Indoor Recess Activities Teaching Resources
Do you need indoor recess ideas to take the stress out of those days when rain or snow keep the kids indoors at playtime? This teacher-created collection of activities, games and more is ready to save the (rainy) day!
From movement games that give students a way to get their wiggles out in small indoor spaces to coloring pages, drawing challenges and partner activities, there's something for every grade level in elementary and middle school and an option to fit every kind of student!
And we didn't stop there! Read on for some indoor recess ideas from our teacher team!
Our Favorite Indoor Recess Ideas for Teachers
The wind is howling. The rain is falling. And you have a bunch of kids who are bouncing of the walls. What do you do when you've got recess duty, and the kids are stuck indoors?
Explore this collection of activities, and peruse this list from our teacher team, of course!
- Create a Board Game Center — Ask classroom parents, friends and neighbors if they have extra board games that they no longer use to build a board game center in your classroom where students can turn on thosedays when it's too cold or wet to go out for recess. The advantage of filling your center with used board games is that you lose a lot less when pieces go missing! One member of our teacher team suggests putting all game pieces in large zipper plastic bags so when board game boxes start to fall apart it's easier to keep all those small pieces together.
- Build a Coloring Station — Print out coloring pages, add some crayons, and you have a quiet space for the kids who like to spend their recess quietly reflecting. Did we mention coloring is meditative for many kids?
- Create a Tournament — Are you a chess or checkers player? If the weather indicates that recess will be indoors for a while, why not teach your students to play and issue a tournament challenge to pass the time day after day?
- Turn to YouTube — Find a favorite (educational) show on YouTube that students can watch together. There are some great science-based shows that even we enjoy watching as teachers!
- Play Trash-Ket Ball. Have students ball up pieces of paper for a trivia game of trash-ket ball. Check our site for trivia questions you can use, or create your own. Each time a student answers a trivia question correctly, they get to attempt to make a basket in your classroom trash can.
- Create a Giant Rock, Paper, Scissors Game. Set students up in a circle, and select one student to go around the circle and play each student. When they lose, they take the seat of whoever beat them. that person continues playing around the circle until they lose. The first person back to their seat wins the game.
- Create a Class Drum Circle. Want to incorporate some movement into the day? Aside from the movement games in this collection, we suggest a class drum circle using their desks!
- Make Indoor Recess Bags. There's something extra exciting about bringing a toy from home, so why not lean into that excitement for indoor recess? Send parents a note asking them to create small plastic zipper bags with (quiet) toys that students are allowed to bring to school and store in their desk or cubbies to play with on indoor recess days.
- Set Up STEM Stations. Give your students a chance to stretch their STEM muscles with engineering challenges on the days they can't head to the playground.
- Indoor Snowball Fight. Throwing things in the classroom will never not excite kids. Roll up socks or pieces of paper for a simple snowball fight that won't make (too much of) a mess.
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Catch the Ball - Theater Improvisation Game
Don’t drop the imaginative ball with this warm-up game for students.
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Add to the Scene - Theater Improvisation Game
An active warm-up game that every student can participate in!
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Playdough STEM Challenge – Task Cards
Use this set of STEM challenge cards to foster critical thinking and problem-solving by building various items with playdough.
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Spot the Difference
A fun game for students to try and find the differences between two pictures.
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Comical Chronicle Worksheets for 4th Grade
Practice different parts of speech with your 4th graders using this set of 10 ad-lib style stories.
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Comical Chronicle Worksheets for 5th Grade
Practice different parts of speech with your 5th graders using this set of 10 ad-lib style stories.
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Chicken Evolution Active Game
A whole class active game that encourages cognitive processing skills, physical activity, and social skills.
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Snake Sheds Its Skin Active Game
A whole class active game that encourages teamwork.
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Follow the Leader Active Game
A whole class active game that encourages the development of leadership, teamwork, movement, and coordination.
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Pirate Ship Model Building Activity and Ship Template
Make indoor recess fun with a pirate ship model building activity and pirate history project idea.
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Mindfulness Coloring Sheets - Portrait
A set of 3 mindfulness coloring sheets.
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Printable Joke Cards for Kids
Print jokes for kids cards to use as an indoor recess activity.
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Pack of Fun - Quick Fitness Games
14 quick, easy, and fun fitness activities for all ages.
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Cooperation Puzzles - Team-Building Activity
Explore the benefits of cooperation with a tangram-style team-building activity.
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Alphabet Coloring Pages - A to Z
Print a set of alphabet coloring pages to boost letter recognition skills.
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Christmas Calendar - Advent Coloring Pages
Count down the days until Christmas in your classroom with printable advent coloring pages.
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Veterans Day Worksheets - ABC Order
Support your students in reviewing the vocabulary and concepts surrounding the Veteran’s Day holiday with an ABC Order Worksheet.
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We the People - Constitution Day Coloring Page
Introduce your students to the Constitution and the Preamble with a fun Constitution Day coloring page.
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How to Draw a Firefighter — Directed Drawing for Kids
Encourage creativity and boost fine motor skills with a pair of "How to Draw a Firefighter" worksheets.
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Oink, Meow, Moo Icebreaker Game
Break the ice with your students on Day 1 with this silly movement game.
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Science Lab Dramatic Play Kit
Create a dramatic play center with this science lab decor kit.
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Team Building Games – Upper Grades
Encourage communication and cooperation with this set of 10 team-building games.
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Interactive Icebreaker Game
Looking for a fun interactive way for your students to get to know each other at the beginning of the school year? This is it!
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Basketball Memory Game
Discover the game of basketball and boost vocabulary skills with a fun basketball-themed Memory game.
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Friendship Coloring Pages
Bring your students together for Friendship Day with a fun pair of friendship coloring pages.
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Sloth Crossword Puzzle
Stretch your students’ vocabularies and reading skills with a sloth-themed crossword puzzle.
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How to Make an Origami Bunny Rabbit: Step-By-Step Instructions for Kids
Teach students how to make an origami bunny with printable step-by-step instructions for kids perfect for a classroom spring or Easter activity.
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Groundhog Day Paper Bag Puppet Template
Download a printable Groundhog paper bag puppet template for kids — the perfect kindergarten or 1st grade craft for Groundhog Day!
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Mini-Mysteries – Interactive PowerPoint
A set of 10 interactive, logic-based activities where students read clues to solve each mystery.
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3D Christmas Ornaments Printable - STEM Challenge
Challenge your students to make three-dimensional paper Christmas ornaments with a STEM challenge.
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Christmas STEM - Tallest Tree Challenge
Experience hands-on STEM concepts with your students with this Christmas Tree Building STEM project.
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Christmas Brain Break — Spot the Difference Interactive
Put on your Christmas goggles and spot the difference between Christmas scenes with an exciting Spot the Difference Christmas Game!