Indoor Recess Suggestions from the Word Nerd
Over here in the Midwest we are still living our best summer lives. My husband (also a teacher) always says that June feels like a Friday night, July is one big Saturday and August has a Sunday kind of feeling. So even though we are in the Saturday part of Summer, Sunday is coming and soon afterward… Monday (September). So I thought I’d take time in my blog post this week to share some of my favorite indoor recess activities. This will give you time to order them up, try them with your own family and then have them ready to go for your classroom when the school year rolls around.
I personally loathe unstructured time at school. It makes me nervous. So if I’m forced to do an indoor recess or give my students some free time as an incentive, I like to have options available that will allow my students to have fun, but also keep them from flying off the rails. Here are 6 fun ideas that will keep your students off their devices and engaged in entertaining (and sometimes educational!) activities.
Mad libs
Practicing parts of speech and having fun? Yes please! Grab one (or three) of these MadLib books. Pro Tip: I sometimes copied and laminated the pages for multiuse. There are dozens to choose from, but here are a few that I have waiting in my cart!
4 Way Shut Box
Brush up on addition and probability skills while you are having fun with this classic dice game. Games can be accomplished quickly, making this the perfect game for indoor recess. And if you don’t have time to finish a full game, it can easily be paused and set aside until the next day because there aren’t a ton of pieces. Just put a post it note with a name of the player on each side of the game board along with a reminder that a game is in progress.
Ransom Notes Game
Combine the true crime trend with creativity in this hilarious and fun game! “Players use word magnets to respond to outlandish prompts like ‘Tell someone you’ve clogged their toilet at a party’ with just their limited pool of words. With 250 absurd prompt cards and a new pool of words every time, this party game has infinite hilarious combinations and feels fresh every time you play. Disclaimer, you might want to read through the prompts and pull the ones you deem inappropriate for your classroom/school. Thanks to Heather from Adventures with Mrs. A for sharing this great idea with me!
Giant Rug Checkers
You can’t beat a classic game of checkers… unless maybe it’s a giant game of checkers. Roll out the carpet and play!
What about you? Got any favorites or ideas you’d like to share? Drop them in the comments below. Hopefully, armed with these ideas and games, we can survive all indoor recesses mother nature and our administration throw at us.
For now, fill up your Amazon cart and then go enjoy the rest of your summer!
If you liked this post, you might also enjoy…
7 Exercises to do While Reading Newbery Activities Hogwarts Décor Ideas
This post was made beautiful by Canva.
If you liked what you read on my blog today (or are in search of weekly word nerd goodness) and would like to have it delivered to your inbox every Wednesday morning, you can sign up HERE. If you are interested in any of my email lists (with free goodies/downloads!) click the audience that best describes you: Writer. Teacher. Reader. As always, feel free to share this post with others you think might be interested via email, Facebook or Pinterest.
Finally, affiliate marketing is promoting a product or service in return for a commission. When you purchase a product or service through one of my links, I earn a small part of the sale. There is NEVER any extra cost to you. If you looked up the same product on the same site through another source besides my website, the price will still be exactly the same. 100% of the time.
I also NEVER link to products or services that I don't 100% believe in. I will never tout a company or their goods if they are disreputable or if I don't believe them to be worthy of your hard-earned money. In no way are my affiliate links a scam. (Language borrowed with permission from Kristen Kieffer on Well-Storied.com)