Keeping up with the cool new classroom game trends can get a little expensive. If you're wanting to add fun games to your class without breaking the bank, look no further than the plastic cup.
The cup is versatile and inexpensive and can be used in a multitude of games. We've got 20 cup games you can play in any classroom.
Cup Games for Preschool
1. Blow the Cups
This vocabulary review game involves the students blowing a line of cups across the table and then racing to find the vocabulary flashcard that is assigned to them. These are simple learning games but very effective and fun for the students.
Watch Zion Love play this with her students.
Learn more: Zion Love
2. Cup Grab
This game tests the students' knowledge of their colors. Using different colored cups, the teacher shouts a color, and the students will race to grab that cup first.
Watch the students in Muxi's classroom play.
Learn more: English Teaching Games
3. What Do You Want?
In this game, the teacher tells the students what he wants and the students must place a ping pong ball in the cup matching that vocabulary word. These are great game ideas for any subject in school.
Learn more: English Teaching Games
4. Speedy Stacking Cups
This is a speech therapy game but can still be helpful as a fun sound learning activity. Sparklle SLP created this activity that combines target speech sound practice and cup stacking.
Learn more: Teachers Pay Teachers
5. Mini Cup Stacking
Your preschoolers will adore these mini plastic cups that are just their size. Have a cup stacking competition for them using the mini cups. The one that can make the tallest stack wins.
Learn more: Amazon
Cup Games for Elementary
6. Cup Pong
After putting your students in pairs, give them each one cup. As a pair, they must land six ping pong balls inside the cup. If one student misses a toss, they must restart.
Learn more: Outscord Games
7. Stack It
Elementary Littles created task cards meant to test your students' critical thinking skills. The students try to recreate the towers shown on each card and even attempt to build the tallest tower and be the last tower standing.
You'll definitely want these for your classroom!
Learn more: Teachers Pay Teachers
8. Pass the Ball
This is a great game with sight words or vocabulary words. Assign each student a word and then the students will race to pass a ball through their cups one by one and find their word first.
Learn more: Zion Love
9. Bowling
Bowling is a fun game for kids that you could do with so many objects. With cups, you could simply place them in a pyramid, or you could make bowling pins with the cups. They used a nerf ball, but you could also use a tennis ball. This is a great way to keep the kids busy!
Learn more: Path Through the Narrow Gate
10. Toppling the Pyramid
Let the students build a few cup towers. Then, give the students rubber bands and staples. The students shoot their staples at the tower and see whose stack of cups falls first!
Learn more: Games 4 Youth Groups
Cup Games for Middle School
11. Ping Pong Bucket Bounce
Here's an exciting cup game to break up your middle school lessons. Your game supplies are 8-10 ping pong balls, a rectangle table, a strip of masking tape, and two cups (or buckets). Students try to bounce the ping pong ball into their opponent's bucket. The first student with three balls in is the winner.
Learn more: The Kevin J. Butler
12. Stack It
This is a perfect group activity game. Give your students 10-20 cups and see who can stack the tallest tower on top of their heads.
Learn more: Shawn Howell
13. Flip Cup Tic Tac Toe
If you have middle schoolers, they probably know how to play flip cup, but we're combining that with Tic Tac Toe. Students flip a cup until it lands face-down on the table. Students then get to make their mark on the game board.
Learn more: Shawn M. Howell
14. Cup Stacking
@tonjateaches uses this review game with her eighth-graders and colored cups. Each review question has the answers listed in different colors. The students must make a cup stack with the top cup color corresponding to the correct answer color.
Learn more: Tonja Teaches
Cup Games for High School
15. Math Pong
Here's a twist on the normal cup pong game. Pair it with a math review and assign points to each cup. If a student gets a question right, they can shoot their shot in hopes of scoring big.
Learn more: The Teaching Files
16. Trashketball
Who thinks of trashketball as a game with cups? Instead of using a trash can, switch it out for some plastic cups. The smaller target makes this a more challenging game.
If you're not familiar with trashketball, check out this teacher's explanation.
Learn more: Surviving Grade 5
17. Target Practice
For an exciting game with your high schoolers, all you need are some PVC pipes, nerf guns, string, and plastic cups. Assign point values to the cups, hang them from a PVC frame, and shoot! You can keep the target game basic or build a more elaborate setup.
Learn more: Frugal Fun 4 Boys
18. Cup Ballet
Outscord has great party game ideas and the next three come from them. For this game, separate the students into pairs. One student will flip a cup while the other student tries to catch that cup with a water bottle. Add an extra challenge by not allowing the catcher to move past a certain point or out of their original position.
Learn more: Outscord
19. Leaning Tower of Cups
This game will really show your students' skill level. The students bounce a ball into a cup, then place an index card on top and another cup on top of the card. The next student bounces the ball into that cup and then repeats with the index card and cup stacking. Once you have four cups stacked, that student must remove each index card without the tower toppling.
Learn more: Outscord Games
20. This Blows
This will be one of your next go-to party games. Make a line of cups on one side of a table and the students stand on the other side with a balloon. Students must blow air into the balloon and then release the air towards the cups with the purpose of blowing the cups off the table. The first to blow all of their cups off wins.
Learn more: Outscord
20 Best Word Games for Kids Recommended by Teachers