9 Fun indoor recess games & activities for rainy schooldays

In this guide

• Scavenger hunt
• Dance off
• Walls
• Heads up, seven up
• Trivia
• Custodian
• Board games, card games, and puzzles
• Get to know you questions
• Arts and crafts

Recess is a sacred time for elementary students to run outside, but on rainy days, this can throw a curveball into their plans for outdoor adventures. Even with rain, you can have fun indoors that gets your students moving and laughing. 

Below are a few activities you could use in your classroom on a rainy day. 

1) Scavenger hunt

If you’re stuck inside, why not have your students explore it through a scavenger hunt? Scavenger hunts are quick games that get your students moving and looking for clues around your classroom. 

• For a scavenger hunt, you will need a list of clues that will lead students to items they need to find. 
• Divide students into teams and have them go!
• I often did scavenger hunts that related to the curriculum so they were still learning and having fun at the same time. For example, connect the items to math concepts that are being taught at the time (i.e. find the circular item with 12 equally-spaced numbers).  

This activity is easier if you plan it ahead. I would print out my clues and common items in my classroom and even throughout the school (only do this if your administrators allow students to do a scavenger hunt outside of your regular classroom). Another cool idea is having students design and use their scavenger hunts; one group would design a scavenger hunt and then another group would perform it.

2) Dance off

Music and dancing is a fun indoor activity you can play with students. On rainy days, you can pull up a playlist, have students share their favorite songs, and start a dance party! I used to have students create playlists in advance, I would then add them to a class playlist, and we’d play them over the classroom speakers. Sometimes they’d choose songs popular at the time, and other times they would choose goofy songs from their younger childhood years.. It was a great way to bond and create our playlist as a class. 

You can have your students dance to some of ClickView’s music content like Curriculum Karaoke or The Kiboomer’s Movement Songs.

Of course, whenever students share videos or songs online, make sure to have students share appropriate music that aligns with school policies and always preview them first, before sharing them with the whole class.

3) Walls

One game I liked to play on rainy days was called Walls. In this game, students move around a room as quietly as possible to be the last person standing. 

For this game, you will need:

• An indoor space with four walls.
• Pieces of paper numbered 1 through 4.
• [Optional] Music player and music

Once you have this, you can set up the space. 

• Each wall of the room will receive a number. You can tape these to the middle of the wall or lean them against a surface. No matter where it is, the number must be visible to all students. 
• You will then pick one person to be the “caller,” who will essentially run the game. 

Rules of play: 

• All students should be against one of the numbered walls to start the game. 
• To play the game, the caller will stand in the middle of the room and close their eyes. They will count down from 10 and then call out a wall’s number when they reach zero. 
• If students are at that wall, they are “out.” 
• The round repeats until one student is left. 
• The last student left is the winner and will be the next caller.  

Highlight to students that they want to be as sneaky and quiet as possible. They can make noise to try and trick the caller, but they should do nothing that harms the caller or other students. An important rule to highlight is that the caller’s word is final. If they say a wall number, those students will be out. There is no arguing with the caller. 

There are a couple of ways to modify this game. 

• You could make a speed round where the time is cut from 10 seconds to 3 – 5 seconds. 
• You can also remove counting and have music play. When the song stops, all students must stop, and then the caller picks a numbered way. 
• Add an academic component to this by turning the wall numbers into math problems that the caller calls out. For example, one wall can be 4×2, another could be 2×3, etc. so that students have to perform a calculation to determine which wall number they’re at.

This activity involves a lot of movement, so ensure enough space for students to move around the classroom. Also, make sure to enforce no running. The game can get exciting, so remind them not to run! 

4) Heads up, seven up 

This is a classic and easy game to play on a rainy day. I remember playing it as a child, and my students enjoyed playing it as well.

To play Heads Up Seven Up, you will pick seven students to come to the front of the room to be the selectors.

• At the start of the game, one person says, “Heads down, thumbs up, let’s play Seven Up.” Once this call is made, the class will close their eyes and lay their heads on their desk. 
• The selectors will walk around and gently press the thumb of one of the closed-eyed students. Once the selector pushes a thumb down, they will return to the front of the room. 
• Once all selectors have come to the front, the teacher should ask all students to open their eyes and stand up if their thumb was pushed down. 
• They now must guess who pushed their thumb down. 
• If they guess correctly, then the selector that was correctly guessed will sit down, and the other student will take their place. 
• Selectors can try to trick students by making noise or talking near students they didn’t select. It is also essential to be on the watch for which student each selector picks. 

You can still place this game with fewer selectors if you have a smaller class. 

5) Trivia

A quick and easy game to play is trivia with your students. To play trivia, split your students into equal groups. Once students are in groups, ask them rounds of questions they need to answer correctly for points. 

You can quickly search online for a list of questions to find the trivia questions. The internet has various quizzes, from Disney to music, so it should be easy to pick a theme. You can even use an Alexa device if you have one!

If you want more student involvement, have them select the theme to ensure they feel confident they can answer the questions. 

Try this quick quiz on Habitats if you’re short on time to research!

6) Custodian

Another great game is called Custodian; it’s silent, but fun! In this game, one person works the night shift in a museum, cleaning all the sculptures. When the custodian’s back was turned, the statues came alive and tried to grab them! However, the custodian had a unique ability; if they saw a statue move, it would disappear.

• For this game, one person will be the custodian. Students can get a broom or dusting rag, and they act like they are cleaning around the statues. The rest of the class will be the statues. Typically, the students start the game in funny poses. 
• As the custodian walks around the room, the statues slowly approach the custodian, and they try to tag or tap the custodian. However, they cannot be seen moving. 
• When the custodian turns around, they need to freeze quickly. If the custodian sees that they moved, they are out. 
• To win the game, the custodian needs to either “catch” all the statues moving or one of the statues needs to tag the custodian.

For this game, the custodian can move around the room, but not the full space. This means the custodian can move back and forth in one spot of the room, but they can’t move completely away from the other students to get away.

When identifying if students moved the custodian’s word is the final word. So other students can not argue with the custodian if they say they are out.  

7) Board games, card games, and puzzles 

I always liked to have a few board games, card games, and puzzles available for my students to play on a rainy day. These games do not need to be expensive or extensive, and many times, you can pick them up for a dollar at a local garage sale or thrift store. Students can usually think of their own games they want to play with these items, so having a few around is always a great idea. Ask your students to bring in their own games they want to play as well.

8) Get to know you questions

Sometimes, getting to know each other is a fun way to pass the time. Have your students sit in a circle or nearby and ask general questions about their lives that they would like to share or tell a story about. The topics are up to you, but some questions you could use to start the conversations are:

• Do you have a favorite game? What is it? 
• If you were on an island and had to listen to 5 songs, what would they be?
• Do you have a favorite book? 
• What superhero is your favorite? 
• Is there a trip you went on that was awesome? 
• What sports team is the best? 

You can also turn this into a would you rather scenario in which students are given two odd options and have to choose one of them with an explanation for their choice. My students used to enjoy this, and it’s fun to have them come up with their own scenarios as well.

9) Arts and crafts

In my classroom, students liked to draw and build a lot, so I always made sure I had some supplies on hand for them to choose from. I gave students open space to build or design what they liked. The one stipulation was that they needed to clean their work area after finishing. Other than that, they were free to draw, build, or design what they wanted.

If you want to provide more structure for art activities, you can have students create items or give them themes for their work. Below are some drawing/craft ideas you could suggest: 

• Draw a family or friend portrait 
• Draw your favorite character only using two colors 
• Design your dream house 
• Create a mask with paper 
• Build a tower with scraps of paper or note cards
• Design an outfit for a vacation in the mountains 
• Follow along and craft a butterfly

This list includes just a few ideas. You can also ask students to think of their own ideas to share.

Don’t force it 

These ideas are a great way to engage your students and get them moving and laughing. But your students may have other ideas about games and ways to connect. Give them the space! Recess is about giving students time to be kids, play with each other, and chat. If your students have different ideas, let them go off independently. 

In my classroom, I usually let my students do what they liked, within reason, and I would lead one activity for those unsure of what to do. Again, give your students time to make the decision themselves! Utilize technology too – if students have Chromebooks, let them play school-appropriate games with each other. Just be sure to remind them to use technology in moderation because they’re probably on their devices all day in class!

In summary 

Rainy days can be frustrating, but they don’t have to stay that way. There are great ways to engage your students and have fun. Who knows, maybe rainy days will become your students’ favorite days!