Main idea is one of those skills we just have to teach over and over in order for our students to get it. But it doesn’t have to be tedious to practice. Today I’m going to share some fun main idea games for your 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade reading lessons.
My hope is that you’ll leave this blog post with a bunch of fun ways to practice throughout the year!

We’ve all watched our students struggle to separate the main idea from the supporting details, leading to those moments of frustration for both them and us.
But guess what? I promise, you’re not alone in feeling like this! Students need A LOT of practice to become more confident in this skill.
So let’s take a look at some ways to bring a little FUN to your main idea reading lessons.
Main Idea Interactive Online Games from Room Recess
This is a relatively easy game for students just starting out with main idea and details.
How It’s Played: Students read stories within storm clouds and strike the tree that shows the main idea with lightning. Play it for free here.
Main Idea Millionaire is another fun interactive online game from Room Recess!
Main Idea and Details Sentence Sorts – Hands-On Game
Main idea is NOT always the first sentence of the paragraph! These sentence sorts are such a great way to make the skill hands-on and to get students THINKING.

All of the sentences from the paragraph are cut apart and then it’s up to students to sort them on the graphic organizer mat. This requires some higher-order thinking to figure out the main idea!
Then students can write about how they know the details support the sentence they chose to be the main idea.
Learn more about main idea sorts here.
I’ve created a year long MEGA bundle of main idea sorts so you can incorporate these in a cross-curricular way!
There are so many topics–from weather, to plants and animals, biomes, fossils, space, and much more! You can grab the MEGA bundle to save the most–or just grab the topics you need instead!
Main Idea Scavenger Hunt Game 🕵️♀️🔎
Want to make it even more fun to use these sorts? Hide the sentences around various places in the room. Give each group of students a main idea and send them to find the details that belong to (only) their main idea.
Main Idea BINGO Game
This is a great game that you can play with your whole class! Play BINGO with your students while you practice main idea and details!
Students will cut out all of the main ideas and glue them to their bingo boards to make their own unique board. Then, the teacher will read (or display) the set of detail sentences. Students will find the main idea on the board and cover it with a chip.
All of the main ideas are on a similar topic so students will be challenged.

I hope these games help you have fun practicing main idea and details with your students!