Indoor Recess Games
It’s recess!
It’s time to get active and have fun!
How do you do that inside?
We’ve got a list of indoor recess games.
This article contains affiliate links to things that you might like.
Ideas for Indoor Recess Games
At some point in the year, you will have to hold indoor recess.
While everyone loves being outside, there are advantages to holding recess indoors.
You can play different types of games that are impossible outdoors.
Check out this list of indoor recess games for some great ideas.
Types of Indoor Recess Games
Indoor recess can be active and energetic or quiet and relaxed.
It can be a chance to play as a large group or an opportunity to pair off with a buddy.
Check out these different types of indoor recess games.
Board Games
Board games are fun, relatively quiet, and can be played at desks or tables.
Although kids view board games as 100% play, they are a great learning tool as well.
Many games involve reading, counting, spatial reasoning, and logic/strategy.
Card games like Uno, Skip-Bo, Spot It, Apples to Apples Junior, Old Maid, and Go Fish work well and take up little space in your classroom cabinet.
Other game favorites include Sorry, Catan Junior, Yahtzee, checkers, The Game of Life, and Qwirkle.
File Folder Games
File folder games hold the same appeal as classic board games, but they cost only a fraction of the amount.
You can easily make your own file folder games with a file folder, stapler, zipper baggie, and printables.
Do you need some file folder games templates that you can click and print?
Check out this list right here.
Heads Up Seven Up
This is a classic classroom game for a reason.
Not only do kids love it (and they can practice deductive reasoning skills while they are at it), but teachers love the few minutes of quiet the game provides.
There are a few ways to play.
Here’s one: Choose seven students to come up front.
Then everyone else closes their eyes and holds out their fist.
The seven chosen students move quietly through the class.
Each of them chooses a different student to tap on the fist.
That student then gives a thumb’s up.
Then the seven return to the front of the classroom and everyone opens their eyes.
The students with their thumbs up must then take turns guessing who tapped them.
Around the World
This classroom game staple is great for review, but you can ask general trivia questions for indoor recess.
Form a line and have a stack of tokens.
Ask a question to the first two people in line.
Whoever gets the answer right stays in place and gets a token, while the other student moves to the back of the line.
The winner faces the next person in line, and both are asked a new question.
Again, the winner gets a token and the other person goes to the back of the line.
A person may only answer a max of 5 questions in a row.
The winner is the person who has the most tokens at the end of the game.
Would You Rather
Would You Rather Questions are flexible and fun.
You can use them as attendance questions, brain breaks, and lesson openers.
They are also perfect for indoor recess.
You can make them more active by asking students to physically move to one side of the room or the other depending on their answers.
This set of Winter Would You Rather Questions has a seasonal theme that kids enjoy and comes in both digital and print versions.
Would you like to try Would You Rather Questions with your class to see if they like them?
You can download this sampler pack for free.
Download a FREE Would You Rather Sampler Pack to see how much fun it is to use them with your kids!
Minute to Win It
Minute to Win It-style games are fast and active and use supplies you likely have on hand.
Who wouldn’t love flipping pencils and using rubber bands to knock over pyramids of empty cans?
Your class will love indoor recess one minute at a time!
Indoor Recess Games Kids Love
Armed with this list of indoor recess games, you are ready for lots of indoor fun.
You can try different indoor recess games throughout the year to keep things fresh and exciting.
Sometimes indoor recess is even better than outdoor recess!