As a teacher, you’re always collecting the most random things. If you were to take a look into my classroom, you’d see a collection of fly swatters. I have every color you can imagine. I even have them in animal shapes. No, I don’t have a fly infestation… (ew!) I just really love a good fly swatter game.
What Is A Fly Swatter Game?
If you’ve never played a fly swatter game with your students, you’re in for a treat. Usually, they’re played by projecting something onto your white board or overhead screen. When your students see the correct answer, they swat it with the fly swatter!
Topics For A Fly Swatter Game
My favorite fly swatter game topic is spelling. I found that it makes for a great interactive spelling game! I have also used this for math facts, fraction identification and more. But since a fly swatter game for spelling practice is my favorite, I’ll show you how to set it up and you can vary it for any subject!
Spelling Practice Activities
There are a few ways to set up a fly swatter game for spelling practice. The first way is to make spelling word cards and project them on your board. Usually I laminate them so I can reuse them over and over. I’ll keep them in a ziplock bag so all I have to do is grab a fly swatter and the set I made last year. I’m all ready to go!
I also make a set of words that are spelled incorrectly. Usually, I just vary by one letter. For example, if you’re teaching consonant blends, I might make a pair of cards that looks like this:
That way, your students see similar words but they have to pay close attention to the words. It poses more of a challenge to them this way. You would not be doing them any service if you gave them two completely different words for spelling practice.
If you are technologically inclined, you can use Powerpoint to make a slideshow to project your words onto your screen. That way, you don’t need to fuss with making and storing spelling word cards.
Fly Swatter Game Expectations
I usually have two students at a time, each with their own fly swatter. If your class is overly competitive, no matter how much you’ve tried to instill sportsmanship, choose one student at a time.
A word about expectations. Before we play, we go over fly swatter rules. Of course, I’ve already taught them what I expect, but since they’re six, and I can’t remember what I ate for breakfast, a little review for all of us is probably a good idea.
I have them put their hands over their hearts and repeat after me: “I promise… to use a soft tap… with my fly swatter…
- I will… only tap… the screen where I am supposed to…
- I will not… hit my neighbor… with the fly swatter…
- I will not… swing the fly swatter around… in the air… like a helicopter…
- I will… be happy… for my friend… if they get the answer before me…”
You get the idea!
Now You’re Ready To Play!
Now that you’re all ready, let’s play a fly swatter game! The faster the better too! This is meant to go pretty quickly, so your students learn to start recognizing the words. I usually love lots of wait time for my kiddos to think a problem through, but in this case, I’ll have introduced our spelling skill a few days before and it’s time for them to show me what they’ve got!
If you use cards, have them ready to go. You’ll put up two at a time on your screen. I like to stand in front of the projector so they don’t see them. I move out of the way, and they choose their word!
With a PowerPoint presentation, it’s WAY easier. I push the spacebar to advance my slides, and voila! I have a quick fly swatter game!
Purchase A Fly Swatter Game Here
When we were 100% virtual learning, my students complained each week about how much they missed playing a fly swatter game right before their spelling test.
So I made a digital version for them! Your students will move the fly swatter to the correct word on Google Slides or Seesaw. Or, they’ll choose the word to “swat” for interactive spelling games as Boom Learning Cards! You can purchase a set through any of the links below! (Just click on the pictures.) There are seven sets for any of the spelling skills you might teach!
I’ve also included a PowerPoint for you! You don’t need to make your own copy! Click on any of these pictures to purchase ready-made fly swatter games!
And I love a good center spelling practice activity, so I’ve also included the images from the PowerPoint for you to print and laminate. Add them to your spelling center with a few fly swatters, and you’ve got yourself a great spelling practice center!
P.S. A word about Seesaw – It’s my favorite learning platform for my classroom. I absolutely love how interactive it is! But I didn’t love teaching my kiddos how to use Seesaw. So I made learning the Seesaw tools into a game. So, at the beginning of every year, we go on a SEESAW SCAVENGER HUNT to discover what we can do with the program! You can get the scavenger hunt for free here!
