Rain, Snow, Heat, Calls For Indoor Recess Games And Activities!
Rain, snow, cold weather, and sometimes excessive heat call for indoor recess games and activities! Having a variety of indoor recess games and activities ready to use with your students is a must! Although outside recess is probably a preference for all, there are times we must stay indoors. Being prepared makes the experience a whole lot better! One where your students are off having fun playing indoor recess games and you can get a task or two done in the classroom.
Currently, for me, at the middle school I teach at, indoor recess means we can use the gym and students can play soccer, basketball, or just run around with friends. But I remember the days when I taught elementary school and the location of indoor recess was my classroom and I was “in charge” of recess! At times I would dread indoor recess especially if it was not my recess duty week to be outside with the kids. That meant my lunch was now 30 minutes instead of 60 minutes. Yup, 30 minutes, which I am sure you all can relate to. However, if it was my week to be outside on duty I was happy that now I could at least get a task done while students were playing indoor recess games. In this blog post, I will discuss how I used stations set up around the classroom to have a more enjoyable indoor recess for my students as well as for me.
Indoor Recess Games And Activities Stations
Throughout the time I taught elementary school, how I handled indoor recess evolved from the whole class just doing one activity to setting up stations around the room. I found that if I had multiple choices of indoor recess games for students to play they were more engaged in the activity because they had a choice to do the activity. Of course, you want to make sure you have highly engaging indoor recess games for students to play since they may not get their first choice.
Here’s how I ran stations for my indoor recess games and activities!
For the majority of the years I taught elementary school, I had tables, so I made each table a station where four students could join to play. I also made the classroom rug a station too as well as the classroom computers. So with 6 tables, 1 classroom rug, and 3 classroom computers, I had 8 stations, which were plenty of choices for my students. I kept the stations in crates and ziplock bags, nothing fancy.
I had an indoor recess games cabinet and would choose two to three helpers to set out the games. Then I would have students line up and make their choices reminding them of how many students could be at a station. I also reminded students that once they were at a station they stayed there the whole time, so no switching stations. I set the timer and let students know how many minutes they had to play. Then towards the end of recess, I gave them a 2-minute notice that we would begin clean up in 5 minutes. Each student was responsible for cleaning up their own station area. When it was time to clean up I would use two to three helpers to put the indoor recess games back in the cabinet.
7 fun indoor recess games and activities!
Have you tried any of these 7 fun indoor recess games and activities with your students?
- Playdough
- Legos
- Board games
- Watercolors
- Drawing Paper and Art Supplies
- Puzzles
- Computers
No matter what grade level I have taught from first grade through sixth grade, students enjoyed playing these indoor recess games and activities. For the younger ones, it was games and activities they still played. For the older ones, it was games and activities that they used to play, and were happy to have a chance to play them again.
Playdough
You can make your own or use store-bought. Whatever you use please train your students to seal the bag or close the lids tightly after playing or it will dry out. I have found students are fine with playing just with the playdough and making their own creations. But if you are able to get toys like a roller or “cookie-cutter” like shapes those are fun for students as well.
Legos
I have found that students love building with Legos. Legos are versatile and students can use their imagination. I have collected a lot of Legos over the years from family members. I do not have the original boxes or manuals with instructions that help kids build items. But that is fine, and actually, I prefer this! Students now can use their imagination and creativity to build what they are envisioning.
Board Games
Board Games are popular and if you have many you can make multiple stations just from the board games alone. You can have students sit on Yoga Mats or Rugs on the floor and play. Uno is a very popular game for students to play. When choosing board games stick to the ones that are basic and easy to play in about 20 minutes or so.
Watercolors
I love using watercolors in the classroom! I love it because I want my students to paint but most times I just don’t have time for the “mess” it can create. So for me, I have found watercolors to be the perfect solution! Each watercolor container comes with a variety of paint colors plus a brush. I just add cups of water, paper towels, and paper to the station and it’s ready to go! Plus the cleanup is amazing.
Drawing Paper and Art Supplies
This was a popular station! Many of my students just loved the opportunity to draw and create their own artwork. Plus you can use what you already have in your classroom. Drawing paper, construction paper, pencils, markers, crayons, and colored pencils.
Puzzles
Puzzles are great for students to do on the classroom rug. I did not have puzzle mats when I taught elementary school. However, I made sure I used puzzles that did not have a lot of pieces for students to put together. Now they have puzzle mats where students can work on the puzzles and it can be rolled up and stored when recess is over. This makes it convenient for the next indoor recess, just unroll the puzzle mat and have students continue with the puzzle.
Computers
Before Covid being able to use the classroom computers was special. Now students are so used to being on technology. But before Covid, I would have a computer station where students could play games. Students can still do this on the classroom desktop computers, their Chromebooks, or their phones.
Conclusion
Indoor recess can be enjoyable for you and your students! Your students can be busy playing these 7 fun indoor recess games and activities and you can get a work task or two finished or at least started. Start small and then build your stations up. Remember to ask family and friends to donate needed items. You can also put many of the items on your supplies list if you are able to order supplies in your building. Your local dollar store sells many of these items at a low cost.
Don’t forget that clean up for indoor recess games is easiest if you choose two or three helpers to gather up the stations and put them where they belong. Don’t forget to give students a 2-minute warning that cleanup is coming. Also, remember to allow 5 minutes for students to clean up their stations before clean-up helpers come and put them up.
I hope this 7 Fun Indoor Recess Games blog post has given you some ideas to use in your classroom. What are some games and activities you have found successful to use in your classroom during indoor recess?
