Geometry in 5th grade can be a hands-on, exciting subject, covering everything from classifying shapes and angles to exploring the coordinate plane and calculating volume. When it comes time for review, ditch the dull worksheets and bring the fun back into your classroom with engaging, free classroom math games for 5th grade geometry review.
Here are some of the best no-cost, low-prep games and activities to solidify your students’ understanding of geometric concepts.
I. Hands-On and Movement-Based Review Games
Getting students moving and physically interacting with the concepts is a fantastic way to review. These games are low on materials but high on engagement.
1. Shape Scavenger Hunt / Task Card Scoot
This activity blends movement with problem-solving and can be easily customized to target specific geometry standards.
- Geometry Focus: Lines, angles, 2D/3D shapes, attributes of shapes.
- How to Play (Scavenger Hunt):
- Create a list of geometry terms or definitions (e.g., “Find an object that is a rectangular prism,” “Find two parallel lines,” or “Find a right angle”).
- Divide students into teams and send them on a hunt around the classroom or school to find real-world examples of the terms.
- Students record the object and explain how it represents the term.
- How to Play (Scoot/Task Cards):
- Print out 15-20 geometry review questions (task cards) and tape them to desks or walls around the room.
- Give each student a numbered recording sheet.
- Students “scoot” from one card to the next, solving the problem and recording the answer on their sheet before the teacher calls “Scoot!”
2. Angle and Shape Bingo
Turn a classic game into a quick-fire geometry review session.
- Geometry Focus: Identifying and classifying angles (acute, obtuse, right), classifying polygons, identifying lines (parallel, perpendicular, intersecting).
- How to Play:
- Provide students with blank 5×5 Bingo cards and have them fill the squares with a variety of geometry terms (e.g., quadrilateral, acute angle, intersecting lines, rhombus, 90 degrees, trapezoid, perpendicular).
- Instead of calling out the word, you call out the definition or attribute. For example: “A four-sided figure with exactly one pair of parallel sides.” (Answer: Trapezoid).
- The first student to get five in a row wins.
3. “Marshmallow” Geometry Builders
A simple, kinesthetic activity that reinforces understanding of 3D shapes.
- Geometry Focus: 3D shapes, vertices, edges, faces.
- How to Play:
- Give small groups of students toothpicks (or pretzel sticks) and small marshmallows (or small playdough balls).
- Challenge them to construct various 3D shapes from their review list (e.g., a cube, a triangular prism, a rectangular pyramid).
- The toothpicks represent the edges, and the marshmallows/playdough represent the vertices. This provides an instant visual and tactile way to count and understand these key properties.
II. Digital and Online Interactive Games
If you have access to computers, tablets, or a class projector, these free online resources offer engaging, standards-aligned geometry practice.
4. Coordinate Plane Battleship (or “Coordinates Secrecy”)
This classic game is perfectly adapted for practicing plotting points on the coordinate plane.
- Geometry Focus: Coordinate plane, ordered pairs, axes ( and ).
- How to Play:
- Students work in pairs. Each student needs two coordinate grids.
- On one grid (“My Ships”), they secretly draw a few “ships” by coloring in connected points (e.g., a 4-unit ship, two 3-unit ships).
- On the second grid (“Enemy Fire”), they track their guesses.
- Players take turns calling out an ordered pair, such as . Their partner reports “Hit,” “Miss,” or “Sunk” based on their “My Ships” grid.
- The first player to sink all of their opponent’s ships wins. You can find free printable one-quadrant coordinate grids online.
5. Interactive Online Geometry Platforms
Many educational websites offer free games that cover specific 5th-grade geometry standards.
- Geometry Focus: Classifying polygons and quadrilaterals, volume, coordinate graphing, lines of symmetry.
- Examples of Free Topics to Search:
- Classify Quadrilateral Shapes: Games where students drag-and-drop shapes into the correct categories (parallelograms, rhombuses, rectangles, squares, etc.) based on their attributes. (Result 1.9, 1.3)
- Locate Coordinates: Interactive exercises where students must read and select the ordered pair for a point on the grid. (Result 1.3, 1.6)
- Volume: Games practicing the formula or counting unit cubes to find the volume of rectangular prisms. (Result 2.2)
III. Whole-Class Review Competitions
Reviewing as a whole class can build a sense of team and healthy competition, making the lesson memorable.
6. Geometry Jeopardy
A classic game show format can make any review topic instantly exciting.
- Geometry Focus: Comprehensive review covering multiple topics (Volume, 2D Shapes, Angles, Coordinate Plane, etc.).
- How to Play:
- Use a free online template (like those on a search for “free jeopardy template for teachers”) or simply use a whiteboard to set up categories and point values.
- Divide the class into teams.
- A team selects a category and point value (e.g., “2D Shapes for 400”).
- The teacher reads the answer (which is actually the question in the Jeopardy format, e.g., “This type of triangle has two equal sides and two equal angles”).
- The team must buzz in and state the question (e.g., “What is an isosceles triangle?”). Award points for correct answers.
7. Trashketball (Geometry Edition)
Add a physical challenge to your question-and-answer review for extra motivation.
- Geometry Focus: Any geometry topic you want to review.
- How to Play:
- Divide the class into teams.
- Ask a geometry review question.
- Any team that correctly answers the question earns a point and a chance to shoot a crumbled piece of paper (the “trashketball”) into a trash can.
- Mark a 1-point line and a 2-point line on the floor. If a student makes the basket, their team earns bonus points.
Key 5th Grade Geometry Standards to Review
When planning your games, focus on these core concepts introduced in 5th grade:
- The Coordinate Plane (Graphing ordered pairs, understanding the – and -axes).
- Classifying 2D Shapes (Using a hierarchy, distinguishing quadrilaterals, identifying attributes of polygons).
- Volume (Understanding volume as counting unit cubes, using the formula for rectangular prisms).
- Lines and Angles (Identifying parallel, perpendicular, and intersecting lines; classifying angles).
