It’s that dreaded time of the year, when recess moves indoors, and students go stir-crazy. Whether it’s snow, rain, or freezing temperatures, we are entering that time when recess moves inside. If you have a list of indoor recess ideas, your students will be able to get their wiggles out and give their brain a break. Here are 10 of the best indoor recess ideas for primary kids.
GoNoodle
If you don’t already know about GoNoodle, go check it out! The site has videos to get kids up and moving. Most videos are between 2-4 minutes long, but there’s also a huge variety of Indoor Recess compilations that range from 6-15 minutes. Dances, exercises, relaxation guides, jump rope rhymes, freestyle dances, challenges, it’s all included – and free! Just create an account and go! Your students will love it!
Math and Sight Word Games
My students love games! I have a variety of games on hand for indoor recess. Let students choose a game and partner, and play!
Here’s my math game bundle. You can find my editable sight word games here.
Four Corners
This is a classic game. Number each corner of the room from 1-4. The teacher is “it” for the first round. The “it” person closes their eyes and counts out loud to 10 while everyone moves silently to a corner of the room to go to. Before opening their eyes, the “it” person calls out a number from 1 to 4. Everyone in that corner is out. Play continues until only one person remains, and that person becomes “it” for the next round.
STEM Challenges
Who doesn’t love STEM? It’s a great way to get students to communicate, collaborate and build relationships.
Here are some of my favorite STEM resources:
These are affiliate links, which means I get a few cents if you purchase from my links. Thank you for supporting my blog!
2. STEM Building Engineering Set
3. Play Doh
6. Lincoln Logs
10. Brain Flakes
My complete STEM list: https://www.amazon.com/shop/ilove1stgrade?listId=3HGB5RMI7JMC2&ref=idea_share_inf
Hot & Cold
Choose one student to be the seeker, and have that person step into the hallway. Hide a small item somewhere in the room. Call the seeker back in, and have them search for the object by walking around the room. If the person is far away from the object, students say “cold.” When the seeker is close to the object, students say “hot.” This is a great opportunity to practice vocabulary by having students use various words according to the degree of hot and cold by using words like freezing, frigid, icy, warm, warmer, scorching, blazing hot.
Team builders
My students (and I) love team builders! They are a great collection of community building activities that require little or no preparation. Play cooperative games that get students collaborating and working together while having fun. We love flying feathers and Lava! So many fun activities to choose from! Check it out here.
Board Games
Bring board games to school, or ask families to send some in, and let your students play for indoor recess. Many of the classic board games are inexpensive and you may be able to get your school or PTO to purchase some.
Arts and Crafts
My students always LOVE to draw and craft. Art for Kids Hub is one of my favorite sites for this. There are tons of directed drawing activities for all seasons and topics. My students have drawn some amazing pieces. There’s a paid membership available, but there are also tons of free videos.
Math Manipulatives
First graders need to play. We usually use math manipulatives for learning but most children are dying to just play with them! Indoor recess is the perfect time to allow them to do just that!
Disco Dance Party
Turn off the lights give kids a flashlight or turn on a disco ball, play music and just dance. Here’s KidzBops on YouTube. My students love this!
I have any exercise videos on my YouTube channel here.
We spend so much at school time focused on learning, it’s fun to cut loose and play once in a while! Not only will your students have a blast, they will bond with their classmates and walk away with some great memories. I would love to hear what your favorite indoor recess activities are. Let me know in the comments below!
