Indoor Recess Resource
Indoor Recess Games
These games are designed to be played in the classroom setting with mininal equipment. These were chosen because they help maintain an appropriate volume level and are fun for the students.
Links to more games can be found under the WEBSITES tab.
FOUR CORNERS
Choose four corners in your classroom and label them 1-4. Choose a student to be the chooser. The chooser closes their eyes and counts to 10 while the rest of the class chooses a corner to stand in. Once the chooser has finished counting, he or she, without opening his or her eyes, will choose one of the corners by saying the number. All of the students in the chosen corner are out. The game goes until there is one student left. The last remaining student becomes the next chooser. As the number of students dwindles down, the teacher may eliminate one or two of the corners to accelerate the game's progress.
SEVEN UP
The teacher will choose seven students to be taggers. The remaining students will sit at their desks with their heads down and one thumb sticking up. The seven taggers will walk around and choose one student each to tag. They tag the students by pushing their thumbs down. Once all of the taggers have secretly tagged a student, they will line up at the front of the class. The stduents that will tagged will have three chances to guess which student tagged them. If they get it right, the student becomes the tagger and the tagger sits down at their desk. If they get it wrong, the next student guesses and the tagger reveals his or her identity after all of the students have finished guessing.
FOX AND THE RABBIT
The class needs two objects, one to represent the Fox and one to represent the Rabbit. The class then stands in a circle. The object of the game is for the fox to catch the rabbit. Both the fox and the rabbit move by being passed (not thrown) around the circle in any direction. If a student is holding the fox they should pass the ball to the person next to them, whomever is closer to the rabbit. Those players holding the rabbit should pass to someone farther away from the fox. When the fox catches the rabbit start a new round.
DOGGIE, DOGGIE, WHERE'S MY BONE?
A student plays the part of the dog and he or she sits in a chair alone in the back of the class. An eraser or another object is put under the chair to represent the bone. While the dog is turned around with his or her back to the rest of the class, he or she closes their eyes and someone sneaks up, steals the bone, and hides it somewhere on his or her person. The bone may also be left under the chair to confuse the dog. Then everyone would sing, "Doggy, Doggy, where's your bone? Somebody's stole it from your home. Guess who? It might be you". Then the dog opens his of her eyes and has three chances to guess who took it. If the dog guesses right then he or she gets to do it again. If the dog guesses wrong then the person who has the bone gets a turn as the dog.
QUIET BALL
No one in the class can talk or make a sound; that is the object of the game. Students may stand by their desks or the teacher may position students in any arrangement to facilitate tossing the ball to each other around the classroom. The student with the ball must make a good throw to a classmate. The students are not allowed to make noise and are not allowed to throw back to the person who threw it to them. If student misses the ball or makes a bad pass, student is out and must sit at his/her desk until the next round. The game is played until all students are seated and the last two are the winners.
SPLAT
This game can be played with the whole class or small groups. The group makes a circle and one person stands in the middle. The person is the "splatter". The Splatter then chooses a random person to point out and say "SPLAT!". That person then ducks down and the student on either side of the ducker must must “splat” each other by pointing to the other and saying “SPLAT!”. The last one to "splat" is out and sits down. The game continues until there are two players left. Those players can play Rock, Paper, Scissors to determine who the new Splatter will be.
BRIDGE BALL
The object of the game is for players to try to hit the ball between other players’ bridges (formed by standing with their legs apart) and block balls from coming through their own bridges. Players get a letter in the word “bridge” each time the ball goes through their legs. Once a player has spelled bridge, the game restarts. Players may only hit the ball with an open palm. No throwing is allowed. If a ball goes outside the circle, the player closest to it when it went out may go and get it. If the ball goes between a player’s legs, he or she gets a letter toward the word bridge. That player may go get the ball and hit it back in play.
BALLOON VOLLEYBALL
Break the class into two teams and get a balloon or a light beach ball. The object is the keep the ball from hitting the floor. If the ball hits the ground, it is a point for the other team. Play games of 5 or 10 and swtich up teams or make small teams and play a tournament during recess time.
WAX MUSEUM
The teacher appoints one person as the "guard" of the wax museum. When his or her back is turned,the rest of the students can move around and dance. Once the guard turns around, all of the students have to freeze. If the guard catches you moving, you're out. The students must remain completely quiet when they are frozen.