InClass

This downpour of activities is perfect for indoor recesses.

They say April showers bring May flowers. Every teacher should have weather plans up his or her sleeves. Indoor recess won’t rain on our parade when we’ve got these ideas saved up for a rainy day.

1. Ditch Heads Up, 7 Up with hands-on recess stations. Set up areas for students to choose (or rotate to) board games, puzzles, Legos, math games with manipulatives, or a Maker Space. Choose activities that are easy to set out and clean up, then watch their wheels turn.
2. Get the wiggles out. Cover cube-shaped boxes with paper and write different activities on each of the six sides — fly like a bird, jump like a star, waddle like a penguin, etc. Kids can take turns using them as a dice and follow the silly commands.
3. Revamp old favorites: games. We recommend playing a rousing game of kid-friendly “Would You Rather.” Here’s a list of 50 questions to get you started. What about “Doggy, Doggy, Where’s Your Bone?”
4. Clear some floor space and practice yoga for kids by following along with this video.
5. Shower your campus with kindness. Break out the colorful construction paper, stickers, and crayons, and ask students to write cards for different teachers, secretaries, janitors, and admin.
6. More crafting, please. We love this Very Busy Spider Web to go along with the classic book. And the crafting can be educational, duh. Have some colored tape? The possibilities are endless. Or, have each student craft their own mini umbrella. Simple, cute, and ready for your next bulletin board. Here’s how.
7. Press play on GoNoodle. Enough said. If you haven’t checked out this free resource before, you can thank us later.
8. Get the whole team involved. If you don’t have enough space to let kids choose different activities, collaborate with neighboring teachers to create “Classroom Choice.” Each teacher sets up one activity, and students sign up for where they’d like to go.

We know this is Arizona we’re talking about, and most of us don’t get an excess of rainy days. In the case of endless sunshine, many of these can be modified and sprinkled in as quick brain breaks — always a good thing as we approach long testing sessions and spring break.

The next time you find you and your students stuck inside, you’ll be freshly stocked with go-to indoor fun. Do you have any ideas you’re saving for a rainy day? Let us know down below. Cheers to spring flowers — and to your sanity!