What’s Up Phys Ed Fam!
Are you suffering from the headaches of managing a recess cart that nobody takes care of?
Do you spend hours each week untangling jump ropes and wondering how pencils made their way into your playground balls?
I feel your pain!
Today I want to explain how I manage the recess equipment at our school and hopefully give you some ideas to implement a similar system at your school.
Check out the video below for an overview of how I manage recess bags:
Email the Teachers
At the start of the year, I send out an email to the teachers about the Recess Bag that includes the instructions and expectations for taking care of the bag.
Here is a link to a sample of the email I send out
What’s Inside the Bag
Grade 1 – Two Basketballs, Two Playground Balls and a Soccer Ball
Grade 2 – Two Basketballs, Two Playground Balls, Soccer Ball, Football and a Frisbee
Grades 3 and Up – Two Basketballs, Two Playground Balls, Soccer Ball, Football, Frisbee, Long Jump Rope and Spots for bases so they can play Kickball
- I teach many of these activities throughout the year so students are familiar with almost all of them, check out the links below for some examples of how I teach each content area:
With this system, you teach the students a valuable life lesson of having responsibility for their own equipment. If they take care of their stuff they will have more stuff to play with throughout the year.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BmlteutHF4L/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
End of the Year
At the end of the year each grade turns in their bag to me and I order new equipment to be distributed next school year.
FYI: We have a separate fund for recess equipment, which is totally separate from PE money.
If you have an awesome system or tip for managing recess equipment, drop it in the comments or share on social and tag me @thepespecialist
More Resources for Kicking Off Your School Year
Here’s some more great resources for starting your year off right
- My First Week of School Lesson Plan
- 5 Bright Ideas for Classroom Management
- How to plan out an entire year of PE
- A Tour of all the Posters on my Gym Walls
- Common Phrases I say in P.E. Class
- Tips for Teaching with Station Activities (and Free Printable Station Signs)
Angela McElfresh says
Do you have 1 bag per grade level? Or 1 bag per classroom?
Marcus says
Hey Angela,
We do one bag per grade level but I’ve seen school where they do one bag per class.
Diana Atkins says
Thanks for the recess bag idea! My poor recess cart thanks you😅.
Any ideas on indoor recess when weather forces the kiddos in? Thanks again!
Marcus says
Hey Diana,
Thanks for reaching out!
You can check out the link below for some indoor activities for students:
First a disclaimer…
I’m no expert at classroom activities, normally I teach in a gym, but I have done a few things in a classroom when I’ve been kicked out of my gym – below are a few ideas:
Games I’ve done in a Classroom:
Cross the River: https://www.thepespecialist.com/crosstheriver/
Pass the Frog: https://www.thepespecialist.com/passthefrog/
Hula Hut Relays: https://www.thepespecialist.com/pegames1/
You can do cup stacking relays/activities or any of the relay style Field Day Games if you have a little space
Examples of Field Day Games: https://www.thepespecialist.com/fieldday/
Tumbling Towers is a good one for small space, check out video at the link above
Fun Games to Try Out in a Classroom:
Blindfold students and have their team guide them through an obstacle course in the classroom
Minute to win it style games and challenges
Juggling scarves or plastic bags if you don’t have scarves (follow along video from Kevin Tiller Here)
Pipeline Activity (using pipes or paper towel rolls to transfer marbles from one place to another)
If you have a projector/TV you could do some video workouts or follow the leaders:
Sworkit App
Go Noodle
Just Dance
Teach some Line Dances:
The Whip Nae Nae: https://www.thepespecialist.com/dance/
Mr. Chris’ Dances: https://www.thepespecialist.com/dance2/
Hokey Pokey: https://www.thepespecialist.com/hokeypokey/
Here’s an E-Book with my favorite Line Dances: Line Dance E-Book (Teachers Pay Teachers)
Cup Stacking
1 v 1 battles
Relay Style
Tech integration – check out Ben Prillo’s Animated GIFs for some examples students can follow along to
Split into teams and build the tallest tower
*Note – if you don’t have cup stacks, just use SOLO Cups instead for a cheap alternative
Video Resources
Go Noodle Follow Along
Just Dance Follow Along
Watch Youtube Inspirational Videos
Have a discussion on grit, willpower and not giving up
Have students set goals and make action plans
Classroom Workout Videos on Youtube
Yoga Lessons – Youtube or Yoga Studio App – or Super Stretch Yoga
Magic School Bus Videos: Exploring the Human Body (and others)
Adventure to Fitness DVDs and Videos
Playout The Game Exercise Game Cards
Cards here: https://amzn.to/2lUUdNF
Video Tutorial Here: https://youtu.be/gWxEfcK-mvw
Paper Rock Scissors Battles – Integrate Exercise and track points with Popsicle Sticks
Jump Bands
Learn different steps
Switch up the enders and jumpers
Balloon Striking Activities
Here’s an example of a lesson
If there is space you could also move on to beach balls to add difficulty
Create a Game Activity
Give student paper and pencil and have them create their own game to play later
Discuss a template – diagram, rules, equipment needed, objective of the game ect
Fitness / Exercise:
Teach some different exercises (you could even use our 25 Exercise Posters)
Have students complete their own personal workout plans and teach them to the class
Drum Fit with Noodles on Desks
Google around for Cardio Drumming or Drum Fit and you’ll find lots of examples, but here’s one: https://youtu.be/C1wFHehzrJs
Health Lessons
Go over some health concepts using the framework in this post: https://www.thepespecialist.com/health/
Also check out http://www.Kidshealth.org for some lesson ideas
Books that might be good to check out on this topic:
No Gym No Problem: https://amzn.to/2zQnbsm
I haven’t read this one personally, but heard lots of good things about it from teachers who lost their gym or taught in a classroom
No Props, by Mark Collard: https://amzn.to/2WLreiz
An awesome book on teambuilding games and icebreakers with no equipment needed, Mark also has a website with some good team building resources (Playmeo.com)
Anita Tubbs says
Love it!!!!
Marcus says
Glad you’re enjoying the resources! We appreciate it!
Alec Grimm says
Ben,
I am putting together a similar recess system with bags. Where do you suggest purchasing the equipment from? I have a $500 budget to work with, and I need to purchase equipment for the whole school, K-4. We will be doing one bag per grade level, because of how our recess schedule works.
Marcus says
Hey Alec!
Thanks for reaching out!
We usually get our recess equipment for a school/district vendor (i.e. Sportime, School Specialty, or Gopher).
But if you can go through Amazon, great! They sometimes have the cheaper items.
Hope this helps!
Sarah says
Hello, love this idea! What size of bag do you typically purchase to store each Grade’s equipment?
Ben Landers says
Thanks – https://amzn.to/393fY5s is a good example of a basic bag, but I usually get the ones that have a cloth bottom because they last longer and are less likely to get holes in them over time. like this one: https://amzn.to/2CDtwZA
Most equipment providers offer a few options – my preference is the heavy duty ones.
Sheri says
Great post! Who becomes responsible for each bag? Do the teachers from that grade rotate responsibility? Do you get any pushback or pressure to replace balls that go missing or flat? How did you get buy-in when you moved from the recess rack method to this?
Ben Landers says
Usually the grade level has a “team leader” and they pick a few responsible kids to manage the bag and make sure that it has all the items at the end of each day.
I replace balls that go flat/get damaged with left overs from the previous year, but don’t replace something that gets lost.
For the buy in – I would just explain it to your admin, if they approve it then just send out an announcement that we have a “new and improved” recess system and each class will get their very own equipment!
Tracy Westman says
One thing that I have done is color code each grade level as much as possible. (easy to do with the rainbow sets of equipment.) That way if something is left out we know which grade it belongs to. Also if a grade leaves out equipment it comes to me and they need to “earn” the equipment back by doing some sort of exercise…it is then returned to their recess bin.
Ben Landers says
That does make it way easier! Great idea
Jonah says
Great post, Ben! Question: How many classes does each bag serve? At my school, we have three recess blocks (K/1, 2/3, and 4/5). Each recess has about 150 kids out at a time. How much equipment do you think is appropriate for a mixed grade group of that size? Thank you and keep up the great work!
Ben Landers says
We have 1 grade level at a time and roughly 100 kids per grade level. So maybe throw a few more balls than the ones I had listed if you have more than that, but really it’s up to you.
I just want to make sure that they have enough equipment to utilize the space and play all of the pickup games they want on the playground (4 square, basketball, soccer ball, frisbee, jump rope, kickball)