Create Interactive Quizzes with PowerPoint

Sometimes it is not easy to get your students involved when giving a presentation. One of the best ways to capture their attention is by creating interactive quizzes and questions, so they will interact with the slides. This way, the learning process will turn into something fun and amazing for children.

If you want to learn how to make some interactive quizzes for your pupils using PowerPoint presentations, read this tutorial. It’s an easy task, and it will only take you a few minutes!

Creating the Main Page of the Quiz

• Open your PowerPoint presentation.
• Create or select the slide to which you want to add the interactive quiz.
• Type the title and the subtitle of your question using text boxes.

• You may want to add some images or illustrations to the slide. As you are working with children, you could add some adorable images of animals, for example. If you have issues with how to add, crop or mask images, you can read this tutorial. For our example, we have included three different illustrations that represent the answer options.

• The next step is adding button-like shapes to your different answers. At a later stage, you’ll need to link those buttons to other slides.
• We decided to use circles here. In Insert, select Shapes → Basic Shapes → Oval.
• Click and drag the cursor to add the shape. Remember to press Shift while dragging to create a perfect circular shape.
• To ensure the shape looks consistent with the rest of the slides, use the colors of the theme. To change the color inside the shape, click on Shape Fill and select one.
• Likewise, if you want another border color, click on Shape Outline and choose a new one.
• To give the circles the appearance of buttons, you can add effects to the shape (e.g., shadow, reflection, glow, soft edges). Select Shape Effects and explore all the possibilities.

• You’ll need to add more buttons, as the quiz has multiple options. To do so, click on the shape, hold Ctrl and Shift, and drag the new circle. These two buttons will keep the circles aligned. Pay attention to the guiding lines, which will help ensure that everything is in place.

• Now we need to add a letter per button to name them and clarify that there are three options. Simply click on each shape and write!
• If you don’t like the font, size, or color, you can change them using the Font options.

Creating the “Right Answer” Slide

To surprise your audience, it is necessary to add two new slides. The first one will be the “right answer” slide, which indicates that the user has selected the correct response. The second one is the “wrong answer” slide, indicating that the student has failed to answer correctly. Let’s focus on the first one.

• When you are on the question slide, select Insert. Click on the New Slide down arrow, and the program will display a drop-down menu showing the different available designs. Choose one.

• When designing and formatting the slide, remember to use the fonts and colors of the theme.
• It’s important to include encouraging messages here. Add a check mark symbol and a text reading “Well done!”, “Yes!”, “Correct”, or “You’ve made it.”

Creating the “Wrong Answer” Slide

Now it is time to add the “wrong answer” slide by repeating a process that is very similar to the previous one.

• Once again, add a new slide: Insert → New slide → drop-down menu. Choose your preferred layout and format it as needed.
• Here, we will add a symbol like “X” to let children know that the answer is incorrect. Add a message that supports the symbol, such as: “Try again”, “Oops!”.
• Since the student answered incorrectly, we need to ensure they can go back to the question and provide a correct response. Thus, create a button to redirect the child to the “question slide”. You can add a message such as “Try again.”
• Simply add a shape (as in the section above) and format it as needed.

Linking Slides

Adding links and hyperlinks can be a little confusing, but with this guide, you’ll learn how to do it step by step.

• It’s time to add a link to each button in the question slide.
• The first two options are incorrect, so they must lead to the “wrong answer” slide.
• Click a couple of times and select the text of the first button.
• Click Insert, then go to the Link menu and click on Link. A popup will appear.
• You can add a link from different sources: an existing page, the presentation you are creating, a new document, or an e-mail address.
• Double-click on Place in This Document.
• Select the “wrong answer” slide and click OK. You’ll see the slide preview to avoid confusion.

• Since option B is also incorrect, repeat the same steps for that option.
• Option C is the correct answer, so link it to the “correct answer” slide.
• Once again, select the text in the C option button.
• Click Insert, go to the Link menu, and click on Link. A popup window appears.
• Select Place in This Document.
• Choose the “correct answer slide” and then click OK.

• You’ve linked the three options to the “wrong” or “correct answer” slides. Congratulations! The last thing to do is create a link to direct the student from the “wrong answer” slide back to the “question” slide.
• Go to the “wrong answer” slide and find the “Try again” button.
• Select it, click Insert → Link → Insert link → Place in This Document.
• Choose the “question” slide.
• Click OK.

• Your quiz rocks!