20+ Interactive Classroom Activities for Introductory Psychology Courses

Turn your introductory psychology course into an interactive learning experience with activities that demonstrate core concepts through student participation. These 26 ready-to-use activities help students experience psychological phenomena firsthand—from optical illusions and false memories to conformity and cognitive biases—making abstract concepts concrete and memorable. This free toolkit includes 26 psychology activities you can run directly from Top Hat, designed to spark engagement through interactive demonstrations, quick polls, click-on-target exercises, and thought-provoking discussions that reveal how the mind actually works. What's in this toolkit: Bring psychological concepts to life with activities students can experience directly, not just read about. These research-backed demonstrations help students understand how their own minds work while building classroom community from the start. In this free resource you'll get: • 26 interactive activities spanning perception, memory, social psychology, decision-making, personality, and mental health—all designed for introductory-level students • Pre-built questions in Top Hat with complete question text, answer options, and educational debriefs explaining the psychology behind each activity • Four curated activity sequences with suggested timing (10-18 minutes) so you can choose the right combination for your class period • Guest Mode compatible format that lets students participate instantly via QR code without needing Top Hat accounts—perfect for first-day engagement