Whether it’s due to rain, snow, extreme heat, or frigid temperatures there will be days throughout the school year that outside recess is not possible. To prepare for these days, I love to stock my indoor recess activities with toys that inspire creative play. With the rise of technology, our students are getting less time to do a very important work—play! When looking for indoor recess activities, I love choosing toys that inspire kids to think creatively, use their imaginations, and problem solve. Here are 5 fun, hands-on toys that I have in our indoor recess bins.
I have found that when given the choice, the majority of my students will choose a box of blocks over technology during indoor recess. The mixture of interlocking square and triangle Building Blocks allows students to design, create, and experiment with new ideas, like this skyscraper building with a walkway to the helicopter landing pad!
This magnetic marble run is so much fun! It comes with cards that give students ideas of tracks that they can build, but with 24 magnetic foam pieces and 4 marbles the sky is the limit to students’ creativity! I love the collaboration that students use to create the tracks and the problem solving skills they use to make adjustments when their test runs don’t work the first time.
These Easy Stick Blocks are one of my students’ favorite indoor recess toys! I am always amazed at what my precious six- and seven-year-olds come up with. Their imagination and attention to detail is inspiring—like using the blocks to build this log cabin with a chimney.
Many of these toys fit perfectly in with S.T.E.M activities. These Mini Magnetic Building Blocks add a great science component with how the structures are held together with magnets! Students are amazed at how their creations, like this bridge, can hold together with the magnetic pieces.
5-4-3-2-1 BLAST OFF! This spaceship is just one of the many inventions that students can create with these Cool Crazy Connectors. The variety of shapes available in this set tie perfectly into geometry too.