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Jumbo Checkers
This
jumbo checkers rug
is by far my students' absolute favorite game in the closet! Every second
and third grade class I've taught has loved it. There have been a couple of
years in which my students have gotten so into checkers that we've actually
set up checker tournaments for them. The prize for the winner? A set of
jumbo checkers of their very own!
Chess
Believe it or not,
chess can be a popular game for inside recess. The students in my class who
became really good at checkers and eventually grew bored with it enjoyed the
challenge of learning chess. We tried several chess sets before settling on
this magnetic chess set. My students like this one because they can
essentially save their game if they don't finish it before recess ends.
Battleship
Battleship is another all-time favorite game to play during indoor recess. Even though
it is advertised as a game for boys, my female students love it too. (We
don't have girl games and boy games in my class. We only have
good games!) Battleship is traditionally played by two people going
head-to-head. However, I had a group of second grade students one year who
figured out how to turn Battleship into a team sport... one small group of
friends vs. another small group of friends. Those were fun games to watch!
Connect 4
Connect 4
is a popular game in my classroom for two reasons. First, Connect 4 is
simply a fun game to play. It's quick. It's easy. And multiple rounds can be
played before recess is over. The other reason why Connect 4 is popular...
the pieces can also be used as checkers. Over the years, I've had numerous
students draw their own checkerboards and use the Connect 4 pieces as
checkers. Very clever!
Candy Land
Yes... you read that correctly...
Candy Land. I never would have predicted that Candy Land would have been a popular
game in my classroom, but it's a favorite for some students. There is a
comforting nostalgia about Candy Land. When students are feeling tired from
learning skills all day, sometimes they like to take a mental break and play
something easy and familiar. Candy Land is popular for another reason... the
Candy Land characters can be used for dramatic play. Lots of impromptu
stories about Queen Frostine, King Kandy, and Princess Lolly have been acted
out during recess!
Card Games
Way back in the old days when I was a little girl,
card games like Go Fish, Slap Jack, and Old Maid
were popular. Surprisingly, my students get excited to play them too! Some
of your students will already know how to play these games whereas others
will need to learn. My students always have fun teaching their friends how
to play. I imagine yours would as well. Card games like these are fun to
play when students need a fun mental break from the 'hard stuff.'
I've rotated countless games in and out of my gaming closet over the years
but these six games remain the most popular among my students. However,
there are several board games that have been removed from my closet... never
to see the inside of my classroom again. Four of these games are:
🍎 Mouse Trap I loved playing Mouse Trap as a child and thought it'd be a terrific
game for indoor recess. Nope. If one tiny piece from the game goes missing,
the mousetrap can't be set properly and the students will get upset.
🍎 Perfection In theory, Perfection seems like it'd be a good game from the classroom. It's great for building eye-hand coordination, matching, patterning, etc. No, no, no, no. Don't do it. The tiny pieces get lost. The timer is noisy. And the children randomly shouting YEEEEEEEEEEEAH or AWWWWWWWWWWWW and having to shush them for it is enough to drive a teacher batty.
🍎 Operation Take everything I said about Perfection and copy-paste it here. Trust me. The buzzer in Operation is the worst part of it. Let your students play Operation with their friends at home.
🍎 Scrabble Scrabble is one of my favorite games to play with my family and
friends and... in theory... it seems like it'd be a great game for indoor
recess. Sadly, it's not. When students are still working on their spelling
skills and vocabulary acquisition, you quickly discover that Scrabble can be
a frustrating experience for them. Scrabble is often the biggest dust
collector in my gaming closet for this reason.
What games do your students like to play during inside recess? What games do
you avoid? Tell us in the comments below!
Did you enjoy this blog post? If so, check out these other blog posts for
more fun activities you can try during indoor recess:
