10 Ideas for Indoor Recess

It’s winter. It’s cold outside. We’re stuck inside for recess and my students are climbing. the. walls. It was time to overhaul the indoor recess routine (I guess giving them free reign of the classroom wasn’t working anymore). So I took to Facebook and Instagram to ask you about your favorite indoor recess activities, and I compiled your responses with some of my own to give you this list!

1. GoNoodle
If you don’t know about GoNoodle yet, go visit them right now! This is a free website that is filled with interactive songs, games, and workouts to get your students moving. It’s also great for brain breaks and has quiet activities like Yoga for when you want to wind down. The indoor recess megamixes are my favorite!

2. Cardboard Boxes
Seriously. Do not ever throw away another cardboard box. Give your students markers, masking tape, and paper and you will be so impressed with what they come up with! This is best done in smaller groups, so you will need several boxes.

The book Christina Katerina and the Box is the perfect book to read with your students to get their creativity flowing.

3. Easy board games

Easy board games are great. My favorite are the 5.00 pop-up games you can get at Five Below and other stores. Connect Four, Guess Who, and Candy Land (the new version uses a spinner and no cards) are great too.

4. Cleaning the Classroom

I’m not kidding. Any time I pull out my broom I automatically have five kids bombarding me asking to help. I quickly realized I can use this to my advantage during indoor recess. Run to the dollar tree and invest in some spray bottles, cleaning cloths, and buckets. All you need to do is put water in the spray bottles! It teaches them real-world skills and they love it.

5. Magformers

These are great for building all sorts of amazing structures. Boys and girls alike will beg you to pull these out. They are expensive, but if you build up a collection over time or hunt for yard sales, they are well worth the money.

6. Play Doh

Play doh is my favorite thing in the world. I use it as a math manipulative, for alphabet practice, word work, and science. We even use it to make maps in social studies. But the thing students want to do most with play doh is PLAY! Whether you make it or buy it, play doh is the ultimate educator’s tool.

7. Adventure to Fitness

Adventure to fitness is another great site to project to keep your students moving. It’s free and it even comes with common-core aligned teacher guides!

8. Bring-From- Home Bags

One Facebook reader has her students bring a bag from home of their own toys to play with on rainy days. Think stuffed animals, Barbie Dolls, action figures, etc. Oriental Trading has inexpensive tote bags that you could use for this, or do it BYOB (Bring-Your-Own-Bag!)

9. Coloring Books

Does your class love to color? Dollar store coloring books are a huge hit for the younger grades during indoor recess. But now that adult coloring books are all the rage, why not pick up a couple for your older students? They average around 5.00!

10. Get Crafty

Save those toilet paper tubes, old CD’s, and egg cartons. Students will love the opportunity to be creative. Or provide yarn and tube-shaped noodles that your students can make necklaces with.

I hope some of these ideas will work in your classroom. Did I miss something great? Tell me your favorite indoor recess activities below!

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