Indoor Recess Carts

Last year's Big Hunt for Ideas gave Groveland a chance to explore Indoor Recess Carts.  This idea stemmed from teachers and staff who were frustrated with students not having a chance to expend energy on indoor recess days.  P.E. teachers Christine Denson and Chris Cohen worked with Groveland innovation staff to purchase some carts and supplies to create fun activities for kids to use in classroom spaces.

You can see the variety of activities represented on these carts.  There are stilts, balance boards, sit and bounce balls, hula hoops, giant catch ball games, cup stacking, cornhole (or beanbag toss) games, and even movable ping pong nets.

Giant catch ball games.  Unfortunately, the strings of these get hopelessly tangled.

Cup stacking and bean bags shown here.

These are the adjustable ping pong nets.  Students can play on a table or push desks together for a game!

On this cart you can see a variety of things, including the Gosports portable cornhole game, hula hoops, and the Spooner balance board.

Groveland's experience with the indoor recess carts was a mixture of positive and negative.  The idea was a great one and the kids LOVE the equipment, however some of the logistical concerns were never worked out with a school as big as Groveland.  First of all, storage was an issue.  The P.E. teachers do not have space to store these large carts in addition to all of their regular gym equipment.  Secondly, there was no system for "checking out" equipment.  Sometimes kids would come down and ask the gym teachers for the supplies even on outdoor recess days.  The P.E. teachers would be busy teaching classes and could not manage the inventory.  Another problem was that on bad weather days, the carts would go to the first classes with recess, and the other classes would not get a chance to use them.  These problems are not insurmountable, but they have been big enough to put the carts on hold for now.

Christine and Chris think that a better solution would be for teachers to purchase for their classroom (or grade level) some of the best/most popular supplies and store them in classrooms for use on inside recess days.  The most popular items are: cup stacking (be sure to have 2 sets for speed races!) the ping pong nets and paddles, and the cornhole (beanbag toss) games.  These could be stored in bins or on shelves or on top of bookcases in classrooms and shared among peers.    

If you are a classroom teacher, check on ways to get funding to add a few of these great indoor recess ideas to your classroom!