20 Totally Fun Kahoot Ideas and Tips You’ll Want To Try Right Away

If you’re like most teachers, you’re already using Kahoot with your students. This free online quiz game generator is incredibly popular, and for a good reason. Teachers show the questions, and students use the completely safe app on their own devices (like Chromebooks or smartphones) to respond. Kids absolutely love these games, making them an excellent way to ramp up classroom engagement. Even experienced users might not know about all the cool Kahoot ideas and tricks out there, so check out this roundup to find new ways to use this terrific tech tool!

New Kahoot user? No worries! It’s extremely simple to use. Check out this video guide for a full walkthrough.

1. Set Kahoot expectations

Source: Hope Emoff/Pinterest

Kids can get a little competitive when they play games in class, so set some ground rules right up front. Remind kids this is all about the learning, and when they follow the rules, everyone benefits.

2. Combine Kahoot with Bitmoji

Kahoot teamed up with Bitmoji, and it’s a match made in heaven! Teachers and students can use their personal Bitmoji when they play, and it’s free for all users! Find out more here.

3. Explore the public Kahoot library

Need some quick Kahoot ideas? Save time by using a free public Kahoot from the huge library on the Discover page. It includes ready-to-play quizzes on pretty much any topic you can think of, all created by other teachers and educators.

4. Edit and customize existing Kahoots

If you find a Kahoot you like but want to customize it for your class, you may be able to duplicate and edit it. Check out this video to learn how it works.

5. Add a theme to change the background

Make your Kahoots even more fun when you add a theme. Free users only have access to a limited number of themes, but there are still plenty of choices.

6. Use Vimeo to add videos to Kahoot

There are a variety of ways to add videos to Kahoot, including their new collaboration with Vimeo. Learn more about how it works here.

7. Spice up your Kahoots with animated gifs

Kids love animated gifs, right? So it’s totally awesome that Kahoot partnered with GIPHY to make it simple to insert pretty much any gif right into your quizzes. Get the incredibly easy instructions here.

8. Assign Kahoot challenges for homework

When you assign a Kahoot as a challenge, students play on their own, working only to improve their own score. You can turn the timer off if you just want them to focus on the questions and answers, or turn it on to practice skills like math facts that require quick responses. Students can also opt to replay questions until they get them correct, making this an excellent option for pre-test review. Learn how to assign a Kahoot challenge to Google Classroom here.

9. Let Kahoot read the questions and answers aloud

Empower younger students or those with visual challenges by enabling Read Aloud mode in Kahoot. Kids can hear the questions and possible answers read aloud before they choose their answer. Explore the read aloud option here.

10. Use Reports for formative assessments

When you assign Kahoot challenges, you’ll receive detailed information about which questions were missed most often, along with score info pinpointing those who got less than 35% correct. This is a terrific way to determine which topics need more review and who needs a little extra help with the subject. Learn more about Kahoot challenges here.

11. Use a Blind Kahoot to introduce new topics

This is one of those brilliant Kahoot ideas you’ll want to try right away. Instead of using the game to reinforce what students already know, teacher Stephanie Castle decided to try to use it to introduce new concepts instead. Through carefully structured questions based on her lesson plan, she gradually helped students understand entirely new material. She found kids were more engaged and truly had a better grasp of the topic. Watch the video to see what it’s all about, then give it a try yourself using this guide, which includes a free blank template.

12. Ask kids to show their thinking

Here’s another way to use Kahoot to explore topics more deeply. Break questions into multiple sections. Begin by asking kids to explain how they’ll come up with the answer. Give them more time to think, and don’t assign any points for this question. Then, follow that up with a question asking for the answer itself, in a shorter amount of time. Find out more from Mathy Cathy.

13. Collaborate with a Jigsaw Kahoot

If you love using the collaborative Jigsaw Method in your classroom, consider adding a team Kahoot competition. With a variety of “resident experts” on each team, students will have even more fun competing. Explore the Jigsaw Method and discover how to use it with Kahoot at Melting Teacher.

14. Encourage improvement with Ghost mode

When you’ve finished a game, you have the option to play it again. This time around, repeat players can play against their own “ghosts” to try to better their scores. For each question, the “ghost” version will answer the same way they did in the previous round. At the end, players can see if they managed to improve their scores, showing how much they’ve learned. Explore Ghost mode here.

15. Play without student devices

Playing on devices like phones or Chromebooks is a lot of fun, but it can also cause problems. If you’d like to take devices out of the picture, use this free printable instead! Kids simply fold it to show their answer, then hold it up for the teacher to see. Visit The Primary Peach to get the printable and learn how to use it.

16. Challenge students to create their own Kahoot game

When you teach something to someone else, you show that you’ve truly mastered it yourself. Have your students create their own Kahoot games for review, then share them with their classmates. Kahoot calls the process “Learners to Leaders” and describes it in detail in their Kahoot! Academy Guide.

17. Break the ice with a Selfie Kahoot

Kahoot ideas like this one make it so much fun for your class to get to know you—and each other! Use the free templates to create a quiz all about yourself for the first day of class. Then, have your students create their own. You can assign them as challenges or do one or two each day in class until everyone has had their turn. Find Kahoot icebreaker templates here.

18. Host a Geography Bee

The National Geographic National Geography Bee challenges students from around the world to show what they know about the world. You can host your own geography bee using National Geographic’s free official Kahoot ideas and quizzes. Find them all here.

19. Include Kahoot in your sub plans

Kahoot review games are terrific for substitute teachers to play with students. Make the experience more meaningful by having students explain why each answer is correct before moving on. They’ll love the chance to teach the teacher and show off their knowledge!

20. Take a Kahoot poll

If you have one of Kahoot’s upgraded accounts, you have the ability to create polls and surveys. But if you’re using the free plan, you can still make it work! Simply create your question(s), set it for zero points, and mark all answers as correct. When you assign the quiz, turn off the timer. Kids provide their answers, and you’ll see the results for each question, as with any other quiz.

How do you use Kahoot in your classroom? Come share in the WeAreTeachers HELPLINE group on Facebook.

Plus, the 10 Best Tech Tools for Student Engagement.