5 Indoor Games to Beat Cabin Fever | Extended Notes

The National After School Association's Indoor Games Guide

The National After School Association created the After School Guide to Indoor Games to provide activities that stimulate the mind, get the body moving and help improve fine motor skills during the cold season.

With the winter season in full swing, there will be days when it's too cold to take students outside to play. But the fun doesn't have to end due to freezing temperatures! The National After School Association (NAA) created the After School Guide to Indoor Games to provide activities that stimulate the mind, get the body moving and help improve fine motor skills during the cold season. Educators can beat cabin fever this winter with the following games from the guide:

Guess Who?

How To Play: One person sits with his or her back to the group. One child is chosen from the group to say a predetermined phrase. The person sitting facing away from the group has to figure out who is speaking.

The Hula-Hoop Game

How To Play: Students hold hands in a circle. Two students lock hands through a hula- hoop. When the hula-hoop gets to each student, the student must pass through the hula- hoop without breaking hands.

Paper Skating (This activity is best suited to a linoleum or wood floor)

• Supplies: Paper plates
• How To Play: Challenge students to determine who can skate the fastest from one end of the gymnasium to the other.

Balloon Volleyball

• Supplies: Balloons, Tape
• Set-Up: Put two rows of tape in the center of the "court" area, as the net.
• How to Play: If you step on the tape or you hit the net, it counts as a point for the other team-the same volleyball rules apply. The kids have a blast and get some exercise.

Human Tic-Tac-Toe

• Supplies: Tape
• Set-Up: Mark out a giant tic-tac-toe board is made out of tape on the floor.
• How To Play: Divide teams into X's and O's-you may want to give them paper with X or O written on it. Each side takes a turn trying to create a tic-tac-toe for their team.

For more games, download the complete After School Guide to Indoor Games.