Oh the dreaded rain or frigid cold and even the humidity could make or break my day. On such a day we are doomed with indoor recess. Often both the teachers and children give the expected "ohhhhhhhhahhhhh" when it's declared unsuitable to venture outside. Believe me when I say, there are days that I don't neccesarily enjoy putting on layer after layer, or smothering kids in suncreen, but most days I would rather be outside in the elements than endure an indoor recess.
An indoor recess in my classroom is as follows; loud, chaotic and messy. Children have every toy out and are busy making rockets, and houses and light sabers. Pieces of puzzles are scattered, no matter how many reminders you give about tidying up. Some children are using the chalk boards, while others are playing with stuffed animals. When things get too crazy, I always can rely on the trusty "eye spy", "hang man", "freeze dance" or "simon says" games.
Indoor recesses are crazy. At my school, the students gatehr together in one of three larger areas (lunch room, library or gym) depending on grade and get to watch movies. They still get qiggly and squirmy from not being able to get outside and run off their energy but the actual recess time is much less chaotic (and takes a lot fewer teachers to safely supervise).
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