Finding fun morning meeting games for upper elementary students can be challenging at times because you want to find something fresh, age-appropriate, and engaging that they’ll love. As a fourth grade teacher, this has always been a challenge for me. This is why I’m taking on this task to find the best morning meeting games and activities for your 3rd, 4th, or 5th grade classroom!
If you’re sitting at your teacher desk or kitchen table after contract hours scouring the internet for morning meeting activity ideas, I’m happy to help so you can close your laptop and take back your time outside of school. You deserve it, friend! If you’re new to Morning Meeting, grab my free starter kit here!
Why Morning Meeting Group Activities Matter
If you clicked on the link to read this post, you probably already do some sort of class meeting with your students. I’d love to know about yours and how I can help you, so drop me a comment at the bottom of the page. If you’re new to morning meeting or are looking for help to make yours better, you’ve come to the right place.
I’ve always done morning meetings in my classrooms – so I knew I wanted to incorporate them in my fourth grade classroom. I had no idea that they would become the catalyst for changing my turbulent classroom of drama and behavior issues to a calm class family over the course of our year together. You can learn more about this transformation here!
Hands-down, my fourth graders’ favorite part of our class meetings was the activity or game. But, here’s the deal – I used to spend HOURS trying to find new morning meeting activity ideas online… every single week. It took away from my precious weekend time to recuperate from the week and prepare for the next one. Sound familiar?
I want you to enjoy your weekends and evenings and do what brings you joy! So, here are some awesome morning meeting group activities your students will love.
Tried and True Morning Meeting Games
In my opinion, great morning meeting games combine the ability to work on teamwork and communication skills while having fun and developing relationships. I like to mix up my morning meeting activities and games each day, so we can repeat the ones we love every month or two. Sometimes you’ll find an activity that is too challenging or doesn’t work for your students. If that happens, hold onto it and make a note to try it again in a few months!
Gone Camping
This game requires students to pay attention to the commands you give them and work with each other to do what you tell them to do. There are four commands and actions to go with them:
When you say, “Go for a hike,” everyone walks around the classroom. This is also the reset command, so they’ll learn this one quickly.
When you say, “Bonfire,” they’ll need to get in groups of two. One student will sit or kneel and move their arms like a fire, and the other will stand by them and rub their hands together like they’re warming up by the fire.
When you say, “Build a tent,” they’ll need to get in groups of three. One student will duck down while the other two stand by them and touch both hands together to form a “tent” over the first student.
When you say, “Smores,” they’ll need to get in groups of four. They’ll line up and smush together like a Smore!
The goal of the game is always to find the right amount of partners and do the right actions. If they don’t find the right amount of partners or don’t do the correct action, they are out. The last student standing wins! The game will start with you saying, “Go for a hike!” Then, you’ll call out a command, and everyone will try to do it. If anyone misses the mark, they are out. Then, you say, “Go for a hike” again and continue the game.
Four Corners Tag
This morning meeting game is best played outside or in the gym. Find an open space and mark four corners for the game. All players should go to a corner of their choice, and you will choose one student to be “it.” That student stands in the center and counts to ten while closing their eyes.
While the student is counting, students can switch corners if they wish. When the student in the middle stops counting, they call out two corner numbers before opening their eyes. Example: “Corners 2 and 4!”
Then, they open their eyes and try to tag as many players as possible as the players have to try to switch corners without getting tagged (players at corner four go to corner 2, etc.). If players get tagged, they are now ”it” as well and help the player in the center tag more players after counting again.
This continues until one student is left standing! Then, you can play again if time allows. I love using this morning meeting group activity before a test day or anytime I know they need to expel some energy.
Alibi
This is one of our favorite fun morning meeting games 4th grade. You will choose one student to be the detective. They will leave the classroom for just a minute. Then, choose another student to be “guilty.”
When the detective returns to the classroom, tell everyone that a crime has been committed (I like to make it silly or funny and relate it to what they are currently loving). The detective will ask everyone in the circle one at a time for their alibi (I was at home sleeping, etc.). Then, they will ask everyone again.
Everyone must have the same alibi as before, EXCEPT for the guilty student. They must change their alibi. The detective has one chance to see if they can figure out who is guilty! And then the game starts again! You can find these games and many more in my Morning Meeting Slides.
Morning Meeting Activities 5th Grade, 4th Grade, and 3rd Grade Classes Love
Have your students ever done a morning meeting activity and loved it SO much they requested it over and over again? I feel like that’s when you know you’ve got a winner on your hands. Here are some of my students’ favorite morning meeting activities – 4th grade approved!
Group Juggling – One of the Best Morning Meeting Games for Improving Teamwork
This morning meeting game is a bit more advanced. So I wouldn’t start this until at least a couple of months into the school year. You’ll need a few balls for this – we use dodgeballs like these, but any soft ball would work.
Start by giving each student a number. Then, mix the numbers up in a standing circle so no one is standing next to the students with numbers close to their own. Student 1 starts with a ball. They toss the ball underhand to Student 2. Then Student 2 passes it to Student 3. This continues through the whole class.
The last student passes it back to Student 1, and s/he starts it over again. Once the first ball is back in play, add another ball in. They have to continue to pass both balls in order. If a ball drops, then you start back with one ball at Student 1! See how many balls you can juggle at the same time! The hardest part of this game is that everyone has to be focused and in sync. It’s great for building communication, focus, and teamwork skills because everyone works together for one goal.
Inspector Bullfrog
Start with everyone standing in a circle. Choose a student to be the inspector and send them into the hallway. Choose a student to be the bullfrog by tapping them on the head/shoulder while everyone’s eyes are closed. Everyone else is a fly.
The inspector comes in and stands in the middle to try to detect who the bullfrog is. The bullfrog quickly sticks their tongue out at a person/fly when they make eye contact. That person/fly is then “caught” and sits down. The object is for the inspector to figure out who the bullfrog is before s/he catches all of the flies!
Perimeter Pass
This is one of my favorite morning meeting group activities for the beginning of the year! You’ll need a large medicine ball and a good amount of empty wall space. You can play this all together as a class or in teams (you’ll need enough balls for each team to have one). Have your students line up by the wall, lay on their backs, and put their legs up on the wall.
Give the students at the start of each line a ball to hold between their legs. On your go, they have to pass the ball down the line only using the wall and their legs and feet! The first team to do so wins! Or, if you’re playing all together, you can time the perimeter pass and try to beat your time.
Knick Knack – a Fun Morning Meeting Game the Whole Class Can Enjoy
This morning meeting game (pronounced kuh-nick kuh-nack) gets everyone involved and is so fun! I recently made a fall version of the game called “Crunchy Crunch” in this Fall Morning Meeting Activities resource because students love this game so much! It’s like a team version of rock-paper-scissors with different actions.
Start by splitting your class into two teams. They’ll huddle together on different sides of the room to decide on who they want to be – giant, wizard, or elf. If they choose giant, they stand tall and reach their arms up high. The giant beats the elf, who crouches down to look like an elf. The elf beats the wizard. If they want to be wizards, they stretch their hands out in front of them and wiggle their fingers. And the wizard beats the giant.
Once both teams have made their decision, they line up shoulder-to-shoulder facing the other team, a few feet away from each other. Everyone says, “Knick, knack” three times and marches forward each time they say it. After the third time, the teams pose as whichever character they choose to be. Once everyone has posed, you determine who gets the point. If one team is wizards and the other is giants, the team who chose giants gets the point. Repeat as much as you’d like. Whichever team has the most points at the end of this fun morning meeting game wins!
Morning Meeting Games on Zoom
If you are teaching remotely or hybrid, you may be looking for morning meeting games remote learning style. Don’t you worry – I’ve got some that your students will enjoy. You may even forget you’re not in the same room with each other! You can still build community when you’re meeting on Zoom or Google Meet.
4 Poses
This is a virtual four corners game that gives your students some autonomy and is super fun! As a group, choose four poses or actions that everyone can see on the screen. You could have one be crossing your arms or raising the roof, or whatever your students come up with. Assign each pose a number 1-4, and practice a few times, so everyone remembers which pose goes with which number.
Then, when you’re ready to play this virtual morning meeting game, choose one student to be “it.” They have to keep their camera on, cover their eyes (no peeking!), and count to five. While they’re counting, everyone else has to choose a pose. After the counter gets to five, they keep their eyes closed and say, “Pose Number __!” Anyone with that pose is out for the round and has to turn their camera off. Repeat! Whichever student is left standing at the end gets to be it next!
Waterfall Wars
This morning meeting activity for remote learning uses the chatbox. Choose a category (start with something simple like animals, fruit, etc.) and then get more complex. Give your students 10-20 seconds to think of a word that fits that category and type it in the chat, but DON’T CLICK SEND YET! Encourage them to think of a unique word if they can.
Have everyone click send at the same time and watch the waterfall of answers pour in the chat! Each unique answer earns that student 1 point! (ex: if they were the only person to write mango for fruit, they’d get a point.) Continue playing with different categories, and whoever has the most points at the end of the game wins!
Magic Maker (Can Be Used for Virtual Morning Meetings AND in Person!)’
Before playing this morning meeting group game, show and explain these three magical poses. The first is the hat – bring your hands up to a point above your head, so it looks like you’re wearing a wizard hat. The second is the wand – act like you have a magic wand in your hand and point it toward the group. And the third is the cloak – act like you’re wearing an invisibility cloak around you.
Once everyone knows the three poses, choose one person to be the Magic Maker. If you’re doing this virtually, everyone turns their back to the screen. If you’re in person, the class lines up shoulder-to-shoulder on one side of the classroom, and the Magic Maker is in front of them on the other side. Everyone turns around, so their backs are facing the middle.
The Magic Maker says, “I am the magic maker.” The class says, “You are the magic maker.” Repeat one more time. Everyone counts down: 3, 2, 1, and turns around and strikes one of the poses. Anyone who is doing the same pose as the Magic Maker is out for the round. Play again until there are only 1-2 people left standing!
Ready for Even More Fun Morning Meeting Activities & Games?
7 Morning Meeting Activities 4th Grade Students Love!
17 Active Games for Social Distancing
15 Virtual Morning Meeting Games & Activities to Play Online Using Zoom
As I said before, scouring the internet to find new fun Morning Meeting games each week is as much fun as going to the dentist. So, save yourself some time and energy, and get 30 Morning Meeting Games right here for you to use throughout the year. Students LOVE these games, and they love playing them again and again.
Not only will you be saving TONS of time, you’ll also be cultivating student relationships and memories for your year as a class family. I’m so excited to see how these fun morning meeting games transform your classroom culture like they’ve transformed mine! These games go further than getting students to have fun and connect with each other; they give students an outlet and opportunity to build trust. And that will produce more focused, on-task students in your classroom.
If you use these morning meeting ideas in your classroom, send me a message on Instagram and let me know how it goes! My DMs are always open too, so if you ever need help with anything, I’m here for you. For your fun morning meeting games needs and MUCH more!
