Resources

It’s that time of day. Your students are restless, perhaps due to the weather. You can see their eyes glazing over as you review decimals and fractions—for the third time this week. The room is stuffy, and everyone is tired. Students move to their tables and begin their group work, when suddenly, you hear loud…

Jump rope is one of the easiest ways to play alongside kids at recess or during break time. Grown-ups can introduce games that help kids develop basic jumping skills or use jump ropes in creative ways. Here are a few of our favorite jump rope games for different ages and learning goals. Games to reinforce…

Start the school year off right by using tools to make recess fun for all. As we prepare for students to head back to school, we need to prepare not just the classroom, but the playground. Recess supervisors help make school a fun place for kids to play. The following are tools to make recess…

How might we help all kids feel included at recess? Part of the answer will always be students who lead by example. But inclusion is also a recess design challenge. Small changes have a big impact on recess culture. At Playworks, we look at everything from the lines on the blacktop to how students play…

Whether it’s snow, rain, smog, or cold, weather can put a wrench in recess. Playworks is here to help. This toolkit draws on our 20 years of experience on playgrounds and is recommended by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Kids need physical activity every day, and they are healthier when they get to play outdoors. Fresh air, sunlight,…

At a recent Playworks training, the recess team clusters around four different pieces of butcher paper, drawing maps for TK kindergarten, primary, and upper-grade recesses and for the after-school program recreation time. This is the second day of a two-day recess deep dive, and the group is taking a fresh look at how to organize…

The CDC and SHAPE America recently released new guidelines to provide schools with strategies for a safe and healthy recess.

As teachers are preparing lesson plans, learning new curriculum, and setting up their classrooms, it is time to start prepping our collective classroom: the playground. “Treat recess plans like lesson plans,” recommends a recent Robert Woods Johnson Foundation brief. “Like classrooms, recess needs a leader and a plan for organization, conflict resolution, interactions, and transition. Supporting…

This game is great to develop creativity, cognitive development, application of classroom learning, and following directions. Group Size: Any Age Group: Good for all ages Equipment: Cones for each child Before You Start: Explain to the students that you are going on a journey…AROUND THE WORLD!!  And you all can go anywhere in the whole…