Indoor Recess Games

Indoor Recess. 

Depending on the teacher (and many times the kids!), we either love it or hate it.

One indoor recess staple that many of us have used is Silent Speed Ball. Here's how it works:

• Have students stand around the room. Give one student a soft ball.
• Students toss the ball to each other and try to catch it.
• If they talk, make a bad throw, or miss a catch....they must sit down.
• The last person standing wins!

Some ways I made this more 'user friendly' in our room:

• Choose a 'judge' who stands in the middle of the room or off to one side. They are in charge of making the call of who has to sit down. The judge's word is final and all players must obey or they are automatically out of the next round. This allowed me to help students who were making up missing work or asking questions.
• The player throwing the ball must point to the person they are throwing it to so that there is NO confusion as to who is supposed to catch it. The only exception to this is when it gets down to two players....they they can throw it as hard and as quickly as they want!
• The winner gets to be the judge in the next round or (if he/she would rather play) they can choose who gets to be the judge.

(Photo: WikiMedia)

I've created a resource for you that gives a BUNCH of ideas on how to have a successful indoor recess times, including a few more game ideas. You can view that resource HERE or HERE.

So what works for you? How do you keep your sanity during indoor recess time?