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25 easy Indoor Recess Ideas for the classroom

indoor recess ideas for the classroom

Finding fun, simple, and safe ideas for indoor recess has always been a challenge for teachers! I’ve rounded up 25 engaging activities and games that students can play in the classroom. I’ve broken up this list into three main categories: creative indoor fun, reusable binder games, and active indoor fun. All of the activities can easily be used for morning tubs, too! Are you ready? Let’s go!

The following blog post contains Amazon affiliate links. This just means my blog receives a small compensation if you purchase using these links, but don’t worry- there is absolutely no extra cost to you! I hope you find the links helpful and convenient!

Creative Indoor Fun

The following creativity ideas are perfect for independent play and a calm, low-key recess environment. Students can play at their own work stations.  For this section, I chose materials that are easy to buy in “bulk”, easy to clean-up, and easy to store in individual baggies.

1. Pipe Cleaners

Providing pipe cleaners in individual plastic bags makes a great indoor recess activity! Students can use their pipe cleaners to build lots of creative “sculptures” such as castles, pets, animals, flowers, and more! They’re cheap, reusable, and they’re a medium that many children do not get to use that often!

2. Play Foam

This party pack of Play Foam is a fun sensory alternative to playdough! As long as students seal up their plastic baggie after using it, it will stay fresh for quite a while. Students can socially distance themselves from one another while they build, create, sculpt, and chat! You can also use this to have young students make shapes, numbers, and letters.

3. Play-Doh

Before social distancing was even a “thing”, I let my first graders keep a little tub of playdough inside their desks. This was an easy and independent activity that they could do when they finished something early. It also helps students who are fidgety! This party pack of play-doh on Amazon is a great price, and the tubs can be labeled with your students’ names for easy management.

4. Paint Color Swatches

Paint color swatches are FREE at your local hardware store, and most hardware stores are more than happy to provide them to you when you explain that you are using them for a classroom project. Provide each student with a baggie of color swatches for indoor play time. Students can use the swatches to build houses, sculptures, buildings, etc. You can even teach them how to cut small slits into the swatches (if you want) so that the pieces can fit together. This is a fun STEM activity and it’s also perfect for morning tubs!

Use paint color swatches for STEM activities and indoor recess!

5. Rainbow Scratch Paper

Rainbow Scratch Paper isn’t reusable, but it sure does make for a FUN indoor activity on a rainy day! There are a lot of different brands and packs of scratch paper out there, but I like this pack of rainbow scratch paper the best because of its size. The pages are 8×10, which means I can cut them in half and double my usage. I teach my students to draw and write really small on the paper so that they can get as much out of it as possible. Some of my students even like to cut their page in half again so that they can draw two pictures. Provide each student with a toothpick for their drawing tool. That’s it!

6. Small Paper Cups

Give each student a small stack of cups and allow them to build! This is another great STEM material. The cups can be reusable by having each child place their cups into a “quarantine box”. Let the cups sit for a week. Then they can be passed out again.

Small paper cups make an excellent STEM activity for morning tubs and indoor recess.

Indoor Recess Binders Games

Indoor recess can get loud, messy, and chaotic…IF we don’t prepare for it.  I am all about EASY and NO PREP when it comes to “extra” activities. I created an Indoor Recess Games pack. It’s a collection of 12 independent and partner games that are reusable, engaging, and FUN! If you just fell out of your seat because you got so excited, take a minute to pick yourself up and keep reading! It gets better!

12 reusable games for indoor recess are included in my Indoor Recess Games for Social Distancing pack.

The games are printed on cardstock and placed into sheet protectors. You can choose to pass out the games separately, or put them all into a folder or a binder for each student. Students will NOT need to share materials to play these games. (They can even be played six feet away from each other for easy social distancing, if needed!) The games are played with a dry-erase marker. This means most of the games are reusable. Cue the celebration music! Students can keep their folder or binder in their desk or storage area and take them out to play when they are allowed to. Below is a list of all twelve games included in the binder. Let’s take a look!

7. Squiggle Challenge

Squiggle Challenge is a fun independent game that only requires a sheet protector, a dry-erase marker, and the Squiggle Challenge game template. To play, the student will place his or her marker on the dot in the middle of the paper. Then, the student will close his or her eyes and make a “squiggle” line with the marker. No peeking! When the squiggle line has been drawn, the student can open his or her eyes. Then, the student must turn the squiggle into a picture! This art game is super fun and sparks lots of creativity! You can find the Squiggle Challenge in my Indoor Recess Games for Social Distancing pack in my TpT store by clicking HERE.

Squiggle Challenge is an independent game that is designed for socially distanced play. It is part of 12 games in my Indoor Recess Games for Social Distancing. These games are perfect for the classroom!

8. Make a Board Game

What’s more fun than playing a game? MAKING a game, of course! Ignite student creativity and critical thinking skills by inviting them to create their very own board games. They only need their paper and crayons! If you want to make this a little more child-friendly for your students, you can use my Board Game template from my Indoor Games for Social Distancing pack. Students can then take their board games home and play with their families.

Make your own board game! This game template is part of my Indoor Recess Games for Social Distancing. These games are perfect for the classroom!

9. Make a Puzzle

Turn “draw a picture” into an even better activity by letting students make their own PUZZLES! This is a really fun independent activity that also turns into a game. Invite students to draw and color a full-page picture on the Make a Puzzle template. Then students can cut out their puzzle pieces, mix them up, and try to put their puzzle back together! If you want to take this activity a step further, give students individual plastic baggies for their pieces. The baggies can sit in “quarantine” for a few days before being swapped with a friend. Students can also take their puzzles home to share with their families. This is a PERFECT indoor recess activity for a rainy or cold day!

Students can make their own puzzle during indoor recess! This game template is part of my Indoor Recess Games for Social Distancing pack.

10. Draw and Guess

Draw and Guess is a partner game that can be played from a distance. Students will take turns drawing a picture on their boards and giving clues to their partner about what he or she drew. The player who is “guessing” will try to copy the picture on his or her own board using the clues provided. The more detail provided, the better! This game encourages oral language skills, descriptive language, inference skills, and creativity!

11. Spin and Draw

This creative, independent art game will be a hit with your students! Using a paperclip and a pencil, students can spin both spinners. The student must then draw a picture that includes both the setting and the character. These pictures are fun because they can get so silly! Examples might include a dinosaur in a school or a unicorn on the beach! You can also use this independent game as creative writing prompts.

Spin and Draw is an independent game that is designed for socially distanced play. It is part of 12 games in my Indoor Recess Games for Social Distancing. These games are perfect for the classroom!

12. Word Hero

Write a long word on the board in front of your classroom. Students will turn to the Word Hero page in their Indoor Recess Binders. Then, using their dry erase markers, invite the students to create as many words as they can using the letters in the word you wrote. Students will love playing this independent game and can even work together as a classroom from the safety of their own work spaces. One management idea is to have a “word of the week” that is written in the corner of your whiteboard. If indoor recess or indoor choice time occurs, students will use it to play Word Hero.

Word Hero is an independent game that is perfect for the classroom. It's part of 12 games in my Indoor Recess Games for Social Distancing pack.

13.  Make a Memory Game

Every student loves playing Memory, so why not add ownership to the game by allowing them to create their own version? Students can use the Make a Memory Game template and draw matching pictures in the squares. Then, they will cut out the squares, mix them up, and play their own games! The games can be swapped with a friend after they have sat in “quarantine”. Another option is to simply let students take their games home with them to share with a family member.

Students will make their own memory game in this socially distanced indoor recess activity. It is part of 12 games in my Indoor Recess Games for Social Distancing. These games are perfect for the classroom!

14. Character Clues

Character Clues is a socially distanced partner game that is similar to Guess Who? Students can play the game with a partner from the safety of their own seats. Each student will only write on his or her own game template. Each student will choose a secret character. Then, players will take turns guessing the other player’s secret character by asking yes or no questions. For example, “Is your character holding something in its hands?” If the answer is no, the player will cross off any character on the board who IS holding something in its hands. The game continues until the first player has successfully identified the other player’s secret character. Students can then erase their boards and play again!

Character Clues is a partner game that is designed for socially distanced play. It is part of 12 games in my Indoor Recess Games for Social Distancing. These games are perfect for the classroom!

15. Tricky Triangle Game

This game will be a classroom favorite! Remember the old-fashioned wooden triangle games? This is a printable version! Your students will challenge themselves to beat their own scores by jumping over counters, cubes, or cheerios and eliminating as many game pieces as possible. Directions for this game and EVERY game are included in the binder. This game boosts critical thinking and deductive reasoning skills. (I love this game so much that I even have a dedicated blog post about it that you can read here.)

12 Indoor Recess Games for Social Distancing. The Triangle Game is an independent game that can be played independently and placed in your students' indoor recess binders.

16. Number Squeeze

Number Squeeze is a partner game that I’ve designed to be played socially distanced! Students will only write on their own boards during the game. They will take turns choosing and guessing a secret number from 0 to 20. The student who is guessing the secret number will continue to cross off numbers until they have eliminated all but the secret number. This is a great game for encouraging students to use the terms “greater than” and “less than” when they are playing. They will love being able to play a game with a partner during recess.

12 Indoor Recess Games for Social Distancing. Number Squeeze is a partner game that can be placed in your students' indoor recess binders.

17. Snowman

Snowman is played like the old-fashioned game, Hangman. Students will guess the secret word before the snowman is completed. I included a game template for students in my recess binder that students can use as they draw each part of the snowman. This partner game is designed for easy management because the students will only mark up their own gameboards. They can “show” each other their game boards by holding up their binders or folders as they play.

12 Indoor Recess Games for Social Distancing. Snowman is a game that can be played independently and placed in your students' indoor recess binders.

18. Word Hunt

Invite students to create their own word search using my Word Hunt game template! You can have students focus on particular phonics patterns or even a social studies or science topic as they design their game. Students can take it home to share with families if you make reproducible copies of the templates. The game can also be placed in a sheet protector and reused again and again! For an extension to this game, put a student’s board up on the document camera and invite the entire class to search for the words! The student who created the game board can cross off the words as they are found.

12 Indoor Recess Games for Social Distancing. Word Hunt is a game that can be played independently and placed in your students' indoor recess binders.

If you LOVE, LOVE, LOVE all of the games from my Indoor Recess Games binder, click HERE or click on the picture below to grab the pack from my TpT shop! If you don’t want to use these games during indoor recess time, they make excellent morning tub games, Fun Friday activities, or games that can be played as fast finisher activities.

Active Indoor Fun

Regardless of WHERE our students play, they need to be able to MOVE. Unfortunately, having to stay in the classroom during indoor recess can make this difficult. The safest way to allow students to actively play and move within the classroom is for them to remain in their work spaces. This can be done by inviting students to stand up and stay behind or around their desk area. You can even tape large squares around their desk on the floor to mark off safe places for the students to move around in. Below are some links to movement games, videos, and activities that you can use during indoor recess, or, during an indoor activity time!

20. Yoga in the Classroom

This YouTube video will direct your students through a yoga class in the classroom. It's perfect for indoor recess and social distancing.

Yoga is not only healthy for our bodies, but it is also great for our minds! However, most teachers have things to get done during indoor recess or morning time, so they can’t spend all of their time helping students “play”. I LOVE this Yoga Time On The Farm video that I found on YouTube by Cosmic Kids Yoga. The video directs the children through an entire child-friendly yoga class! You can click on the photograph below to check out the On the Farm video. Their Cosmic Kids Yoga YouTube channel also has TONS of other Yoga Classes that you can put on for your students.

21. Hallway Sensory Path

Set up an indoor recess sensory path obstacle course for your students! A sensory path is a series of exercises and movement activities that students walk through and complete. These can be placed in the classroom or in the hallway. To keep social distancing rules in place, only allow one child at a time to go through the sensory path. You might even put a class list that shows the order students can participate in the path, if they want. When the first student on the list is done, the next student can get up to complete the path. An example of a sensory path is linked below. It includes reusable, vinyl stickers that can be placed directly on the floor! You can choose from TONS of movement options for your path.

22. Freeze Dance

Break out the dance moves! Freeze Dance is a game that can be played at a safe distance from other students. It’s mess-free, movement-centered, and FUN! If you don’t have the time or desire to sit there and stop and start the music for your students, I have a solution! I found this awesome Freeze Dance video on YouTube. It takes students through the entire game of Freeze Dance by telling them when to move, freeze, and dance again! Just click on the image below to start dancing!

This Freeze Dance YouTube video for the classroom is perfect for indoor recess.

23. Charades

Teach your students how to play the classic game of Charades during indoor recess! One student will stand up in front of the classroom and act out an animal, object, content-related vocabulary word, etc. The other students can be at their seats (socially distanced) and guess what the student is acting out. Take a day to teach your students how to play and run this game themselves so that they learn how to work together without needing you to take the lead.

24. Simon Says

This game was designed for social distancing YEARS ago! Students can take turns leading this game in front of the classroom. The last student standing gets to be the new Simon Says leader. This game will get kids moving, socializing, and having fun at a safe distance from one another.

25. Go Noodle Indoor Recess Videos

Go Noodle has specific Indoor Recess Videos that range from approximately 15 to 20 minutes in length. These videos can be shown on your screen while students follow along. They are super fun, promote exercise, and no-prep for indoor recess!

Indoor Recess Can Still Be Fun!

Having fun with indoor recess IS possible! My best advice to keep things fresh and fun throughout the entire year is to space out the activities in this post. Don’t put ALL of the activities out at once for students to choose from. Slowly introduce them week by week. This will keep excitement flowing and allow students to fully engage and explore each idea. Don’t forget to bag materials individually to eliminate students sharing resources. This will also help with classroom management. Most importantly, HAVE FUN with your students! Laughing, talking, and building a community can happen anywhere- even six feet apart!

I hope this blog post gave you a helpful list activities, games, and ideas that can be fun and EASY for indoor recess! If you found this blog post helpful, please share it with your colleagues and friends! Feel free to use the images below to pin it on Pinterest so that you can refer back to it when needed. Thank you so much for stopping by today!

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4 Comments

  1. Thank you so much for sharing such great ideas.. Right now I see so many teachers saying ” What are we going to do/” This is amazing. Thank you, thank you , thank you..

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