Classroom games for indoor recess
Thirty children, no playground, fifteen minutes. These games need little more than the room you are in.
Whole class
- Heads down, thumbs up Guess who pressed your thumb.
- Silent ball Throw and catch without a sound.
- Four corners Pick a corner; one is called out.
- Simon says
- Sparkle Spell a word round the room, one letter each.
- Buzz Count round the class, saying "buzz" for multiples.
- Wink murder
Small groups
- Card games Snap, pairs, rummy.
- Paper games Noughts and crosses, boxes, hangman.
- Board game corner Draughts, chess, Connect 4.
- Marbles A string ring on the carpet.
- Marble Rumble Four pupils per tablet or at the interactive whiteboard. No accounts, adverts or chat, and it runs offline after the first visit. We make Marble Rumble, so of course it is on this list. Everything else here is someone else’s game, and we have no connection to any of them.
Quiet finishers
- Twenty questions
- I went to market A growing memory list.
- Draw and fold Head, body, legs.
More game ideas
Common questions
What games can you play in a classroom with no equipment?
Heads down thumbs up, four corners, Simon says, Buzz, Sparkle, wink murder and twenty questions all need nothing but the room.
Is there a tablet game suitable for indoor recess?
Marble Rumble suits it: up to four pupils share one tablet, rounds last a minute, and there are no accounts, adverts or chat.
Ready to flick?
Marble Rumble is free, runs in the browser and needs no account or download.