For 4-year-olds! Introducing recommended indoor activities, group games, and crafts
At age four, children’s vocabulary grows, they start expressing their feelings and thoughts in words, and they can find their own favorite play activities and things they want to try.
This time, we’ve gathered play ideas that are perfect for the development of four-year-olds.
In addition to easy-to-implement indoor physical activities and group games, we also introduce many DIY toy-making ideas that let children freely enjoy expressing themselves while expanding their imagination.
We’ve collected many activities that, through playing with friends, help children experience the importance of following rules and the joy of sharing feelings.
Use these as a reference to find play ideas that match the children’s interests.
- [For 4-Year-Olds] A Collection of Indoor Play and Game Ideas That Get Everyone Excited
- [For 4-year-olds] Ideas for group games and craft activities that can be done indoors
- For 4-year-olds! A collection of indoor home play ideas that make time inside fun
- Craft activity ideas for 4-year-olds
- Age 4: Simple and Fun! Handmade Toy Ideas
- For 3-Year-Olds! Indoor & Outdoor Physical Play and Game Ideas
- Ideas for indoor activities, games, and group play that 5-year-olds enjoy
- Games and activities everyone can enjoy together. A collection of fun play ideas.
- [Childcare] Recommended for 3-year-olds! Play ideas everyone can enjoy
- [Age 5] Exciting and fun! A special feature on ideas for at-home play
- [Childcare] Recommended for March! A Collection of Craft Ideas to Enjoy with 4-Year-Olds
- Exciting for 4-year-olds! A collection of sports day event ideas for preschoolers (middle class)
- [Childcare] Fun for October! Craft ideas recommended for 4-year-olds
For 4-year-olds! Introducing recommended indoor activities, group games, and crafts (51–60)
Anything Basket
Listen carefully, think carefully, and move! Here’s an idea for a “Anything Basket” game.
Are you familiar with Fruit Basket? In this game, participants are assigned the names of fruits like apple, banana, and orange.
The facilitator calls out, “○○ fruit!” and the children who have that fruit name quickly move to the seats designated for that fruit.
As a variation of Fruit Basket, let’s try “Anything Basket.” It’s a great way to develop good listening skills!
Chick Sumo
People from preschoolers to adults can join! Here’s an idea for “Chick Sumo.” It’s a perfect game for training ankle flexibility while playing.
While squatting, hold your ankles and move forward.
If your hands or bottom touch the floor, you lose—simple as that.
Move carefully so you don’t lose your balance.
Once you get used to it, try battling in groups of five or six in class.
A tournament format, where the last person remaining advances, also sounds fun!
Marumaru Animal
“Marumaru Animal” is a game where you become various animals using different ideas.
At first, teachers or caregivers say things like “Mr.
Rabbit” or “Mr.
Crab” and strike a pose to guide the children.
Once they get used to it, it’s fine to let a child who wants to try take the lead.
Rabbits, elephants, and monkeys are classics with easy-to-understand poses, but you can also intentionally choose animals without standard poses to spark the children’s imagination.
It’ll be fun to see what kinds of animal ideas they come up with.
Greengrocer’s shop
The “Greengrocer’s Shop” is a fun game that’s like a mix of a rhythm game and a quiz.
The teacher sings a song and, at the end, says the name of one item at a time.
If it’s something you’d find at a greengrocer’s, the children clap to the rhythm and say “aru, aru” (“it’s there!”).
If it’s not something you’d find there, they make an X with their arms and say “nai, nai” (“not there!”).
Since quick decisions are needed, mistakes can happen, and opinions may differ.
When that happens, take a moment to pause and discuss together: “Is it there?” “Is it not?”
For 4-year-olds! Introducing recommended indoor activities, group games, and crafts (61–70)
Intro Quiz
Let’s guess songs like children’s tunes and anime theme songs! Here are some ideas for an intro quiz.
It’s a wonderful way to play with music using your memory.
By listening to the opening melody and guessing the song’s name, children can develop a deeper interest in music.
It’s great that you can play individually or in teams; competing with friends or classmates lets you enjoy the fun of cooperating, feel the thrill of wins and losses, and get excited together.
You can also adjust the difficulty to match the season or trends, making it a quiz everyone can enjoy!
Color Whack-a-Mole
Color Whack-a-Mole, where players hit pool noodles from both sides to see which team can push them into the opposing side, is a perfect game for large groups.
Arrange and fasten pool noodles to a wire frame available at 100-yen shops.
When securing them with bands, make sure the noodles can still slide when pushed.
Participants sit on both sides and strike with short pool noodles they hold.
The fixed noodles will move, so keep hitting to make them pop out toward the opponents.
It’s also a game that develops the ability to take in the whole field.
Recommended for ages 4 and up.
Scratch play
Here’s a fun scratch-art activity you can enjoy indoors.
Prepare construction paper, bamboo skewers, pastel crayons, disposable chopsticks, and glue thinned with water.
First, use bright colors of pastel crayon to color the construction paper thoroughly so there are no gaps.
Then, cover the entire surface with black crayon, again making sure there are no gaps.
Use a bamboo skewer to scratch the surface and draw your picture by revealing the colors underneath.
Brush on a coat of glue thinned with water to seal the finished picture.
This makes the colors less likely to rub off on your hands.
Let it dry, and you’re done.
Give it a try!
