Indoor play- a given for the next couple of months for sure. If I had my way, I’d have the children suited and booted and out in rain, hail or shine, but that’s not always the safest option either when it’s bucketing down and the ground is like an ice rink.
In this post, I’m going to put together a list of activities that children could engage in to keep them entertained during indoor play. After all, it’s their break time too and some classes need something to entertain them to avoid any undesired behaviours.
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1. Games
If you’re fortunate enough to have different board games, cards, etc. Get them out and let the children play them in their pods. It could be an incentive throughout the day to get to choose their game first at break time.
Like everything in a classroom, expectations while playing the board games will need to be explicitly taught before hand to ensure that children get to enjoy the games. Expectations such as:
- Take turns.
- Listen to each other.
- Play by the rules.
- One game per break time (for Covid reasons).
With Covid in mind, each game should be quarantined for 72 hours before redistributing them to other groups.
Some of my favourite games to use during indoor play are:
- Gamely games– HUGE fan, check them out!!
- Articulate for kids– great for the older children to play in groups.
- Dobble Card Game– lots of fun and giggles.
2. VOOKS– Story books brought to life (af)
Vooks is a kid safe, ad-free streaming library of read aloud animated storybooks. It’s almost like Netflix for books. As a class, children could decide on a book that they would like to listen to during break time and relax and listen as the story comes to life in animation.
It could be made so special by allowing children to take off their shoes, bring in a cushion/slippers when Vooks is being played and make it a real treat. Putting more emphasis on a love of reading too. For more on how to promote a love of reading in the classroom, see this post.
To make it even better, Books offer a 30 day FREE trial. Check it out here: Vooks 30 day trial.
3. Art Hub
I find my children choose to draw most days during indoor play. Whether that’s in their free drawing copy, whiteboards or on scrap paper. Free drawing is a lovely option for children, however if you’d like them to have something more structured, there are LOADS of simple drawing videos available on their YouTube Channel.
What I find helpful:
Choose a responsible child to be in charge of playing and pausing the video to ensure that all children can keep up with the different steps. Remind children of expectations before hand: such as to be respectful and kind to this chosen person as they are helping with their art creation.
Alternatively, there’s an option to slow down YouTube videos too. This would mean that the video is played at a much slower pace, giving children a chance to keep up with the drawing shown on screen.
4. Netflix- kids
I know screen time is not everyone’s preference. While I much rather the children play or chat, we have to remember that it’s their break time too. Using Netflix (kids) sometimes during indoor play is a great way for them to switch off and enjoy their break time.
My lot have loved: Boss Baby and Matilda.
If you’re worried about them having too much screen time during lunch time, you could tie it into their lessons. For example- comprehensions or reviews based on what they’ve been watching during their English lessons.
5. Laminated Resources
This may take some time to prepare, however once it’s ready, you will have it for years. Over the next few weeks, I’ll be creating an ‘indoor play’ box filled with:
- Tangrams
- Puzzels
- Laminated Board games.
- Mazes
Children can choose the resource they want to engage with and it can wiped down after each use.
6. STEM challenges
I have downloaded these STEM challenges from @playful_classroom and they are FANTASTIC. Each pod has a STEM box filled with recyclable/junk materials. These STEM challenge cards could be displayed for the whole class to complete during indoor play.
Alternatively, each pod could be given different STEM challenges to complete during their break time and they can share their creations at the end.
With Covid, there’s no doubts that the options for children to do during indoor play are much more limited. To keep it exciting and engaging for them, perhaps changing up the activities each day could keep them excited and continue to have fun.
In order to do this with ease, I will be creating some kind of visual rota for the children to see throughout the day. Something like this:
I hope this post has been somewhat helpful to you. If you have anymore suggestions for activities to do during indoor play, please leave them below.
All the best,
