← Back to catalogue
🔬

Find the Element

Periodic Table Game

ChemistryPrimary, Secondary, Sixth Form
Play Find the Element →

A chemistry game about really navigating the periodic table: every cell already shows its symbol and atomic number, like a real table, and you have to tap the cell of the element the clue asks for. The clue never repeats what the cell already shows — it can be the name (you have to translate it to a symbol), the atomic number, or its category together with the group and period (you have to reason the position, not just read it).

🔬

Chemistry · Primary, Secondary, Sixth Form

🧠 Pedagogical Benefits

Real translation, not picking from 4

A multiple-choice test gives clues away by accident (one odd option, one repeated). Here you need to know that "Iron" is "Fe" and tap its exact cell among 71 possible ones — no shortcuts.

Category is also a position clue

In Sixth Form, the clue is "transition metal, group 11, period 6" — to get it right you have to understand that groups are columns and periods are rows, not just memorise loose symbols.

From 12 elements to the full table up to Radon

Primary starts with the most everyday elements (iron, gold, oxygen...) and only asks for the name. Secondary and Sixth Form add the rest of periods 1-6 and more indirect clues.

💡 Practical Example

"The clue reads "Alkali metal · Group 1 · Period 4". The player knows group 1 is the first column and period 4 the fourth row, so they look for that intersection: that's Potassium (K, Z=19). They tap that cell and confirm — the table reveals whether they got it right."

📝 Drawing the periodic table from memory

Prefer to learn without screens? Try this analogue version:

  1. 1

    Draw an empty grid of 18 columns (groups) and a few rows (periods), leaving gaps where you know there are no elements in periods 1-3.

  2. 2

    Without looking anything up, try to place the elements you already know: H and He at the top, alkali metals in the first column, noble gases in the last one.

  3. 3

    Check against a real periodic table and fix any you placed in the wrong spot.

  4. 4

    Repeat a few days later, adding more elements each time — the empty gaps tell you what you still need to learn.

🎲 Similar activities you might enjoy

If you like Find the Element, these activities work similar skills:

The Periodic Table theory exam

Before or after playing, revise with the multiple-choice exam: symbol, name, atomic number, group, period and category, with an explanation for every answer.

A real poster on the wall

If you have a wall or textbook periodic table, keeping it in view while you play (or right after, to check) reinforces far more than memorising it all at once.

Element of the day

Each day pick a random element from the table and look up a fun fact about it: what it's used for, when it was discovered, where its name comes from.

🍪

We use cookies

Tuthor uses essential cookies to work and, with your permission, analytics cookies to improve the experience.