Welcome back to Playful Pedagogy’s Day 9 of the 12 Games of Christmas! Today’s game is Guess Who—a classic game built on questioning, listening, and the powerful skill of process of elimination.
Prefer to watch instead of read? Here’s a short video where I talk about how I use Guess Who / Who Am I? in my classroom.
Guess Who is a two-player guessing game where players ask yes-or-no questions to identify a mystery character from a group.
Players take turns asking descriptive questions (for example: Does your person have glasses? or Is your person wearing a hat?) and use the answers to eliminate possibilities until only one character remains.
The game emphasizes logical reasoning, strategic questioning, listening skills, and deductive thinking.
HOW I USE GUESS WHO IN THE CLASSROOM
Guess Who is a great tool for language development, critical thinking, and content review. Students practice forming clear questions, listening carefully to answers, and refining their thinking based on new information.
For language learners, I may provide sentence stems or a limited word bank to support students who are still acquiring English. This builds confidence while maintaining meaningful communication.
One of the biggest strengths of Guess Who is how easily it can be customized. I don’t need to use the faces that come in the box— I create my own boards with key vocabulary words I want students to review.
I also like to play a similar game, Who Am I? where learners stand in a circle and hold or wear their mystery card. The laughter, movement, and engagement are incredible.
CLASSROOM CONNECTIONS ACROSS SUBJECTS
Literacy / Language Arts:
- Sentence structure through yes/no questions
- Vocabulary development and recall
- Oral communication and confidence
Math:
- Process of elimination
- Probability and statistics
- Reflecting on which questions eliminate the most possibilities
Science:
- Animal classification and characteristics
- Organisms, systems, or scientific concepts
- Inquiry-based questioning
Social Studies:
- Historical figures or cultural roles
- Geography-based questioning
- Perspective-taking
SEL & Wellbeing:
- Turn-taking and listening
- Cooperative problem-solving
- Building confidence through play
Guess Who? and Who Am I? are incredibly adaptable, working across grade levels and subjects. Teachers can:
- Limit or expand the number of questions
- Require only yes/no questions—or allow clues and charades
- Play seated, standing, small group or whole-class
- Use it for formative assessment or review
There’s no single right way to play—just the version that works best for your learners.
CONCLUSION
Guess Who? and Who Am I? remind us that great learning starts with great questions. Through play, students develop reasoning skills, language confidence, and joyful engagement—all while laughing together.
Have you used Guess Who or Who Am I in your classroom? Share how you’ve adapted it in the comments below!
Thanks for joining me, and come back tomorrow for Day 10 of the 12 Games of Christmas. I hope you have a wonderful day full of play!