# 10 PPT Activities for Online Teaching — 08 Whack-a-Mole

https://ijuhsu.com/en/posts/10pptactivity-whackamole · 2021-06-01
Category: teaching · Tags: ppt, 教學活動, 打地鼠

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Before diving in, I'd recommend reading the [first post in this series](/en/10pptactivity-choices/), which covers the goals and key considerations for online teaching activities.  
For all online teaching activity resources, visit the [Online Teaching Resource Hub](/en/teaching/) — interactive PowerPoints, Google tools, useful apps, and more.

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## What This Activity Is For

Whack-a-Mole is a familiar concept — though this version gets a pixel-art makeover. (I also never found a mole image I liked XD, so I swapped moles for animals instead.)  
At its core, this is just a Q&A activity with a fun twist — still question and answer, just a lot more entertaining XD

One caveat: due to PowerPoint's limitations, the animals can't appear randomly, and students can't actually "whack" them — the teacher controls everything. A bit of a pity, but it still works well in practice.

No step-by-step tutorial needed here — just download the template and go!

![](https://res.cloudinary.com/dycjoye5f/image/upload/q_auto,f_auto/ijuhsu/image-72)

How it works:

*   The teacher poses a question, and animals pop up alongside answer choices (the order is pre-set by the teacher)
*   When a choice appears, students call out which one they think is correct — clicking it reveals whether they're right or wrong
*   After a correct answer, you advance to the next round

Instructions below show you how to customize the template ([click here to download](https://drive.google.com/uc?export=download&id=19japzaa8TA_RLEDYTlnB_xn7s1gEdYPz) — if it won't open after downloading, see [this troubleshooting guide](https://influrry.tw/powerpoint-cant-open/)).

Requirements:

> Software: PowerPoint 2019 or above (_this activity is compatible with older versions of PowerPoint_ — feel free to leave a comment if you run into issues)  
> Template font: GenSekiGothic B (free font, [download here](https://github.com/ButTaiwan/genseki-font))

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## Using the Template: Whack-a-Mole in PPT

Download the file below first (if it won't open, see [this guide](https://influrry.tw/powerpoint-cant-open/)):

[Template\_Whack-a-Mole](https://drive.google.com/uc?export=download&id=19japzaa8TA_RLEDYTlnB_xn7s1gEdYPz) [Download](https://drive.google.com/uc?export=download&id=19japzaa8TA_RLEDYTlnB_xn7s1gEdYPz)

Once downloaded, you'll see five slides — each one shows a scenario where a different animal has the correct answer (e.g., slide 1 = the rightmost mouse is correct, slide 2 = the second-from-right fox is correct). Duplicate the slide as many times as you need questions (ten questions = ten copies).

Once you're in the file, open the **Selection Pane** first ([click here for instructions](/en/10pptactivity-choices/) — go to Home → Select → Selection Pane). Hiding the correct/incorrect layers first makes editing much easier. What you can edit:

*   Answer choices: Cat-speak, Dog-speak, Rabbit-speak, Fox-speak, Mouse-speak
*   Question text: Q
*   Animation Pane:
    *   The rise and fall duration for each animal
    *   The order animals pop up: select all four entries for an animal group ("Mouse, Mouse-text, Mouse, Mouse-text") and drag them to the desired position in the animation sequence. The first group must be set to trigger "On Click"; all subsequent groups must be set to "After Previous." **\[Advanced — don't touch unless you understand what you're doing\]**

When you're done editing, make sure all elements in the Selection Pane are set to visible. That's it!  
It's best not to modify anything else — the animations can easily break.

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Hope this is helpful!

If you have any questions, or there's an activity type you'd love to see, feel free to leave a comment anytime!  
For all PowerPoint activities in the online teaching series, see the latest post in the series.

Thanks again — wishing everyone smooth and enjoyable online teaching!

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### Thanks for reading :D

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