Adapted Physical Education & Recess Activities and Games Table of Contents Recess Strategies ...................................................................................................................... 3 Recess & Recreational Activities .............................................................................................. 4 Suggested Equipment ................................................................................................................ 6 Activities ........................................................................................................................7 Activities for a Small or Limited Space .................................................................................... 8 Balance Puzzles ........................................................................................................................ 12 Ball Activities ............................................................................................................................ 14 Balloon Activities ...................................................................................................................... 15 Basic Motor Skills ..................................................................................................................... 16 Bean Bag Activities .................................................................................................................. 22 Chair Aerobics .......................................................................................................................... 23 Dice Activities ........................................................................................................................... 24 Hula Hoop Activities ................................................................................................................. 25 Jump Rope Activities ............................................................................................................... 26 Large Motor Activities .............................................................................................................. 28 Low Organizational Activities .................................................................................................. 29 Movement Center Ideas ........................................................................................................... 31 Parachute Activities ................................................................................................................. 33 Polyspot Activities .................................................................................................................... 34 Relaxation Activities ................................................................................................................. 35 Scarf Activities .......................................................................................................................... 36 Games ..........................................................................................................................37 Basketball Golf .......................................................................................................................... 38 Can Jam .................................................................................................................................... 39 It’s in the Cards ......................................................................................................................... 41 Kickball Variations .................................................................................................................... 42 March Madness ........................................................................................................................ 43 Octopus Arm ............................................................................................................................. 45 Super Bowl Shuffle ................................................................................................................... 46 A special acknowledgment to Robin Olberding, retired Heartland AEA Adapted PE Consultant, for her contributions to this document. Recess Strategies Add structure to recess: • Designate areas for riding toys, throwing areas (keep balls in a container), creative play areas, etc. • Use a timer and have everyone change activities to work on transitions and increase their recess options. • Use picture cues for choices. • Have a designated “clean up” time. Pre-teach recess skills If enough help is such as what to do on the available, have an adult climbing apparatus, how lead an activity that to play with the trucks, students can play if they what to do with the balls, choose such as bowling, how to throw balls into the Hot Potato, jump rope hoop, where to trike/bike (move over a low or and use other riding toys snaked rope), bean bag and when to use a helmet. target activity, etc. Play “Follow the Leader” Begin or end with one of and move through the transitional activities different parts of the such as a timer, marching playground in different or line up song, picture of movement patterns. lining up or cue from the teacher. Set up obstacle courses Paint or use chalk to on the playground and make circles or shapes on use prepositional words the playground. Use the like over, under, around shapes as targets/areas and behind while the to move to, locations to students move through jump or perform other the space. locomotor movements or areas to gather students. 3 Recess & Recreational Activities The following are suggested activities. This is not an all-inclusive list. Outdoor Activities • Biking • Disc or Frisbee golf • Ladder golf • Badminton • Dribbling activities: • Lawn darts • Bean bag target dribble down a line, • Limbo: use a fun noodle games around cones, dribble tag or jump rope as the limbo • Bocce: can be played • Four Square stick with bean bags • Frisbees: foam or regular • Miniature golf • Bubbles: pop with • Follow the Leader: • Obstacle course: different body parts, encourage the leader to have students move try to catch them, step change the movements over, under and around on them to pop, clap but not too quickly objects. Different them to pop • Gardening movement patterns can • Bowling: use small also be used (run to the • Hopscotch: try various cone, jump to the wall, cones or fewer pins if patterns several students are etc.) playing • Horseback riding • Play musical hoops: • Catch: use Nerf or • Horseshoes: plastic or when the music stops, lighter weight balls foam remove a hoop but not a student. All participants • Chalk drawing: have • Hula hoops (see activities on page 25) will eventually be in one students draw on hoop the school building • Kite flying • Ring toss: use small or make a chalk • Jump rope (see activities extension (tape chalk cones and rings that can on page 26) be made out of rope, to the end of a dowel – Twirled long rope rod or ¼” PVC pipe) purchase a set or use – Self-twirled rope hula hoops and large • Checkers – Long rope swung pylons back and forth • Cheer contest: • Scavenger hunt practice school cheers – Snake the rope by or chants shaking it on the • Scoops: used to ground practice catching; can be • Croquet – Jump over a purchased commercially stationary rope or use a milk jug with the • Kickball (see variations on bottom cut off, tie a string page 42) 4 Indoor Activities to the ball and scoop • Basketball shooting • Dance: creative with to begin with and as games scarves or streamers the student advances • Bingo or basic line dance or in skill, remove the recreational dances string; can also be • Board games (Chicken dance, limbo, done with a partner • Bocce: can be Hokey-Pokey) • Scratch mitt: throw to played with bean • Exercise bike, a partner, you can use bags treadmill or exercise a smaller, lighter ball • Bowling: use small videos instead of a tennis ball cones or fewer pins • Jenga if several students • Shoot baskets: take • Legos turns shooting and are playing rebounding. Points can • Building blocks • Limbo be given for hitting the • Cards or dice • Marker boards rim, backboard or net. games (UNO, Phase • Ring toss A hula hoop can be 10) suspended from the • Table games: chalk, hoop which will allow • Catapult (tabletop): Tic Tac Toe, checkers, students to toss the throw the balls at a memory card games, ball through the hula Velcro target, a peer Legos, etc. hoop if they are unable catches the ball • Scavenger hunts to toss the ball into the • Catch • Shuffleboard regular hoop • Chalkboard drawing • Twister • Softball • Checkers • Velcro darts • Tic Tac Toe: use • Cup stacking • Walking with a pedometer a large sheet and • Computer or headphones markers or chalk • Twister • T-Ball • Walking: record distances 5 Suggested Equipment You may need to check with your school’s physical education teacher to borrow some equipment. Recess equipment should be in a location that is easily accessible. You do not need all the following equipment to develop a recess program; these are suggestions. • Balls: beach balls, Nerf balls, playground balls, Slo-Mo balls, mini-basketballs, whiffle balls (see activities on page 14) • Balloons (see activities on page 15) • Bean bags and targets (see activities on page 22) • Bowling pins and ball • Bubbles • Catapult • Chalk • Checkers • Dice: milk carton or commercially purchased (see activities on page 24) • Frisbees: foam or regular • Horseshoes • Hula hoops (see activities on page 25) • Jump ropes: long and short (see activities on page