Fun with no prep needed! Indoor activities perfect for 1-year-old classes
Children in the one-year-old class are starting to walk, learning to jump, and becoming more and more active.
Even when you suddenly have to switch to indoor play, you’ll want to make sure they can still move their bodies a lot.
Sometimes the weather or staff scheduling forces an unexpected change to indoor play, leaving you unprepared or unsure what activities to do.
For teachers in that situation, here are indoor activities you can do even without any preparation.
We’ve gathered ideas that are perfect for one-year-olds, so please try incorporating them.
Let’s spend a fun time with the children through a variety of activities.
- For 1-year-olds! Indoor play ideas that make rainy days fun
- Ideas for indoor play and physical activities recommended for 1-year-olds
- Let’s play at home with a one-year-old! Activity ideas using things you already have at home
- [Childcare] Full of energy! Indoor activity ideas to get kids moving
- [For 0-year-olds] Fun indoor play ideas using raffia tape (suzuran tape)
- [Childcare] Perfect Indoor Play Ideas for 0-Year-Olds!
- [Childcare / Physical Play] Fun Activities to Get Moving
- Recommended for 1-year-olds! Craft play ideas and fun crafting techniques
- No prep needed! Indoor play and game ideas that 2-year-olds will enjoy
- Get excited! A list of popular and fun hand games that captivate children
- [Childcare] DIY Ideas for Circuit Play
- [For 2-year-olds] Let’s get moving! A collection of ideas for physical play and movement games
- [For 1-year-olds] Fun Together! Recommended Songs and Hand Play Collection
Play Anytime, No Prep! Indoor Activities Recommended for 1-Year-Old Classes (21–30)
Balloon play
We’d like to introduce a balloon play activity that lets children enjoy the soft, floating feel of balloons! With just balloons, you can try all sorts of variations—jumping up to reach balloons hung from the ceiling, or playing peekaboo while holding a balloon.
Chasing gently floating balloons or jumping to touch them gets kids moving more than you might expect, making it a full-body exercise.
Why not add this to your repertoire of indoor active play?
A game of scooping up toys in the water
Enjoy a special feeling right in your room or on the terrace! Here’s a fun activity where children scoop up toys in water.
It’s great to set this up with the goals of using their hands and learning how to use a spoon.
Children scoop toys that gently drift on the water’s surface using a ladle, a Chinese-style spoon, or a regular spoon.
Besides floating toys, adding heavier toys to the water can make it even more interesting.
Putting toys into the water, scooping them up, and transferring them to another container—each child will focus on different parts of the activity.
Observing the children closely and expanding the play based on their interests will make it even more enjoyable.
Jump play
@kukuru2021 I flew really well❣️Rhythmic#HulaHoopPianotranslationchild#Nursery school3 years old, 2 years old1 year oldRhythmic Piano
♪ Original Song – kukuru2021 – KUKURU International Preschool
I think children love movements like jumping and hopping on one foot.
By incorporating jumping and one-foot hopping into play, it naturally helps develop their motor skills.
The activity I’m introducing this time is a physical game where children aim for the goal by jumping one by one through hula hoops in time with the piano’s sound and tempo.
Moving your body and jumping in sync with the piano feels very pleasant, doesn’t it? It also seems fun to try speeding up the piano, slowing it down, and adding expressive changes to the music while doing the activity.
anpan, shokupan
Let’s enjoy the hand-play song “Anpan, Shokupan” with one-year-olds.
We’ll express all kinds of breads that everyone loves through the hand-play song.
In the “sandwich” part, you gently press your cheeks with your hands, so you’ll likely see adorable expressions from the one-year-olds.
It’s fun to try variations—like a slow version and a slightly faster version—when you do it.
It’s also recommended as a warm-up activity, such as right before free play.
It’s great to have everyone say “Itadakimasu!” and pretend to eat the breads they made together.
Mogura-don
A playful children’s song for enjoying back-and-forth interaction: introducing Mogura-don (Mr.
Mole).
It’s good to set the goal of experiencing a traditional Japanese playground game and moving the body and fingers in time with the song.
How to play: Choose one person to be the mole and have them lie down as if sleeping.
Everyone else holds hands and circles around.
At the end of the song, call out, “Mr.
Mole, wake up!” When the mole wakes from sleep, the chase begins.
The person who gets caught becomes the next mole.
Once everyone gets used to the game, try changing the wake-up line or tweaking the rules to make the play even more engaging!
Mukkuri Kuma-san
Play along with music! Introducing “Mukkuri Kuma-san” (the Sleepy Bear game).
It’s good to set the aim as encouraging children to role-play and enjoy interacting with parents, teachers, and friends through play.
How to play: choose one child to be the bear, who lies down to sleep.
Everyone else holds hands and circles around the bear.
At the end of the song, call out, “Mr.
Bear, wake up!” When the bear wakes up with a “Grr!” the chase begins.
Whoever gets caught becomes the next bear.
At first, have a parent or teacher play the bear.
Using a cute bear-face headpiece for the bear role makes it easier for the children to understand!
musical chairs
Even two-year-olds are gradually starting to enjoy games with rules.
By playing together in a group, they also develop social skills.
A great recommendation for this age is musical chairs.
Arrange chairs in a circle, and have the children walk around them to music.
When the music stops, they sit down, and the child who can’t find a seat loses.
Repeat this until the last remaining child is the winner.
Because there are winners and losers, children can experience both joy and frustration.
For this age group, it’s also recommended to swap the chairs for cushions or emergency hood cushions to make it safer and more enjoyable.