SPLAT: A New Class Favorite

I introduced a new game to my students to get them ready to take their October Competency, and it was a hit! All of my classes play a game for at least ten minutes of class on Fridays. It's a great way to build community and motivate students at the end of a week. Sometimes the games are simply for fun and not related to content, but I'm always on the hunt for games that are engaging while still facilitating learning. In this search, I remembered SPLAT.

SPLAT is a game I found online during my college years and kept in the back of my mind. You need fly swatters (I bought mine on Amazon) and a concept to review. The game is simple: I split my students into two teams. One student from each team comes up, and I shout out a term of some sort. The first person to "splat" the correct term with the fly swatter gets a point for their team. You rotate through your students on each team until time is up or you feel they've reviewed thoroughly.

I reviewed different concepts with each of my classes. This included note names, solfege placement on the staff, and key signatures. One thing I made clear from the start was that if anyone used the fly swatters to hit anything but the board, they would be immediately removed from the game. All of my classes were able to adhere to this. I included a few video examples below, and you can hear my students helping each other or cheering in some of the clips. My classes were completely engaged in the competition and wanted their team to win.

If you are looking for a simple and fun way to review a concept, I would highly recommend SPLAT. It has been two weeks since the last time we played, and my students keep asking when the next time that they get to play with the fly swatters will be.

SPLAT Example 1 SPLAT Example 2 SPLAT Example 3 SPLAT Example 4

*All students in videos have media release forms on file with the district. All students in the class also gave consent to be filmed.