When it comes to teaching elementary library classes I try to keep it fun and educational. One of the ways I do this is by offering library centers activities for students to use after a lesson or on specific days. Students want the fun aspect of library centers and my admin wants me to make sure that it is educational…the solution to both is using games like Kaboom!.
Kaboom! is one of my student’s favorite library centers activities. It can be used to practice book genres, shelf order, and the Dewey Decimal System. When it comes to reviewing or practicing these skills Kaboom! is the answer!
How to Play Kaboom!
Extra perk…Kaboom! is a very simple library centers activity. To set up, all you need is a set of Kaboom! cards and a bucket or some type of vessel to put the cards in so students can’t see them when drawing a card.
Let’s use Book Genre Kaboom! for the sake of instruction.
- Students find their place at the table.
- One at a time, students pull a card out of the bucket.
- The student drawing will read the book genre card and then tell the group what genre it is describing.
- If the student gets the correct answer, they keep the card. If not, they put the card back in the bucket.
- The game continues as students take turns playing.
- If a student gets a Kaboom card, that student puts ALL of their cards back into the bucket.
- The student with the most cards at the end of time is the winner.
- I have one “expert” at the table who has the answer key and can judge whether the students have given the correct answer. The “expert” can rotate in and then someone else will become the “expert”.
As you can see, this game can be done with any concept, just switch book genre with one of the other library related Kaboom cards.
Secret fact about the game…IT NEVER ENDS. Eventually, somebody gets a Kaboom! card which means they have to put their cards back in the bucket thus adding to the cards in the bucket over and over again. For library teachers this means students are engaged and learning the full 10 to 15 minutes of the library centers rotation.
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