All You Need Is A Wall.
One wall, one ball, some chalk.
The Sportswall Is The Other Player.
Hit it and it sends the ball straight back. That one fact fixes most of what goes wrong at recess.
Nobody picks teams. Nobody sits out. A kid on their own gets as many touches as a kid with five friends, and in the same few minutes they get far more reps than they would waiting in a line. Serving, passing and shooting only get better with reps.
Everything below works on a bare wall with chalk. None of it needs a field, a gym booking or a bin of equipment.
Wall Games For Recess, Phys Ed And Intramurals
Start With One. Add The Rest.
Chalk a line, a goal or a target. Most of these take under a minute to explain, and then they run themselves.
Handball
Needs: a bouncy ball and a wall
Hit the ball at the wall. One bounce. Next player hits it back. Miss and you're out.
That's it. Ten seconds to explain. One kid can play it alone all recess.
Make It Harder
- Weak hand only.
- Chalk a line the ball has to clear.
- No bounce. Straight off the wall.
- Add players. Last one standing wins.
Five More, Once They've Got It
Wall Volleyball
Needs: a volleyball, a chalk line about 2m up
Pass above the line, one bounce, pass again. Count your streak.
Make it harder: no bounce, or call the pass you're using before you hit it.
Foot Hockey Shootout
Needs: a ball, a chalk goal on the wall
Chalk a goal. Five shots each, count what goes in, then move back a spot.
Make it harder: chalk corner targets inside the goal and only those count.
Soccer Accuracy
Needs: a soccer ball, chalk targets
Hit the target, control the rebound, hit it again. Count clean hits in a row.
Make it harder: one touch to control, one touch to pass. No stopping the ball.
Target Challenge
Needs: any ball, chalk circles worth points
Numbered circles on the wall. Throw, kick or bounce. First to 21 wins.
Make it harder: smallest circle scores double. Miss the wall completely and you lose five.
Tennis Rally
Needs: rackets and low-bounce balls, a chalk net line
Above the net line, one bounce, hit it again. Count the rally.
Make it harder: stand further back, or alternate forehand and backhand.
Check your school's rules first. Some yards don't allow rackets or hard balls. Swap in a foam ball or a bouncy ball and every game above still works.
Keep it safe. Pick a wall with nothing breakable on it and no windows, give each game its own space, and stop anything that causes pain.
Start Tomorrow With A Box Of Chalk.
You don't need anything painted to try this. Four lines and you have a court for the week.
A Line
One chalk line across the wall, about 2m up. That's your net for volleyball and tennis.
A Goal
A rectangle on the wall at kid height. Foot hockey and soccer both use it.
Targets
Three or four circles with numbers in them. Every throwing and kicking game runs off these.
Basketball Math · Ten Games, One Ball
They'll Ask To Do One More.
Chalk ten numbers on the ground. A kid shoots from one, and the number decides the math. Then they want another turn. That's twenty problems before anyone notices they're practising.
No Sportswall? No problem. This runs anywhere you can shoot a ball: a gym, an existing hoop, a driveway. Chalk, tape or numbered cones all work. A Sportswall just means the court is already there every morning.
Add Up!
Addition and mental math. Grades 1 to 8, depending on the target you set.
What you need
A basketball and a hoop. Shooting spots numbered 1 to 10, chalked on the ground or marked with numbered cones.
How to play
- Pick a target total. 25 is a good place to start.
- A kid picks a numbered spot and shoots.
- Make it, and that number goes on their total. Miss it, and they get nothing. Either way, pick a new spot.
- You have to land on the target exactly. Go over and you're stuck.
Run it solo, in pairs or in teams. Change the target to change the grade.
Shoot from 4. In. Total is 4.
Shoot from 7. In. Total is 11.
Shoot from 9. In. Total is 20.
Now they need 5. Nobody had to tell them to do the subtraction. They just did it, with a ball in their hands.
That Was 1 Of 10.
The other nine, in a sentence each.
Race To 21
Keep adding made shots until you hit 21 on the nose.
Risk It!
Make it and the number is yours. Miss it and it comes off your total.
1 to 10 Race
Work through every spot in order, 1 through 10. No skipping.
Greater Than, Less Than
You call a condition. They have to find a spot that fits it and score from there.
Multiply To Win
Two spots are your factors. Hit the product you were given.
Equation Builder
Collect numbers by shooting, then build an equation that reaches the target.
Subtraction Splash
Shoot two spots and make the difference you were asked for.
Total It! Race To 20
Add your way to exactly 20. Go over and you drop back to 10.
Target Swap: Make 10
One partner shoots a number. The other has to shoot the one that finishes 10.
The full bundle has all ten written out. Teacher instructions, court setup visuals, curriculum connections, printable pages, and 20 or more variations to stretch it across Grades 1 to 8.
Make It Permanent
Chalk Washes Off. Paint Doesn't.
Chalk lasts until it rains. Then somebody has to draw it all again, and usually nobody does.
A GANP Sportswall is the same idea made permanent. We paint realistic courts onto a bare schoolyard wall and the ground in front of it: nets, goals, targets and game lines. Volleyball, tennis, hockey, handball, basketball and soccer, all on one wall. Kids switch games without moving a thing, and it's there every morning whether a teacher sets it up or not.
We've painted 17 of them at Ontario schools. It's paint, not a screen. No construction, and most walls go up in a day.
Questions Teachers Ask Us.
What games can kids play against a wall at recess?
Volleyball passing, handball, foot hockey, soccer accuracy, tennis rallies where rackets are allowed and basketball shooting. The wall sends the ball back, so one kid can play alone or a group can share the same surface.
What are good schoolyard games when the yard is all pavement?
Wall games and ground games. Pavement and a flat wall are enough for handball, foot hockey, target challenges and rally games. Chalk the lines on and you have a court. A pavement yard isn't the problem people think it is.
What recess games need almost no equipment?
One ball and a piece of chalk covers most of this page. Handball needs a ball and a wall. Target games need a ball and something to aim at. A rally game needs one chalk line.
What about kids who don't like team sports?
Nobody picks teams for a wall. A kid can play alone and still get a full recess of touches. That's the whole point. You don't have to be good. You just have to show up.
What is Basketball Math?
An active math game. Numbered spots go on the ground, a kid shoots from a number, and the number decides the math. Ten games cover addition, subtraction, multiplication, comparing numbers and building equations. One of them is free.
Do we need a basketball court for Basketball Math?
No. Anywhere you can shoot a ball works. A gym, an existing hoop, the yard, a driveway. Chalk, tape or numbered cones mark the spots.
Do we need a painted court to play these?
No. Chalk works. A painted Sportswall makes the lines, goals and targets permanent so the games are there every day without anyone setting them up.
Can these run as intramurals or phys ed?
Yes. Same games, different clock. Shootouts and rally counts turn into a lunch league easily, because every kid has a number to beat.
Got A Blank Wall?
We'll Look At Your Yard With You.
A 20-minute call. We pull up your schoolyard on a map and walk it together: the walls, the surface, how kids already use it.