No matter where you live, those days when the words “indoor recess” are spoken over the loudspeaker there’s an instant feeling of dread. Have no fear! We have three really good indoor recess activities that will help you stay sane while helping your students burn off some of that extra energy.
3 Indoor Recess Energy Blasters
1. Fitness Circuit
You may be indoors, but you can still have a mini-fitness circuit in your classroom. Push the desks to the center of the room to make room for five different fitness stations. Divide your students into five groups. At each station they are responsible for doing a certain number of repetitions per exercise before they receive a stamp or sticker on their “Fitness Log”. You may want to have centers such as: Super Sit-ups, Perfect Push-ups, Terrific Toe-Touches, Joyful Jogging, and Lotus Focus. If you are especially enthusiastic, put on some kid-friendly exercise music as they work through their centers. Have a timer handy to indicate when it is time to move on to the next station.
2. Dance Party Room 101
While the thought of your class dancing for 20 minutes may seem a bit over the top, it is a great way for them (and you!) to burn off some energy. Put on a mix of kid-friendly songs, push the desks to the side of the room, and have a fun dance party. Be sure to wind up the fun with a couple of less energy filled songs to help your students begin to calm down. You will find that they are more attentive now that their blood is flowing and lessons should go much smoother in the afternoon.
Try GoNoodle.com for some serious fun!
3. Crazy Cleaners
Who says cleaning is no fun? When you make it game for your students, you can quickly get your classroom organized and cleaned in no time. Divide your students in groups: Library, Centers, Computer Area, Writing Center, etc. The more involved the clean-up process is for the area, the more students there should be to help clean it. When the timer indicates that recess is over, your classroom will look neat and tidy. Reward your students with an extra bump toward a pizza party reward that they are earning or additional tickets for the class store.
What are some of your favorite energy blaster tricks for indoor recess? Share them with us below!
Cheryl says
Wow – great ideas! We usually sing Dr Jean songs and move and groove to the music! Love these new ideas!
Kelly says
My kids have had to miss going outside for PE, so I have a couple DVD’s for them to exercise with adn they love them. They get exercise along with music and learn new things-I usually do it with them, so it works for us all in the room!
Renee says
We do yoga in the afternoons with our students, whether they have outside recess or not, but all this snow is still leaving them with way too much energy!
Erin Lyons says
I know this seems a little self-serving, but a couple of times of year I pull out a bag of white gym socks and give them to my kids to put on like long gloves and have them look for all of the hidden dusty spots in the room (IF they want to “play the game”!). With their little bodies and industrious minds, they find all of the places that get missed from the day-to-day cleaning that our wonderful cleaners do. Then, I round up the socks, throw them in the wash at home, and they are ready for the next time somebody remembers how much fun it was and asks for them to come out!
Melissa says
Wow! These are great ideas. My kids definitely will enjoy these. I can’t wait to try them and see how they work! Thanks everyone!!!!!
Barbara G. says
I’m going to forward these to my staff as a “gift” from their counselor to launch National School Counselors’ Week – simple yet sensational! Thanks.
Nikki G. says
My kids LOVE to dance around the room. I turn on the CD that came with our handwritting program or other alphabet related songs and have the students create the letter we are singing about with thier bodies. They love the challenge of thinking about how to use a friend to two to correctly lay out a letter. One other idea is I write letters or easy sight words on a white board for each student and they have until a song is over to quickly, with little to no talking, get themselves in ABC order. Anything I can do to keep them moving and learning, while also enjoying thier “recess” is great for everyone! 🙂
Len says
Being a cold weather wuss, I usually dislike having recess duty during winter months. However after 5 snow days within the past 3 weeks and spending most of the past month inside I braved the cold last Friday to enjoy recess as much if not more than the students. We jumped rope, played catch and threw a frisbee. Woot woot!