Rainy spring days can feel endless—especially when energetic kiddos are stuck inside just as they’re itching for summer break. After several soggy days in a row, our class needed something new to help burn off energy and keep spirits high. That’s when we turned to a couple of hands-on, movement-based games that brought big fun indoors! Not only did they keep us active and engaged, but they also encouraged important early learning skills like teamwork, coordination, and counting. Read on to see which two games saved our rainy-day routine and became fast classroom favorites.
EasyFlip Mini Beanbag Game
The first activity my class tried out was the EasyFlip Mini Beanbag Game. Most of the kiddos were familiar with the concept, since many had watched their parents, siblings, etc. play cornhole before. They were very excited to have a set that was more their size, with fun pictures on it. The bean bags were a nice size for smaller hands, and the boards are big enough to have plenty of room to land a bean bag on, yet small enough that they are easy to store. The two different patterns to choose from for the board fabric is a fun little addition too, both pictures were nice and vibrant with fun designs.
This game was so popular with my class that we had to create two teams of 2 kiddos for each game, and did our own little tournament. This game encouraged kiddos to work on their hand-eye coordination, aim, taking turns, counting, addition, and teamwork. They really enjoyed being able to partner up and work as a team toward their goal of 10 bags in the hole. We even would have a “score keeper” to help tally the score whenever someone got a bean bag in.
SkeeSlope Set
The second activity we did was the SkeeSlope game. This game was a little more of a challenge for the kiddos right off the bat. It took several teacher-modeled rolls for them to figure out how they were supposed to roll the ball versus just tossing it into the basket. Once they got the hang of it, they were unstoppable. It was nice that it came with six balls, so multiple kiddos could play at a time. When we first started, nearly the entire class joined in, so we had multiple kiddos sharing each ball and taking turns after each roll.
This game could be set up anywhere and was also very easy to store. One unique part of this game is that there is no “right” or “wrong” way to play it. Kiddos could get very creative with it. Some tried getting a further distance away from the ramp/basket, some attempted rolling the ball from their knees, with their eyes shut, and even backwards. It has quickly become a class favorite!
Both of these games got the kiddos thinking and moving their bodies. Whether it be chasing a rogue ball while playing SkeeSlope, or bending down to pick up bean bags out of the hole, they were moving and having fun, while also working on skills along the way. They were the perfect indoor games to play with this group, and will be getting a lot of use in the future!
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