Quiet games for a desk, a pencil and a neighbor, plus eight for recess: press Pick 3 new games.
Games to Play in Class
Sprouts From Two Spots1. First draw two spots. Longer games start with more spots, so this short version fits a few spare minutes. 2. On your turn, draw a line from a spot to a spot, or from a spot back to itself, and put a new spot somewhere on that line. 3. No line may cross another, and no spot may have more than three lines. 4. The player who cannot draw a line loses. With two spots the game is over in five moves or fewer. Players: 2. Time: 3 min. Props: scrap paper and a pencil.
How Many Words on This Page?1. First the teacher holds up one page of a book that is full of print. 2. Each student writes an estimate of how many words are on the page, and nobody says theirs aloud. 3. Count the words in one full line together, count the lines, and multiply. 4. The estimate closest to that answer wins, and its writer chooses the next page. Players: 6 to 30. Time: 5 min. Props: a book, paper and a pencil each.
Slide the Alphabet Three Places1. First write the alphabet in a row, and under it write the alphabet again starting from D, so that A sits over D and B over E. 2. Write a short message to a neighbor, swapping each letter for the one below it. 3. Pass the note. 4. The neighbor decodes it and answers in the same code. Then agree on a different number of places. Players: 2. Time: 8 min. Props: scrap paper and a pencil.
These games to play in class are for when the work is done: free time, indoor recess, the last minutes of a lesson. The pencil games need only a desk, a pencil and scrap paper.
Read the full guide
On your own, with a neighbor or the whole class
The All games menu keeps one kind, from Grid games for two on scrap paper to Whole-class games a teacher runs. Its last entry, More filters, sorts by who is playing: On my own, With a neighbor or The whole class.
Games to play at school outside the classroom
Choose At recess and lunch, with a wall, a ball or chalk for the playground. None of the eight needs more than a ball that bounces or a stick of chalk.
Tips
Ask the teacher first. Most pencil games here are quiet once the grid is drawn.
Questions and answers
Are these games played on a computer?
No. Every game here needs only a desk, a pencil and paper, a board, a ball or chalk. Nothing is played on a school device or a phone.
What are good games to play when bored in class?
Ones a teacher would allow once the work is done. For two, try Treblecross on One Row of Squares or Wild Tic-Tac-Toe, Either Mark, which take three minutes. Alone, Four Fours and Hailstone Numbers look like math practice.
What are fun games to play during class with everyone?
Write What Most of the Class Will Write takes five minutes and one scrap of paper each. Guess It Before the Last Line and Odd One Out, Write Why need only the board and a scrap of paper, and nobody leaves a seat.
How do you play SOS on paper?
Draw a grid and take turns writing an S or an O in any square. Whoever completes S-O-S in a straight line scores and goes again. The most lines when the grid is full wins.
Dots and Boxes in the Margin, 4 by 4 Dots1. First draw four rows of four dots in the margin: small enough to finish before the next lesson starts. 2. Take turns joining two dots that are side by side with one line. 3. Close the fourth side of a box and you write your initial in it and take another turn. 4. Nine boxes means there is always a winner. Play best of three margins. Players: 2. Time: 4 min. Props: scrap paper and a pencil.
Line of Four on Squared Paper1. First draw a box of 7 by 7 squares. 2. One player is X and the other is O. Take turns marking any empty square. 3. Four of your marks in a row wins, across, down or diagonally. 4. A full box with no line of four is a draw. The loser starts the next game. Players: 2. Time: 5 min. Props: scrap paper and a pencil.
Odd Against Even: Three Numbers That Make Fifteen1. First draw a tic-tac-toe board. One player has the odd numbers 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9, and the other has 2, 4, 6 and 8. 2. Odd goes first. Take turns writing one of your numbers in an empty square. 3. Each number may be used once in the whole game. 4. Whoever completes a line of three that adds up to exactly 15 wins, whoever wrote the other numbers in it. Players: 2. Time: 5 min. Props: scrap paper and a pencil.
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Grid games for two on scrap paper, continued
Rectangle Rush1. First draw a box of 10 by 10 squares. 2. On your turn, outline any rectangle of free squares, as small as one square or as big as you like, and shade it in your own pattern. 3. A rectangle may not overlap one that is already shaded. 4. The player who shades the last free square wins. Big early rectangles change who that will be. Players: 2. Time: 6 min. Props: scrap paper and a pencil.
Sea Battle on a 5 by 5 Grid, Three Ships1. First each player draws two grids of 5 by 5 squares, with letters across the top and numbers down the side. 2. On the first grid, hide three ships: one of three squares and two of two squares, across or down. 3. Take turns whispering a square, such as B4. The other answers "hit" or "miss", and you mark your second grid. 4. Sink all three ships first to win. Players: 2. Time: 8 min. Props: scrap paper and a pencil each.
SOS on a Small Grid1. First rule a box of 5 by 5 squares on scrap paper. 2. Each turn, a player writes one letter in any free square: an S or an O, whichever suits. 3. Whoever finishes the word SOS in a line of three, in any direction, rings it, takes a point and plays again. 4. When no square is left, the player with more rings wins. A box this small is over before the bell. Players: 2. Time: 8 min. Props: scrap paper and a pencil.
Sprouts From Two Spots1. First draw two spots. Longer games start with more spots, so this short version fits a few spare minutes. 2. On your turn, draw a line from a spot to a spot, or from a spot back to itself, and put a new spot somewhere on that line. 3. No line may cross another, and no spot may have more than three lines. 4. The player who cannot draw a line loses. With two spots the game is over in five moves or fewer. Players: 2. Time: 3 min. Props: scrap paper and a pencil.
Treasure Dig, Warmer or Colder1. First draw a grid of 6 by 6 squares with letters across and numbers down. The hider writes one secret square on a folded scrap. 2. The digger names a square. 3. The hider answers with a number: how many squares away the treasure is, counting across plus down. 4. Count the digs it takes to hit the treasure, then swap. Fewer digs wins. Players: 2. Time: 5 min. Props: scrap paper and a pencil.
Treblecross on One Row of Squares1. First draw one row of twelve squares along the bottom of the page. 2. Take turns writing an X in any empty square. Both players use X. 3. The player who makes three X in a row wins. 4. So never leave two X with a gap between them, or two X side by side. Try a row of fifteen next. Players: 2. Time: 3 min. Props: scrap paper and a pencil.
Wild Tic-Tac-Toe, Either Mark1. First draw an ordinary tic-tac-toe board. 2. On your turn, write an X or an O, whichever you like, in an empty square. 3. Nobody owns a letter. The player who completes three of the same letter in a row wins. 4. So every mark you make can help either of you. Players: 2. Time: 3 min. Props: scrap paper and a pencil.
Word games on paper 9
Add a Letter, Keep a Word1. First write a one-letter word at the top: A or I. 2. The next player adds one letter and may rearrange the letters to make a new word: A, AT, EAT, TEAM. 3. Keep taking turns, and write each new word below the last. 4. The player who cannot make a longer word loses the round. Players: 2 to 3. Time: 5 min. Props: scrap paper and a pencil.
Alphabet Sentence, Twenty-Six Words in Order1. First write the alphabet down the side of the page. 2. Write a sentence, or a tiny story, in which the first word starts with A, the second with B, and so on. 3. A brave cat darted eagerly: keep it going as far as you can. 4. Compare with a neighbor. Whoever got farther through the alphabet without nonsense wins. Players: 1 or 2. Time: 8 min. Props: scrap paper and a pencil.
Call a Letter, Fill Your Own Grid1. First each player draws a private grid of 4 by 4 squares. 2. Take turns calling out any letter. Both players must write it in an empty square of their own grid. 3. After sixteen letters, find the words you made across and down. 4. Score the number of letters in each word of three letters or more. The higher total wins. Players: 2 to 4. Time: 8 min. Props: scrap paper and a pencil each.
Five Categories, One Letter, Sixty Seconds1. First draw five columns and head them: a name, an animal, a food, a place, a thing in this room. 2. One player opens a book at random and reads the first letter on the page. 3. Both write one answer in each column that starts with that letter. Stop after one minute. 4. An answer the other player did not write scores a point. Players: 2 to 4. Time: 5 min. Props: scrap paper and a pencil.
Leaky Balloon Letter Guess1. First draw a large balloon with a string. One player thinks of a word and draws a dash for each letter. 2. The other guesses a letter. A right letter goes on its dashes. 3. For each wrong letter, the setter erases a little of the balloon and redraws it smaller. 4. The eighth wrong guess leaves only the string. Name the word before the air runs out. Players: 2 to 4. Time: 6 min. Props: scrap paper, a pencil and an eraser.
Lost to Find: Change One Letter a Step1. First write two words of the same length at the top and bottom of a column, such as LOST and FIND. 2. Change one letter at a time to climb from one to the other. 3. Every step must be a real word: lost, list, lint, line, fine, find. 4. Race a neighbor on the same pair. The first finished ladder wins, and so does the shortest. Players: 1 or 2. Time: 6 min. Props: scrap paper and a pencil.
Rhyme Rally on Paper1. First write one short word at the top of a sheet, such as LIGHT. 2. Pass the sheet back and forth. Each player adds one word that rhymes with it. 3. No repeats, and no names. 4. The player who gives up, or writes a word that is not real, loses. The winner picks the next word. Players: 2. Time: 4 min. Props: scrap paper and a pencil.
The Sentence With No E1. First agree on a topic, such as the weather or a dog. 2. Each player writes a sentence about it that does not use the letter E. 3. It must be at least eight words long and must make sense. 4. Swap and check. A sentence with no E scores a point, and the longer one scores a bonus. Players: 1 to 4. Time: 5 min. Props: scrap paper and a pencil.
Slide the Alphabet Three Places1. First write the alphabet in a row, and under it write the alphabet again starting from D, so that A sits over D and B over E. 2. Write a short message to a neighbor, swapping each letter for the one below it. 3. Pass the note. 4. The neighbor decodes it and answers in the same code. Then agree on a different number of places. Players: 2. Time: 8 min. Props: scrap paper and a pencil.
Games for one 9
The 6174 Trick1. First write any four-digit number in which the digits are not all the same. 2. Arrange its digits from biggest to smallest, then from smallest to biggest, and subtract the second from the first. 3. Do the same again with the answer, keeping any zero at the front. 4. Within seven subtractions you land on 6174, and you stay there. Try a new number. Players: 1. Time: 6 min. Props: scrap paper and a pencil.
Draw a Maze, Then Lose the Path1. First draw a wiggly path in light pencil from one corner of the page to the opposite one. 2. Add branches that lead to dead ends. 3. Go over all the walls in pen and erase your guide line. 4. Tomorrow, try to solve your own maze, or hand it to a friend at lunch. Players: 1. Time: 10 min. Props: scrap paper, a pencil, a pen and an eraser.
Four Fours1. First write the numbers 0 to 10 down the page. 2. Beside each, make that number using exactly four 4s with plus, minus, times, divide and brackets. 3. Two 4s side by side may stand for 44. For example, 44 minus 4, divided by 4, is 10. 4. All eleven can be done. How many can you find before the bell? Players: 1. Time: 10 min. Props: scrap paper and a pencil.
Hailstone Numbers1. First write any whole number. 2. If it is even, halve it. If it is odd, multiply it by three and add one. 3. Write the answer and repeat. Every number anyone has tried ends at 1. 4. Count your steps. Then try 27, which takes 111 steps and climbs as high as 9,232 on the way. Players: 1. Time: 8 min. Props: scrap paper and a pencil.
How Many Squares on a 5 by 5 Grid?1. First draw a grid of 5 by 5 small squares. 2. Count every square you can find in it, of any size. 3. The answer is more than 25, because squares can be made of 4, 9, 16 or 25 small ones. 4. Check yourself: 25 small, 16 of the next size, then 9, 4 and 1 big one make 55. Now try 6 by 6. Players: 1. Time: 5 min. Props: scrap paper and a pencil.
Knight's Tour on a 5 by 5 Grid1. First draw a grid of 5 by 5 squares and write 1 in a corner. 2. Move as a chess knight does, two squares one way and one to the side, and write 2 where you land. 3. Keep numbering. You may never land on a square twice. 4. Reach 25 and you have visited every square. Most people need several tries. Players: 1. Time: 10 min. Props: scrap paper and a pencil.
Magic Square, Every Line Makes 151. First draw a grid of 3 by 3 squares. 2. Fit the numbers 1 to 9 into it, each used once. 3. Every row, every column and both diagonals must add up to 15. 4. Solved it? Turn or flip your square and check that it still works. Players: 1. Time: 8 min. Props: scrap paper and a pencil.
Mirror Half Without Folding1. First fold a sheet in half and open it again, so that the fold is a mirror line. 2. On the left of the fold, draw half of something: half a face, half a butterfly, half a castle. 3. Now draw the other half on the right as an exact mirror image, without folding or tracing. 4. Fold the sheet shut and hold it to the window to see how close you came. Players: 1. Time: 8 min. Props: scrap paper and a pencil.
Word Square: Same Across and Down1. First draw a grid of 3 by 3 squares. 2. Fill it with letters so that the three words reading across are the same three words reading down. 3. For example, the rows CAT, ARE and TEN read the same down the columns. 4. Make one of your own, then try for a square of 4 by 4. Players: 1. Time: 8 min. Props: scrap paper and a pencil.
Whole-class games a teacher runs 9
Bingo With Nine Numbers You Choose1. First everyone draws a grid of 3 by 3 squares and fills it with nine different numbers from 1 to 30. 2. The teacher calls numbers in any order, or calls sums whose answers are the numbers. 3. Cross off a number when it comes up. 4. Three in a line wins. Play on until someone has a full grid. Players: 6 to 30. Time: 8 min. Props: paper and a pencil each.
Five Words and Pass It Back1. First the front desk of each row gets one sheet with the opening five words of a story. 2. Each student adds exactly five words and passes the sheet back. 3. Nobody talks, and nobody may end the story before the last desk. 4. The last desk of each row writes an ending and reads the whole story aloud. Players: 6 to 30. Time: 8 min. Props: one sheet for each row and a pencil each.
Guess It Before the Last Line1. First the teacher chooses something to draw, and plans to draw it in ten strokes. 2. The teacher draws one stroke on the board and numbers it. 3. Students may write down one guess at any time, with the number of the stroke on the board at that moment. 4. After the tenth stroke, the earliest correct guess wins. Players: 6 to 30. Time: 5 min. Props: the board, paper and a pencil each.
Hit the Total With Six Numbers1. First the teacher writes six small numbers on the board and one total between 100 and 999. 2. Everyone has one minute to reach the total, or get close, using the six numbers with plus, minus, times and divide. 3. Each number may be used once, and not all of them have to be used. 4. The closest answer explains the working at the board. Players: 6 to 30. Time: 5 min. Props: the board, paper and a pencil each.
How Many Words on This Page?1. First the teacher holds up one page of a book that is full of print. 2. Each student writes an estimate of how many words are on the page, and nobody says theirs aloud. 3. Count the words in one full line together, count the lines, and multiply. 4. The estimate closest to that answer wins, and its writer chooses the next page. Players: 6 to 30. Time: 5 min. Props: a book, paper and a pencil each.
Odd One Out, Write Why1. First the teacher writes four words on the board, such as apple, banana, carrot and cherry. 2. Everyone writes which one does not belong, and a reason. 3. Any true reason counts: carrot is not a fruit, and banana is the only one with no double letter. 4. Collect the reasons. The row with the most different true reasons wins. Players: 6 to 30. Time: 5 min. Props: the board, paper and a pencil each.
Row Race From A to Z1. First the teacher names a category, such as animals or things in a kitchen. 2. Each row gets one sheet. The first desk writes a word starting with A and passes it back. 3. The next desk writes a B word, and the sheet snakes up and down the row through the alphabet. 4. A row may skip three letters. The first row to reach Z wins if every word fits. Players: 6 to 30. Time: 8 min. Props: one sheet for each row and a pencil each.
The Teacher's Hidden Rule1. First the teacher thinks of a rule for words, such as "has a double letter" or "is something alive", and writes two words that pass on the board. 2. Students write a word they think will pass and hold it up. 3. The teacher sorts each word into a Pass column or a Fail column. 4. Anyone may write a guess at the rule and hand it in. The first correct note chooses the next rule. Players: 6 to 30. Time: 8 min. Props: the board, paper and a pencil each.
Write What Most of the Class Will Write1. First everyone takes a scrap of paper. 2. The teacher gives a prompt with many answers, such as "a fruit", "a color" or "something in a pencil case". 3. Each student secretly writes the answer they think most classmates will write. 4. Hands up for each answer. Everyone who wrote the most popular one scores a point. Five prompts make a game. Players: 6 to 30. Time: 5 min. Props: a scrap of paper and a pencil each.
At recess and lunch, with a wall, a ball or chalk 8
Chalk Maze to Walk1. First one player chalks a maze on the ground, as big as a parking space, with one way in and one way out. 2. The others walk it one at a time without stepping on a line. 3. Step on a line or reach a dead end, and you go back to the start. 4. The fastest walker draws the next maze. Players: 2 to 6. Time: 10 min. Props: chalk.
Chalk Numbers Stomp1. First chalk the numbers 0 to 12 on the ground, spread out inside a big circle. 2. A caller shouts a sum, such as "seven take away three". 3. The players walk fast to stand on the answer. Only one foot from each player fits on a number. 4. The first foot down scores a point. The caller changes after five sums. Players: 3 to 8. Time: 8 min. Props: chalk.
Feet Apart, Roll for a Goal1. First two players stand ten steps apart, facing each other, feet apart to make a gate. 2. Take turns rolling the ball along the ground at the other gate. 3. The defender may block with hands only and may not move their feet. 4. A ball through the gate scores a point. First to five, then take one step closer. Players: 2. Time: 6 min. Props: a ball.
Follow the Chalk Arrows1. First one pair gets a two-minute head start with a piece of chalk. 2. They walk a route around the playground, drawing a small arrow on the ground at every turn, and hide at the end. 3. They may draw two false arrows that lead nowhere. 4. The others follow the trail and try to find them before the bell. Stay inside the school grounds. Players: 4 to 10. Time: 10 min. Props: chalk.
Miss a Catch, Take a Letter1. First choose a word of five letters, such as CHALK. 2. Stand in a circle and throw the ball to each other in any order, with gentle underarm throws. 3. Drop a fair throw and you take the next letter of the word. 4. A player who has spelled the whole word becomes the judge of fair throws. The last player still catching wins. Players: 3 to 8. Time: 8 min. Props: a ball.
Ten Tricks Off the Wall1. First find a wall with no windows and nobody walking past. 2. Throw the ball at the wall and catch it ten times. Then nine times with a clap before the catch. 3. Then eight with one bounce, seven with one hand, six after a spin, and so on down to one, inventing a trick for each number. 4. Drop the ball and your turn passes. Start again at the number you missed. Players: 1 to 4. Time: 10 min. Props: a ball that bounces and a wall.
Three Rings Chalked on a Wall1. First chalk three rings on a wall, one inside the other, and write 1, 3 and 5 in them. 2. Stand behind a line five steps back. 3. Each player throws a soft ball at the target three times. 4. Add up the rings you hit. A tie is settled one step farther back. Rub the chalk off at the end if your school asks. Players: 2 to 6. Time: 6 min. Props: a soft ball and chalk.
Two Square, One Bounce Each1. First chalk a rectangle about four steps long and draw a line across the middle. 2. Stand in one half each. Bounce the ball once in your own half and hit it with an open hand into the other half. 3. It must bounce once there before the other player hits it back. 4. Miss it, hit it out or let it bounce twice, and the other player scores. First to seven. Players: 2. Time: 8 min. Props: a ball that bounces and chalk.
How this list was compiled: Written by the Game Night Generator editors on 2026-10-03 for the minutes when the work is done, for indoor recess and for the playground, in our own words. Nothing is played on a device, and the pencil games are quiet enough for a desk. Minutes and player counts are our estimates. Named games and number facts were checked on 2026-10-03 against English Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ followed by the name): SOS_(paper-and-pencil_game), Dots_and_boxes, Sprouts_(game), Battleship_(game), M,n,k-game, Tic-tac-toe_variants (wild, Treblecross and numerical), Word_ladder, Hangman_(game), Magic_square, Knight%27s_tour, Four_fours, Kaprekar%27s_routine (6174 within seven steps) and Collatz_conjecture (27 takes 111 steps and reaches 9,232). Licence: own work