Winter School Games

Indoor Sports

• When the weather gets too cold to play sports outside, you can play indoors. For example, indoor foot volleyball uses the same rules as volleyball, except that students use their feet instead of hands. The net can be a piece of string about a foot from the floor. The size of the volleyball also should be adjusted a little; a large plastic ball is suggested. Basketball is another sport that can be played in a small area with some variations on the size of the court and the ball used.

Ice Fishing

• Ice fishing is an indoor game that requires only a blue sheet or blue-painted cardboard, dowel sticks and clothespins. Hang the blue "ocean" sheet or cardboard from the ceiling so the bottom touches the floor. Then construct the fishing poles by tying one end of the string to the dowel and the other end around a clothespin. The teacher stands behind the blue sheet or cardboard with an assortment of small goodies or treats. As the students throw their fishing lines over the blue "ocean," the teacher ensures that they catch something, then pulls on the string to alert the student that they have a catch.

Charades

• A good game of charades can be a learning experience. Divide the class into groups, then have one student at a time acting out the charade. The theme can be anything from historical figures, animals, winter sports or activities. The teacher can limit the number of guesses each group is allowed to make before the opposing teams have a chance to guess the charade. At the end of the game, the team with the most points is declared the winner.

Word Puzzles

• Winter word puzzles are used by teachers to expand a student's vocabulary, while at the same time offering hours of activity. Word puzzle games can be a competition among students or a group of students to see who finishes first or who gets the most words completed in a specified amount of time. The winning students and/or team can receive a prize or special reward, such as leaving early for lunch.

  The puzzles you choose depends on the students' ages and language skills. Word searches work for all students, including kindergartners and first-graders, while crosswords and word scrambles are best for older students.