Do your students have ants in their pants? Are you struggling to give student bodies a physical break from their desks while still exercising their mental capacities? If so, this post is for you! Whatever the grade level or subject area, teachers everywhere can effectively incorporate movement into their daily classroom routine with these activities:
Snowball Fight
TEACHER PREP: You’ll need a worksheet for every student. Each copy should have a prompt at the top with plenty of workspace. A few extra copies never hurt, either!
BEST FOR: test prep, additional skill practice
DIRECTIONS: Each student will take a paper, answer the prompt, and gently crumble their sheet into a snowball when done. Once all students have completed their given prompt, you’re ready for a snowball fight! Instruct students on your count to throw their snowballs. Once all snowballs have been tossed, students should pick up a snowball and respond to the original student work and solve another question. Repeat the “show (what you know)-snow (ball it up)-throw (your snow)” routine a few times.
TIPS & TRICKS: Avoid throwing snowballs directly at anyone, particularly faces. Granted these snowballs are made of paper and can only travel so far, but still, let’s be safe. Teachers might also want a few spare snowballs on standby in case some go missing during the snowball fight.
Inside Out
TEACHER PREP: You’ll need a task card, question, or prompt for half of the students in your class.
BEST FOR: vocabulary matches – term and definition, fast fact fluency – basic operations
DIRECTIONS: Arrange students in a large circle. Have half of the students form an inner circle by partnering up to face a student from the original outer circle. The inner circle will ask a question to the outer circle. Once students have had a chance to respond, rotate the outer circle one person to the right and repeat the process until all cards have been answered. Partners should switch positions on the inner and outer circles to play again.
TIPS & TRICKS: For variety, you could give the inner circle a worksheet and the outer circle pencils. Students can shift around until all the problems are complete.
Scoot
TEACHER PREP: Use magnets, string, tape, etc. to secure task card prompts to different areas of the classroom. You’ll want at least one prompt for each student spaced out so that kids aren’t congregating in any particular area.
BEST FOR: any subject, skill practice
DIRECTIONS: Have each student start in front of their own task card prompt, if possible. Allow think time and provide a recording sheet to show their work. After some time, yell “SCOOT!” and have kids rotate to the right. Repeat until students have completed all tasks.
TIPS & TRICKS: Give students clipboards or a hardcover book to lean on as they record their responses around the room. For a breath of fresh air and a less structured approach, take this activity outside! Secure prompts to playground equipment and allow students to go on a scavenger hunt for them all.
ACTIONABLE STEPS: Try one of these low prep activities for incorporating movement in the classroom! Know of any others? Share them in the comments below!
