👥 How to create a Pair or No Pair activity

The Pair or No Pair template is a fast-paced, high-energy game designed to test recognition and memory. It presents items one by one or in quick successions, requiring students to determine whether a displayed pair of items matches correctly or not based on your lesson criteria.

In this article:

• How is the Pair or No Pair activity played?

• How and what do you type into Edit content for Pair or No Pair?

• Where can I find some more examples?

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How the activity is played

The game displays a series of item combinations moving or appearing across the screen.

• The prompt: A combination of two items (such as a word and its definition, a math equation and a sum, or an image and a label) is revealed.

• The interaction: The student must quickly evaluate the relationship and select Match (or Pair) if the combination is true, or No Match (No Pair) if the combination is incorrect.

• The challenge: A countdown timer and a limited pool of lives keep students focused as they make split-second decisions before the items disappear.

• Completion: Once all items are processed or lives run out, students can check their total score, see their completion speed, and join the Leader board.

  

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Creating your Pair or No Pair activity

1. Click Create Activity and choose Pair or No Pair.

   
    

2. Add your content:

   • Item 1: Enter the target term, word, or formula.

   • Item 2 (Matching Pair): Enter the correct corresponding definition, translation, or answer.

   Note: You only need to input the correct pairs into the editor. Wordwall's system will automatically mismatch items behind the scenes to generate the "No Pair" challenges for your students!

3. Optional: Click the image icon next to either item field to include visual graphics instead of text strings.

4. Click Add an item or press Enter to build out your collection of pairs.

5. Click Done to save your activity and compile the game structure.

   
    

6. Scroll down to Visual style to add a creative style to your activity, or tailor the difficulty in the Options panel below the activity:

   

   • Timer:

     • None: No time limit is enforced, allowing students to evaluate pairings at their own pace without clock pressure.

     • Count up: Displays a stopwatch that tracks exactly how long it takes for a student to sort through all the pairings in the active deck.

     • Count down: Sets a strict time limit (e.g., 5 minutes) to challenge students to make split-second matching decisions before time runs out.

     • Correct answers are removed: When checked, matching cards that have been correctly identified are cleared from the screen view, letting students focus entirely on the remaining items.

   • End of game:

     • Show answers: Gives students a comprehensive summary list to review all the correct pairing relationships once the activity ends.

   • Advanced settings:
     These specialized inputs customize the layout flow, card density, and system animations for the game:

     • Options_input_mintiles: Configures the minimum number of item tiles displayed simultaneously on the screen area (set to 1).

     • Options_input_maxtiles: Controls the maximum number of item tiles allowed on the screen layout at any one time (set to 4).

     • Options_input_shuffles: Dictates how many times the card configurations will automatically shuffle their positions during active gameplay loops (set to 0).

     • Options_input_nopairanimation: Toggles whether the visual animation sequences are skipped when a student triggers an incorrect match selection (set to 0 for off, meaning mistake animations remain active).

   • Saving options:

     • Apply to this activity: Saves these specific choices only for the activity you are currently editing.

     • More: Click this dropdown to find:

       • Set as default for template: Saves these settings as your "go-to" configuration for every future activity you create using the Pair or no pair template.

       • Revert to default: Clears any custom changes you’ve made to the Options panel and returns the settings to your own previously saved personal defaults.

       • Revert to author's setting: Restores the activity parameters back to the original layout configured by the initial community creator.

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Creating Pair or No Pair with AI

You don't need to be a prompt expert to use our AI. It is designed to be intuitive and accessible directly from the activity creator.

1. Click Create Activity and select Pair or No Pair.

   
    

2. Look for the ✨ Generate with AI button (magic wand icon) at the top right of the content table.

   
    

3. Enter your content:

   • Topic: Type a subject like "Synonyms" or "Historical Dates and Events."

   • Text / Notes: Paste notes or textbook definitions. The AI will isolate the core terms and align them with their correct context pairs.

   • File: Upload a PDF or Word doc. Wordwall AI will analyse the text structure and instantly produce a balanced set of matching pairs extracted from your material.

4. Click Generate. Review the created combinations, make any manual text adjustments if needed, and hit Done.

   

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Need inspirations?

Some examples of Pair or No Pair activities have been created by our users and shared with the Wordwall resource community.