Safe Social

Connections
Social Interaction Games for the Socially Distanced Playground
By: Abbie Stirling

Findings from P.D. California Association for Health, Physical Education,

Recreation, and Dance
Safe Social Rules:
• Wash hands before and after playtime.
• Preview play options for the day prior to starting recess.
• Discuss Safe Play Procedures of:
• Not touching others
• Not touching own face, eyes, nose, and mouth
• Keeping at least a 6-foot distance from peers as much
as possible unless wearing a mask
• Avoiding large groups of other peers and spacing out
across the entire play area whenever possible
• Reporting any concerns to staff member on recess
duty that involve unsafe practices
 – How to play:
– Kids line up across a
designated spot(line) 6 ft.
apart from each other and
pretend to be cars.
– One kid stands
approximately 25 ft away
from the kids that are cars
facing away from them and
is the traffic light.
– Students must walk towards
the traffic light peer when
his/her back is facing them
Grades: K – 5 and stop when they turn
around and call out “Red
Light.”
Players: At least 2 (Best 4) – Any “Car student” that is
caught moving after “Red
Where to play: Light” is called must go back
Indoors or outdoors to the starting spot.
– First person to pass by the
”Traffic Light” Student wins.
– Special Tips:
– The first person to pass the
“Traffic Light” is now the
new “Traffic Light” and the
game resets.
– The game can be alternated
by having the “car students”
not only walk but also twist,
skip, tip toe, shuffle, hop like
a frog, use high knees, etc. to
move towards the traffic
light.
– The traffic light is always in
charge and others must
follow his/her directions.
 – Possible Events:

– How to play:
– Kids carry out their own – Long Jump
version of field day in an – Sprints
Olympic event type of game – Most Push-Ups
set up around the
playground at safe distances. – Most Jumping Jacks
– Students take turns seeing – Most Sit-Ups
which team or student does – Most Burpees
the best at each event. – Relay Races (without high-
– Students can make teams or fives)
Grades: K – 6 compete individually. – Kick the Ball the furthest
– The kids can even create – Standing on 1 foot the
Players: At least 4
their own medals and longest
awards for each event as an
Where to play: Outdoors art project.
– Staring Contest (6 ft. apart)
 – How to play:
Grades: K – 6
Players: At least 4
Where to play: Indoors or
outdoors
– Special Tips:
– Kids stand in a circle 6 feet
apart from each other.
– A leader is selected and is
the “ Master Rhymer.” They
say a word (like ”bat"), then
the peer to their right says
a word that rhymes with it.
– The game continues
around the circle with each
peer saying a different
rhyme word for the first
word until it gets back to
the “Master Rhymer.”
– If the rhyme makes it back
to the leader, the person to
the right of the leader now
is the “Master Rhymer” to
start with a new word.
– If someone gets a word
wrong, then all participants
do five jumping jacks.
– The person who makes the
mistake is the new “Master
Rhymer” after the group
does the consequence.
– Rock, Paper, Scissors can
be played to pick the
“Master Rhymer.”
– The group can change the
consequence to other
physical activities such as
push-ups or squats.
– The group can change the
rules of the game so that
way each person has to say
two rhyme words or the
game as to go around the
circle 2 or 3 times before
starting a new game.
 – How to play:
Grades: K – 6
Players: At least 3 (Best 4)
Where to play: Indoors or
outdoors
– Kids stand 6 feet apart from
each other in a line facing
one student that serves as
”Simon” to start.
– Special Tips:
– The leader can be selected – After 10 turns, a new leader
by playing “Rock , Paper, is picked as “Simon.”
Scissors.”
– ”Simon” should avoid giving
– Players listen as “Simon” unsafe commands such as
gives a direction to them, having the students touch
such as ”Simon says: hop on their face or nose.
1 foot.”
– The speed at which “Simon”
– When the leader says
“Simon says” the students
gives commands can be
increased or slowed down
must do the task. However based on grade level of the
when he/she does not first students.
say “Simon says” they should
not do the task.
– If a player makes a mistake,
they must do a consequence
(jumping jacks) before
joining back in the game

– How to play:
Grades: K – 6
Players: At least 2
Where to play: Indoors or
outdoors
– Special Tips:
– Kids stand 6 feet apart
from each other and each
have their own blank piece
of paper and something to
write with.
– Kids move around the
playground or classroom
carefully in search to
find as many different
items that begin with
each letter of the
alphabet.
– A certain time limit is
set to see who can find
the most items (1 per
letter of the alphabet).
– Students have options on
finding or collecting their
scavenger hunt items.
– They can:
– Write down things
they see on a paper
– Physically collect
items and place them
in a bag
– Write down and collect
items
– Take a photo with their
iPads if available
– One alternative to the
game is a rule that any
players who select the
same item for the same
letter have their items
cancelled out and do not
receive a point for that
letter.
 – How to play:
– Kids stand 6 feet apart
from each other in a circle.
– One “detective” is selected
to begin the game and
must leave the circle to a
Detective place they can’t hear the
group.
– A leader of the group is
also selected and initiates a
movement that the rest of
the group must follow/do
such as butt kickers or
Grades: K – 5
jumping jacks.
– The detective returns to
Players: At least 5 the circle and stands in the
middle. He/she must try to
Where to play: figure out who the leader
Indoors or outdoors of the group is and gets 3
guesses.
– Special Tips:
– The detective gets a point if
he/she correctly guesses
who the leader is within 3
guesses. The leader gets a
point if the detective does
not guess him/her correctly.
– The leader now becomes
the detective and a new
person becomes the leader
after the detective leaves
the circle.
– If there is a large group, two
detectives can play the
game.
– Play continues so everyone
gets a chance to be the
detective and leader once.
– Whoever has the most
points at the end of the
game, wins.
 – How to play:
Dance Off – Kids stand 6 feet
apart from each other
in a circle. – Special Tips:
– A “lead dancer” is – The group takes turns
picked and stands in being the leader and
the middle of the creating different dance
moves.
circle.
– To make it harder, the
– The “lead dancer” leader can dance longer
dances for the group such as for 20-30 seconds.
for 10 seconds doing – The game can also be
Grades: K – 6 different moves with modified where the
his/her body. leader does a certain
Players: At least 4 number of moves vs. time
– The rest of the group or there can be two
must dance using the leaders.
Where to play: Indoors or same moves as the
outdoors leader.
 Charades – How to play:
– Kids stand 6 feet apart
from each other. – Possible Ideas for ”Mystery Words”:
– One person begins by
standing in front of the – Animals
group and using body
movements and actions – People (Teachers)
(no words) to act out any – Vehicles
”mystery word.” – Occupations
– Players guess what the – Sports
mystery word is by either
Grades: K – 6 taking turns or calling out – Action Words
ideas at the same time. – Cold, Hot
Players: At least 3 (Best 4) – First person to guess the – Jumping, Crawling, Lifting
correct mystery word gets
Where to play: Indoors or a point and now gets to act
outdoors out his/her own mystery
word.
 Side-Walk Chalk – How to play:
Draw Your Principal
Grades: 1-6
Players: At least 2
Where to play: Indoors or
outdoors
– Special Tips:
– Based on traditional game
“Hang Man.”
– Kids stand 6 feet apart from
each other.
– One person begins by
standing in front of the group
and using side-walk chalk to
draw blank lines to represent
each letter in the word or
phrase. If inside, a board or
paper can be used.
– The other players take turns
guessing letters or the
complete word/phrase.
– If a player guesses a letter
correct, it is written in the
blank space. If they do not
guess a correct letter, the
person writing draws a body
part of their principal.
– Play continues until someone
guesses the correct
word/phrase or a picture of
the school’s principal is
completely drawn.
– The student that guesses the
word/phrase correct gets a
point and is now the leader to
create a new word/phrase.
– If no one guesses the
word/phrase, the leader gets
a point.
– Play continues until the end
of recess and the student
with most points wins.
 Obstacle Course
– How to play:
– Students spread out 6 feet
apart from each other and
take turns running through
a planned and created
obstacle course.
– An iPad or watch is used to
time each kid running
through the course to see
Grades: K – 6 who can do it the quickest.
– Students run through the
Players: At least 2 (Best 4) course one at a time being
careful of other kids
playing around them.
Where to play: Outdoors
– Planning:
– Students should use items
already present on the
playground and discuss the
route to run and what to do
at each ”station” on the
course.
– Students can draw out the
course route on a piece of
paper or using sidewalk
chalk, so everyone knows
where to go while running.
– The obstacle course can be
run individually or as a relay
race based on teams.
 – How to play: – Other Rules:
– Kids stand 6 feet apart
Zookeeper from each other in a
circle.
– One student is selected
as a zookeeper and
stands in the middle
with his/her eyes closed.
– The zookeeper tells the
kids how to move
around the circle (hop,
skip).
– When the zookeeper
says “stop,” all kids
Grades: K – 4 stop moving. The
zookeeper calls out an
Players: At least 4 animal name and points
to one random student
and that student must
Where to play: Indoors or make the animal sound
outdoors out loud.
– The zookeeper has two
guesses to call out the
name of the student
that made the animal
sound.
– If the zookeeper gets it
correct, they get a point
and switch with that
student.
– If the zookeeper does
not guess who made the
sound correctly in two
guesses, the student
making the sound gets
the point and is now the
zookeeper.
– The game continues
until the end of recess
and the person with the
most points wins.
 – How to play:
Movement Club
Grades: K – 6
Players: At least 2 (Best 4)
Where to play: Outdoors
– Possible Clubs:
– Students spread out 6 feet – Running Club
apart from each other.
– Students move throughout
– Walking Club
the playground, using as – Skipping Club
much space as possible.
– Jogging Club
– While moving around the
playground and getting – High-Knee Club
exercise, they can also be
talking and socializing
– Singing While Walking
through telling stories or Club
asking each other – Dance Club
questions. This is a great
time to talk about – Talk about Video
whatever they want while Games or Movies Club
keeping a safe distance and
taking a break from work.