How to Play Scoot Games - Savvy School Counselor

I have loved playing Scoot games with my students through the years. Scoot lessons are always fun for students because they can get up from their seats and move about the classroom. These games are great for reviewing different topics discussed during the school year. So far, I have six Scoot games in my store. (Test Taking, Attendance, Character Ed., Middle School Transition, Bullying Prevention, and Meet the Counselor) Today’s post talks about how to play Scoot for those of you who aren’t familiar with the game.

Playing Scoot

The very first Scoot game I created was a part of the School Counselor Activity Pack for December and it focused on bullying prevention. After a customer asked if the game could be recreated to be used outside of its seasonal theme, I made the stand-alone version minus the reindeer. As the years went by, I created additional topics with Attendance Scoot and Character Ed. Scoot being my most recent.

Each game comes with 28 Scoot Cards and an answer sheet. Once the cards are printed and laminated, they can be reused again and again. (Just be sure to ask your students to take good care of them. I’ve found that some students will naturally fold or even roll up the cards for whatever reason. Once you get them back, they don’t flatten out well.)

After laminating the cards, I use a Sharpie to write the number of the card on the back. This is because I like to have my cards face down when the game begins. Before starting the game, you will place the cards in order around the classroom using desks or tables. For example, if students are sitting at their desks in groups of 4, you can put cards 1-4 at one table, 5-8 at another, and so on.

You will only put out the number of cards that match how many students are present for the lesson. If there are 20 students present, hold on to the remaining 8 cards. Once students return to their seats, you can include those cards by reading them aloud to the class and giving them time to mark their answers before you go over all of the answers aloud together at the end.

Each student will need a copy of the answer sheet and a pencil. Clipboards are optional. Answer sheets can vary based on the Scoot Games topic.

How to Play Scoot Games - Savvy School Counselor

To start the game, students will begin with the card assigned to their desks. It is important to explain that if a student has card number 16 on their desk, he or she should begin marking their answer sheet at number 16. Some students will naturally put their first answer in the number 1 spot and their entire sheet of answers will be off. So be sure to take time to explain that and be sure they know to still move forward in numerical order. (If my card is number 11, my next card should be number 12.)

At this point, I also review the path they will take around the room to get to each of the numbers. It’s super important to discuss what happens when students get to the last number (whatever it may be) and where the number 1 card is. I would go to the desk with the last card and physically walk over to where I would need to go next for card number 1 so students get a visual.

Now it’s time to begin. Find a good upbeat song to use that will signal when your students will move or “scoot” to the next card. I would usually bring my iPad with me so I could queue up the song on YouTube. I don’t care how old the song “Happy” gets, it’s a great song choice to get students moving, but any age-appropriate song will do. When I tell the students to begin, it is quiet in the room until I am ready to have them “scoot.” The song plays for just a few seconds and then I hit pause so it is quiet while students are reading and answering their cards.

I said earlier that I write the number for each card on the back so the cards are faced down on each desk. My rule during Scoot is that once a student is finished answering a card, he or she must return the card back to the face-down position so the number is visible to the next student. This rule will also give you a visual as to how many students are ready to “Scoot.” You will be able to scan the room and know that everyone is ready.

While the kids are scooting around, you will be able to glance at their papers or even ask the class to determine when they are doing the last one. When everyone is finished, you can play the music and let them dance back to their seats. At this time, you can review and discuss each of the answers. You can read through each of the cards as you review the answers yourself, or you can have students read the card assigned to their desks/seats and provide their answer choices.

If you haven’t played Scoot with your students, give it a try. You can check out all of my Scoot games and try one for yourself!

Stick around! You can follow Savvy School Counselor with free email updates. You can also follow my TpT Store to keep up with my latest products and freebies. Additionally, I do giveaways through My Facebook Page with my new products. Be sure to like Savvy School Counselor on Facebook and click to receive notifications so you don’t miss them!

Follow @svyschcounselor