My class has a special recess on Fridays. You earn it by doing your work throughout the week and being respectful. AKA being a good student and a good person. We do fun science experiments, like making ice cream in a bag or mixing corn starch and water (BEST.EVER.), or going to the playground. And then one of my stubborn kiddos who has been having a rough year got really into a book about rocks and minerals. So, I went online and ordered a rocks and minerals kit, along with geodes. And that was Fun Friday. It was awesome. We smashed the geodes with hammers and ooooh-ed and ahhhh-ed at the crystals inside. The kiddos marveled at the rock collection I spread on the back table. It was fun. And then it was over.
One week later, we celebrated Fun Friday again. And I had a fun afternoon planned, BUT my kiddos requested the rock collection. They wanted to sort the rocks and classify them with the chart that it came with. They wanted to look up more information about the rocks on the computers. One kid brought in a notebook and took notes!
Another week goes by and once again, I have kiddos asking to sort the rocks. We even went out to the playground one day and I saw kids sprawled out in the rocks searching. It was pretty adorable. And the easiest indoor Fun Fridays I had planned in my 6 years of teaching!
Anyway, if you're looking for an engaging and semi-education recess idea...scrounging up some rocks might just hit the spot for your kiddos, too!
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