompts as bell ringers or warm-ups.
• Novel Podcast: Have students conduct a mock podcast episode while acting as characters from a class novel.
• Would You Rather: Add Would You Rather questions for high school students to a writing assignment or debate unit.
• Nostalgic Reading: Have students bring in their favorite childhood books and listen as you read them to the class.
• Spelling Races: Give each student a random letter of the alphabet and one minute to form a word with others in the class. The longest word wins each round!

Sensational Secondary Social Studies Activities

You’ve probably got plenty of in-depth projects and research assignments in your curriculum already, but what about those quick games that bridge one lesson to the next? Use these fun activities for high school students to take a break from the history lectures and bond with their peers. 

• Where in the World: Choose a country of the week, and every day, put a clue about that country on the board. Give extra credit or points to the first student who can solve the query.
• History Coloring Pages: Find or design coloring pages for teens based on historical figures or scenes, or encourage students to create their own to share with the class.
• Timeline Shuffle: Hand out cards with a historical event on each one, and give students a short amount of time to put themselves in order from earliest to most recent.
• Historical Reenactments: Adjust classic team-building activities for teens to let teams choose historical figures, eras, and moments to reenact as a whole class or in smaller groups.
• Time Machine: Have groups brainstorm and argue the best era to travel through time to visit, along with what they’d like to see and what would change (if anything).

Take a trip back in time with social studies review games

Social studies is more than just a list of dates and names. Get students immersed in history with fun games, activities, and puzzles that are perfect for any high school class setting.

The U.S. Constitution and Government Crossword Puzzle, Word Search, CLOZE
By The Secondary Sage
Grades: 7th-12th
Subjects: Government, U.S. History

Whether you’re preparing for Constitution Day or a unit on the early American government, this educational and entertaining resource is a great addition to a review packet. It includes four crossword puzzles, two versions of a word search, an informational essay with comprehension questions, and everything you need to assess student understanding.

Amazing Activities for High School Language Class

Students in una clase de español, un cours de français, or any other language class are working hard to memorize vocabulary and grammar every day of the year. Break up those intensive class sessions with fun games and activities for high schoolers of all language levels.

• Taboo: Have students try to describe a concept in their target language without saying specific words (such as “school” without saying “teacher” or “student”).
• School Scavenger Hunt: Give students a list of words in the language they’re learning, and have them explore the classroom or school to find their English equivalents.
• Guess the Song: Translate a popular song into the students’ target language, then give points to the student who can guess the song as you read the lyrics without singing.
• Bilingual Exercise: Teach students the words for common exercises, such as push-ups or running in place, and call them out in a Simon Says type of game. Students who perform the wrong exercise are out!
• Language Pictionary: Have students draw a concept on the board as their team tries to guess what they’re drawing, using vocabulary words from their target language.

Reinforce new vocabulary with games in language class

Get past flashcards and memorization when you use language games and puzzles to practice a new set of vocabulary words. 

Spanish Weather and Seasons Crossword Puzzle and Word Search
By Island Teacher
Grades: 5th-10th
Subjects: Spanish, World Languages

¿Qué tiempo hace hoy? Review Spanish terms for the weather and the seasons, including conversational phrases to discuss both. This puzzle resource includes a crossword puzzle and word search with relevant vocabulary words, as well as an answer key for easy grading.

Tips for Making Every High School Class Fun

Need some strategies to make every high school class even better than the last? These teaching tips can help you bring fun high school activities to each period of the day.

• Plan 2-3 minute brain breaks for high school students, both subject-specific and silly (think jumping jacks or dance breaks!), especially after a more intensive class period.
• Take students outside whenever possible, whether it’s on the football field, an outdoor quad, or in the hallway outside the door.
• Match your activities to your class personality (quiet activities for quiet classes, energetic activities for noisier classes) while also pushing students out of their comfort zones.
• Bring in as much music as possible, whether it’s while students are getting ready or during independent work time.
• Don’t be afraid to be corny. High school students secretly love dad jokes, riddles, and anything nostalgic!

Create long-lasting learning with fun activities from TPT

Whether you’re looking to fill those last five minutes of class or review important subject knowledge, there’s no limit to fun activities for high school students to enjoy. Use a collection of time-filler activities for high school for shorter games and puzzles, or find the ideal way to spend the day with fun field trip ideas for high school students. No matter how you do it, your students will learn more effectively when they’re having fun!