Well, we've spent the last 2 days inside for recess because of the rain, and it seems like tomorrow (and maybe even Friday) will be more of the same I'm thrilled about the rain because we REALLY needed it, but my kids are getting restless. We've played "heads up, seven up" and "Sparkle", but as a new teacher, that's about all I know for indoor recess! Any ideas for non-rowdy, fun indoor recess activities? We have about 10 minutes...thanks so much!
We asked each child to bring an activity (coloring, etc.) book for indoor recess. They can usually find them at a dollar store or one of the chain stores. This is the easiest thing and they look forward to it since we only use it for indoor recess. I don't have to be in my room and the recess monitors watch the kids.
we have t.v.'s in our rooms. each of the 2 teachers on recess duty takes 2 of the 4 sections, and we watch tom & jerry, an older, "safe" cartoon. =) but i will warn--it gets REALLY loud during commercials! ugh. =) i could use some more ideas, too!
Let them make a craft, or just give paper and glue and let their creativity go! They could work as a group to make a monster and give it a name.
Let them draw, read or talk. Have a rock-paper-scissors tournament Simon Says hangman dots/squares (I don't know the name, but it's fun) Make up a handshake Make up a game, write rules and teach (or just play!) tic-tac-toe tournament house of cards math games
Can you get some parents to donate games? Since you only have 10 minutes, I would suggest:
UNO
Checkers
Connect 4
Jinga
Also, just give them paper and crayons. Mine are always so happy when they just get to draw. I also pull out my math manipulatives like tangrams, pattern blocks and snap cubes. You could teach them a math game that they could play during recess ~ there are endless possibilities there.
When we have indoor recess we do all of the above, but it still gets loud and I still don't like indoor recess!!
We played a game this week called hot pumpkin (like hot potato). The students passed around a small pumpkin while I played music. When the music stopped the st. holding the pumpkin is out. We play untill there is only 1 student left. Kind of fun for the October season!
I'm going to use some of these ideas, too! We haven't had recess for the last couple of days because of the bad air quality due to the fires here in southern California.
Thanks for the ideas!
De'Anna
We play Four Corners: Designate each corner of the room with a number. One kid puts his head down (no peeking) and the rest quickly and silently walk to one of the 4 corners while the kid counts to 10. At the count of ten, he/she calls out one of the 4 numbers, and anyone standing in that corner sits down. Repeat until there's one kid left. As the numbers dwindle, thee may be a corner with no kids. Stress that once the kid counting gets to 9, they'd better be in a corner!! No dashing at the count of 8 or 9!! The last kid up gets to be the next counter.
My school plays this in all grades during indoor recess. My 6th grade would play all day if I let them.
It's been raining here in central NC a lot the past few days too, but we are in such an extreme drought situation that I shouldn't complain. That being said, I will freely admit that I HATE indoor recess. Sometimes we play a game like Four Corners or Seven Up. Sometimes I let the kids have free time to play board games, do puzzles, take an A.R. test, draw, or whatever else they'd like to do as long as they are seated (no running around the room). When they have free time the noise level seems to steadily creep up though.
By the way, can someone tell me how Sparkle works? I'd never heard of it until I saw it mentioned on PT.
I am also not a fan of indoor recess. I get out pattern blocks, dominoes, puzzles, crayons, magnetic letters, really any kind of hands on activities. Another idea you could maybe try is having them bring in a favorite game they play at home and they have to teach the class how to play. I have done that in second grade when I student taught.
Thanks so much for the fantastic ideas! We played Four Corners today, and my kids ate it up!! Too fun. Now I'm trying to figure out which one I'm going to do tomorrow...so many to pick from Thanks again!
A variation of the 4 corners is to name them north, south, east, and west and play music while they are walking around and then stop the music, draw out a direction from a cup (you need to write each direction on a piece of paper) and then those kids sit down.
Sparkle: I have my kids sit on their desks for this (a real treat!) One child starts the first letter of a spelling word and then each child after continues until the last letter, then the next child says the word, the next child says "sparkle" and then next child sits down. So, it's like this:
I have my students exercise to this CD in which the music is from the Beach Boys and other music similar to that era. They really like doing the Swim. We get quite the workout including myself. It's fun, but amazing to see that the majority of my students can't do a jumping jack.
My kids love a game I call Sixes. It requires 1 die per group of kids (6 kids works well), 1 pencil, and a piece of paper. The die is passed around the group and each person rolls, trying to get a six. The person who rolls a 6 takes the paper and pencil from the middle and starts writing the numbers 1-50 on a piece of paper (1, 2, 3, 4...). This person continues to write while the rest of the group passes the die still trying to roll a 6. When another person rolls a 6 they get the paper and pencil and begin where the last person left off in writing the numbers to 50. This continues until someone writes the number 50 and is declared the winner. It doesn't matter that the person before them wrote 1-49 and they only wrote the 50. The game sounds like it wouldn't be interesting but my kids LOVE to play. We have made it harder and more educational by having the kids write multiples of 2 up to 100 or 3's up to 150. My kids think it is a brand new game when we play 4's instead of 6's. I also bought foam dice the same size as normal dice to make it a quieter game and less time spent searching for bouncing dice.
hi
I just wanted to share what I added to SPARKLE:
before "sparkle" the person has to spell the WHOLE word (this is so the class hears how to spell the whole word one more time), then next person says sparkle, next says sparkle, next says boom and sits down:
I say: cat
1st - says cat - c
2nd - says a
3rd - says t
4th - says cat - c-a-t
5th - says Sparkle
6th says boom, and sits down.
If they do not know the letter, they are out.
Sometimes, we sit on desks, but other times we stand in a circle and when the student is out, they sit down.
Nessa, I will have to try that game... it sounds good.
I've done "Punctuation Sparkle" I say a sentence, and the students have to repeat each word the sentence or the punctuation that goes there. Then the person who says the final punctuation says "Sparkle" But if the person after him says Sparkle first, he's out.
So "When we were little, Bobby and I played video games, but Johnny always said, "That's no fun."
would be
Quotation Mark When we were little comma Bobby and I played baseball comma but John always said comma quotation mark That is no fun period quotation mark
These are my kids favorite things... I buy seasonal cookie cutters for the play-doh. We have several small puzzles they like to do.. I also have an extra table and we keep a jigsaw puzzle going on it for them to work on. They also like building toys - blocks, tinkertoys, legos, K'Nex, etc.
10-24-2007, 07:33 PM
I'm thrilled about the rain because we REALLY needed it, but my kids are getting restless. We've played "heads up, seven up" and "Sparkle", but as a new teacher, that's about all I know for indoor recess! Any ideas for non-rowdy, fun indoor recess activities? We have about 10 minutes...thanks so much!
Thanks again!
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