This blog exclusively deals with at-home recess ideas that kids can enjoy and keep themselves busy. Virtual classrooms and remote learning become the new norm when the pandemic had hit the world two years ago. With new challenges thrown at parents, the home became the new classroom. Parents were required to provide a similar school experience to their children while they took virtual classes. This called for parents to replicate recess time at home as well.
In the following write-up, we will talk about seven at-home recess ideas that can help keep kids busy between their learning sessions.
What is Recess time?
A recess in school is generally a break between learning periods when kids can play outdoors, mainly unstructured play. They have the liberty to enjoy a snack while they indulge in physical play and burn up some extra energy.
At-home recess, as the name suggests, means kids get some time off from the virtual learning and enjoy some physical activity while they gear up for the remaining lessons at home.
The only difference here is that at-home recess becomes the responsibility of a parent and not of the school. Therefore, the onus is on the parent to be creative and come up with engaging play during at-home recess.
Benefits of At-Home Recess Play
At-home recesses are very much a part of the school curriculum that kids had to follow during remote learning. There are a bunch of advantages of it-
- Children remain in sync with the school routine.
- They get their daily dose of physical activity.
- Kids who indulge in physical or mental activity for a few minutes end up concentrating more during the afternoon lessons.
- It offers a break to students from their virtual lessons.
- They get some time off the screen because remote learning means kids are glued to laptop screens for a major part of their day.
Therefore, sometime off during the school hours will do wonders to the children.
7 At-Home Recess Ideas
As promised at the start of the blog, we will provide you with seven interesting at-home recess ideas that your kids will surely love. Let's take a look at seven at-home recess ideas that you can implement in your backyard-
1. Trampolines
Trampoline sales skyrocketed during the pandemic. Why? Because the best way to burn off that extra energy during at-home recess is to let your kids jump on a trampoline for some time. This physical activity will not only charge them up for the remaining virtual lessons but would also keep them physically active. As a parent, you can join in too. A little bit of physical activity will do wonders for your body and mind. There are tons of options available for trampolines and a few guidelines to keep in mind while your kids are jumping on the trampoline. It is recommended to include trampoline related injuries on your homeowner’s insurance.
2. Bounce house
Another fun way to channel the energy of younger kids is to let them jump on the bounce house during at-home recess time. Just like a trampoline, there are certain guidelines to follow while installing and using bounce castles. It is advised that you let your homeowners' insurance company know about your plans to install a bounce house in your backyard.
3. Obstacle course
Moving on to further at-home recess ideas, creating an obstacle course in your backyard can keep your children engaged with physical as well as critical thinking skills. You can make it a DIY project or can order online as well. There are tons of options available. This at-home recess idea is something that your kids will look forward to every day. You can even add some difficult obstacles to it once your children have mastered the basic ones. The best part about this equipment is that you can make additions and subtractions at your convenience. If you have a small backyard, you can make an indoor obstacle course as well using boxes.
4. Water slides
A perfect at-home recess idea during summers is a water slide. The hot summer days can be excruciatingly long and keeping kids busy can be a challenge as well. Set up a water slide and let them enjoy playing in the water while they burn that extra energy. If you don't own a water slide you can make one using a tarp, a slide, water, and some soap.
5. Bean bag tossing
Set up buckets in your backyard and have your kids toss bean bags in them. You can make it interesting by increasing the distance between the players and the bucket. A further fun idea can be to turn this game into a timed one.
6. Mini golfing
You can go mini golfing during recess time. No, you don't need to grab the car keys and stuff the children in the car. Create a mini golf course in your backyard. All you need are some golf balls, disposable cups, and golf clubs. To make it more interesting, you can add various obstacles to it. If you have older children, this is a fun way to pass time during at-home recess.
7. Hopscotch
Any easy game that you can draw on your driveway. All you have to do is take a piece of chalk and draw squares on the ground. While hopping on one foot jump through the squares. To make things more challenging and fun you can draw circular hopscotch or turn it into a timed game. Hopscotch helps horn your balancing and coordination skills.
So, these were the 7 at-home recess ideas that you can implement outdoors.
7 at-home recess ideas when you don’t have enough backyard space
Now, let's take a look at 7 at-home recess ideas that you can try if you do not have enough backyard space.
1. Freeze dance
combine dancing with exercise. All you have to do is step up some groovy music and ask your kids to dance while the music is playing and stop or freeze when the music stops. It doesn't involve too much planning from your side. In fact, if you do not make it competitive kids would love this idea. Plus, people of all age groups can participate. Make it into a family time game.
2. Board games
yes board games are time consuming and at-home recesses last for a few minutes. But who says you have to wrap up the game in one go. You can play till the time permits and pick it up from where you left it the next day. Again, this idea doesn't involve too much planning from your side. You have kept the kids engaged and enjoyed some family time as well.
3. Tie and dye
if you have older kids, this can be an awesome and creative idea. Simply grab a few white t-shirts and let your kids twist them in any way they want. Now, tie up the t-shirt and dye it with your favorite color. Once done, let the t-shirts dry in a zip lock bag. When the kids would have finished with their virtual lessons, the shirt would be ready to wear. This is a highly creative at-home recess idea.
4. Drawing
for kids in middle school drawing is a fun way to be creative. The kids can color one page a day during their recess time. Let the little ones be more creative and allow them to use stickers and glitter.
5. Indoor treasure hunt
you can get creative and draw a treasure map for kids to find things indoors like certain colors or alphabets. To make things more interesting this game can be turned into a reward winning treasure hunt.
6. Juggling
this art needs time to perfect. Start by trying to juggle two balls and increase the number of balls as and when your kids feel more confident. It can be a bit frustrating game, but it can always turn into a fun exercise.
7. Racket balloon
blow up a few balloons. Play racket ball using balloons instead of tennis balls. This game exercise will do minimum damage indoors and keep the kids physically engaged.
Conclusion
So, this was our list of at-home recess ideas that you can try to keep the kids busy while they follow their school routine. It's best to keep a few ideas handy and implement them in rotation. Kids tend to grow bored of the same games or exercises that are carried out every day. Our basic aim as parents is to let the child follow the same school routine at home while keeping them physically and mentally active during recess. After all, they have to get back to their lessons. Remember not to go overboard with physical activity either. This can make the kids tired and drowsy. They may not concentrate during afternoon lessons. So, strike a balance and find what your kids enjoy the most during at-home recess.