Got a few extra minutes before recess? Are your students going nuts because lunch is still five minutes away and they’re done with everything? Is it a dreaded day of inside recess? Why not play a quick game of “Pancake or Waffle?” According to his TikTok, Mr. Kyle Cohen’s 4th graders are obsessed with playing this game. The rules are simple, but the outcome is hilarious! Here’s how you play:

How to play Pancake or Waffle

  1. Choose a student to get the game started. That student thinks of an object (Mr. Cohen’s example is a book). It can be any object, but the student can’t say what they choose out loud. They keep it a secret in their brain.
  2. Have that student decide whether the chosen object is more like a pancake or more like a waffle. A book, for example, might be more like a pancake – they’re both flat. The student tells the others that it’s more like a pancake and then play moves to the next person.
  3. The next player then asks if the chosen item is more like a pancake (since pancake was selected) or another random object of their choice. Mr. Cohen’s example is, “Is it more like a pancake or a phone?” The current player decides the answer – more like a pancake or more like a phone.
  4. Play continues like this until someone guesses the first object, in this case a book.

A fun way to practice critical thinking skills

There are advantages to playing Pancake or Waffle that go beyond the chance to calm students down or fill a few minutes. This is a great way to encourage students to use a bit of their critical thinking skills. Obviously, a book and a pancake are very different objects, but since they’re both flat, a student might deduce that a book is more closely related to a pancake than a waffle. Students must also come up with a new object to compare or contrast when it is their turn, which encourages creativity and thinking outside of the box.

Pancake or Waffle is a great way to let loose and have some fun with your class. Sometimes kids just need a break to do something purely entertaining – Mr. Cohen’s 4th graders give this game a ten out of ten for fun!

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