Traffic Light Game

Description of the strategy

The strategy

The traffic light game allows students to express their opinion and at the same time see whether others hold similar or different views.

To play the game every student needs three different coloured cards:

  • green for “I agree”
  • yellow for “I don’t know”
  • red for “I don’t agree”

Students are than given several statements, one read out after the other. After each statement students are asked to show one of the cards to express their view. The number of cards is counted and noted down somewhere. After having gone through all the statements, students are asked to discuss the results.

The traffic light game can be repeated at the end of the lesson or unit. This does not only allow the teacher to see whether students changed their minds or not, but it also gives the students the opportunity to evaluate their own learning process.

Example (of the strategy in action)

The thematic question is: is Europe a place where children learn similar values?

The lesson focus is: is Europe a place where children learn good manners, responsibility, tolerance and imagination?

1. Europeans support the idea, that learning good manners is no longer an important goal in bringing up children.

agree / don’t know / don’t agree

2. Europeans widely agree that children should be taught to feel responsibility.

agree / don’t know / don’t agree

3. Europeans think, that it is more important to teach children to use their imagination than to be tolerant and respectful towards others.

Agree / don’t know / don’t agree

Let the students review their opinions with the help of the maps in the atlas. While doing so, you should make them realize, that you cannot compare the maps directly as the categories in each map are defined differently.


The links are:

(children should learn good manners)

(children should learn a feeling of responsibility)


(children should learn imagination at home)

(children should learn tolerance and respect for other people)

Debriefing questions:

What influenced your decision-making during the traffic light game?

How far did the maps help you understand the issue better?

What other information would you need to make more valid decisions?

Why is this a good strategy to use?

The traffic light game is great for giving students the opportunity to voice their views on a controversial issue. As everybody is showing their opinion at the same time, more timid students find it easier to take part. It also gives the teacher the chance to learn what the students think.

Why does this work with the maps?

The maps of the EVS show the data collected on peoples’ views on various issues. The resulting patchwork is not always easy to interprete. Thinking about their view of what Europeans might think, produces a need to know and thereby prepares students for a more focussed reading of the maps.