Indoor Recess Game Ideas for Your Elementary Classroom - Play Again and Again!
Note: This blog post contains resources from our
TpT store and our Amazon Associate store.
Winter 2015: Baby It's Cold Outside! Here in the state of Iowa, we are having a hard time reaching 0 degrees Fahrenheit! All the schools were closed yesterday due to -40 below wind chills. They had a late start today since we may reach 1 degree! Here is a photo of sun dogs taken from our backyard.
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Indoor Recess Game - Matching Mittens (or Gloves)
STEP ONE:
This game requires minimal prep work. You may purchase mittens for everyone in your classroom. The dollar store is a great resources. You may purchase enough for one mitten per child or a pair for each child. It is best if you have several different ones. Most families have tons floating around their home, so you could also ask for each family to donate one pair. It doesn't matter if they are worn or have holes. :)
STEP TWO:
After you have enough gloves or mittens, hide them around the room. You will need to decide if you want students to find one individual glove or their own pair. If the students are to find only one glove, then they must find the other student with the matching glove.
If you prefer less competitive games, then have the students work as a whole team trying to beat the clock using an online timer or this fun one from my Amazon associate store.
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Here are some additional game options:
1. Create a graph to chart how long the game takes the students.
2. Allow students to talk and help each other.
3. Do not allow students to talk and help each other.
4. Do not allow students to talk, but allow hand gestures.
5. Have students find as many pairs as they can. The student with the most pairs wins.
6. Designate a special pair of gloves. The student(s) that find the pair win special honors.
7. If you have students who will struggle with this game, allow them to hide the mittens and monitor the timer instead of searching for the mittens.
8. Hide a task card in each mitten. Students must answer the question in their mitten.
Here are some fun task cards you may wish to hide inside the mittens:
Math Ideas
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But wait! Here are lots more ideas on how you may use mittens and gloves in your classroom:
- Sorting and Patterning: Have students sort mittens and gloves by color, size, or style. Create patterns using different pairs.
- Graphing: Graph the different colors and styles of mittens and gloves. Discuss the concepts of more, less, and equal.
- Measurement: Use mittens to measure objects in the classroom. How many mittens long is the desk?
- Addition and Subtraction: Create simple addition and subtraction problems using pairs of mittens as visual aids.
- Descriptive Writing: Have students describe their mittens using adjectives. What color are they? How do they feel?
- Storytelling: Use mittens as story props. Students can create and act out short stories featuring the mittens.
- Alphabet Matching: Attach letters to mittens and have students match uppercase and lowercase letters.
- Sink or Float Experiment: Fill mittens with different materials and predict if they will sink or float in water.
- Texture Exploration: Discuss the different textures of mittens. Are they soft, rough, fuzzy, or smooth?
- Conductivity: Explore how well mittens insulate by placing ice inside and observing how long it takes to melt.
- Static Electricity: Explore how rubbing mittens together can create static electricity.
Social Studies Ideas:
- Cultural Exploration: Research and share traditions related to mittens in different cultures around the world.
- Map Skills: Use mittens to mark locations on a map. Discuss the importance of maps and directions.
- Mitten Printing: Dip mittens in paint and create prints on paper or fabric.
- Design Your Own Mittens: Allow students to decorate plain mittens with fabric markers or fabric paint.
- Mitten Relay Race: Have students participate in a relay race while wearing mittens.
- Mitten Toss: Practice hand-eye coordination by tossing a small ball into mittens.
- Mitten Rhythm: Create a rhythm using the sound of clapping mittens together.
- Mitten Song: Invent a song about mittens and have students sing and dance along.
- Hygiene Lesson: Discuss the importance of keeping hands clean and demonstrate how to properly wear and remove mittens.
- Mitten Scavenger Hunt: Use tablets or smartphones for a digital scavenger hunt where students find and photograph different types of mittens in the classroom.
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This winter craftivity would also be a calmer indoor recess activity.
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Your younger students may also like these file folder games:
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You may also like these resources from our Amazon Associate store:
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Shelly Anton is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. ** This means there are Amazon affiliate links in these blog posts. This does not mean you pay a dime more when you purchase a product through the link. It just means I am trying to save you valuable teacher time by making it easier for you to find great resources for your students, and I earn a few cents for my research and time. Thank you for all you do for kids!
