Free Online Classroom Rewards

Free and Fun Online Classroom Rewards 😃

Looking for some free online classroom rewards for your online students? Here is a list of rewards that cost nothing at all.

These free online classroom rewards cost nothing to make, and they are also super fun! Many can double up as props, too. Enjoy!

Top Online Classroom Rewards: Free!

Cut a snowflake

How to make paper snowflakes

  1. Make a square piece of paper by folding an 8.5 by 11 piece of paper into a triangle and ripping off the excess (or cutting it off).
  2. fold the piece of paper into a triangle.
  3. Fold the triangle into three more triangles
  4. Cut the points off the bottom of your triangle
  5. Cut small holes- circles and triangles and squares- into the edge of your triangle
  6. Unfold and behold your beautiful pattern!

Collect Seashells

Collect Juice Boxes

If you have young kids, save their juice boxes! I like putting a different fruit drawing on each box and then I collect them behind me for the ESL lessons on food vocabulary.

Step-by-step drawing reward

Tic tac toe 

The classic online reward game: tic tac. toe. This is a major crowd-pleaser. To spice it up and make it educational, put the Sight Words in each box and have the student read the words before claiming their X or O. Or, use flashcards and draw pictures of their vocabulary. Emoji faces are the easiest to draw and you can review the vocabulary to describe emotions.

Guessing Games

Play some simple guessing games. You can say, “Guess what is in my hat?” You can pull out surprises. Or, you can put a reward on one hand or the other and ask them to guess what is in your hand.

Headbands Guessing Game: Have any flashcards?! Have the student pick out a card- but don’t look at what they are! Roll up some tape and put it on your forehead. Stick your card on it so the student can see it, but you can’t. The student has to give you hints, and you guess what you are: a pencil? a pig? Keep guessing!

I Spy

You can play the classic guessing game: I spy. You can give the first letter of the object as a clue. For example, if the player chooses a book, they say, ‘I spy with my little eye something beginning with B.’ Or, you can give color hints and say, “I spy wth my little eye something red”. See if your student can guess. Then, take turns and have them see something behind you, and you can guess what they are looking at.

Magic Tricks

Teach your student some simple magic tricks! This thumb trick is lots of fun for elementary-age students. They often already know it. Ask them to show you tricks they might know.

Sing a Song 🎵

You can always teach a funny song. Don’t forget the classics:

BINGO “B I N G O”. “There was a farmer had a dog and Bingo was his name-o…” 

“The Song that Doesn’t End”. Shari Lewis is a national treasure.

Try to teach advanced students these lyrics and see if they get the joke:

This is the song that doesn’t end
Yes, it goes on and on my friend.
Some people started singing it
Not knowing what it was.

Teach a dance

The Hokey Pokey is fun! Take a brain break and have the kids play the hokey pokey dance. Get in and out of the camera field. Have the student echo your movements. Great for the little ones! It helps them learn their vocabulary for arms, legs, hands, and feet!

Put your left foot in
Your left foot out
Your left foot in
And shake it all about
You do the hokey pokey
And turn yourself around

Do mad libs

Play Magician

Have a magic show with the student to take a little break as a reward. Make a magic wand with a pencil and a cut-out paper star. Or, just grab a pen and play pretend! Tell the student they are a rabbit, or a giraffe, or a titger. Take turns with the student. They should grab a pen too and turn you into something too: watch out or they’ll turn you into a frog!

Dress Up

Grab the silliest clothes you have from around your home. Put on some sunglasses, a floppy hat, your winter gloves, or be even sillier and stick some socks on your ears and put on your clothes incorrectly. You can dress up for the seasons to practice the vocabulary for seasons, months, or weather.

Find a Star

Making a really good interactive online teaching background is also a great way to extend your reward system. The easiest way to utilize your background is to put up a baking tray or a magnetic whiteboard and collect magnets. But, you can also make your background a big tic tac toe board or a big “find a star” game. Find a Star is a popular game for VIPKid teachers because the platform rewards students with 5 stars.

Finally, here are some more ideas.

Learn More

Ingrid Maria Pimsner, MA, BA, TEFL
Ingrid Maria Pimsner, MA, BA, TEFL

Ingrid Maria Pimsner has been teaching for over a decade in various universities, nonprofits, and private academies. She has taught English as a Second Language for Lutheran Children & Family Service, Nationalities Service Center, Lernstudio Barbarossa Berlin-Tegel, and more. In addition to her Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) Certification, she holds a BA from the University of Pennsylvania and a MA from Maryland Institute College of Art.