[For Kids] Have Fun at After-School Day Service! A Special Feature on Indoor Game Ideas

10 years as a kindergarten teacher / elementary school teacher / junior and senior high school teacher / childminderkepiko
Graduated from Kunitachi College of Music, Faculty of Music (now: Department of Music Culture and Education, Early Childhood Music Education major). In elementary school, my homeroom teacher was Jun Kusaba, a game researcher. After graduating from university, I worked for 10 years as a kindergarten teacher and for 7 years as an after-school childcare instructor, then took a post as a music teacher at an international school in Singapore. In addition to music education, I also engaged in activities that shared Japanese culture, traditional games, and recreational play, working with many children. Afterwards, through freelance writing, planning, and editing work at Shogakukan, I met many delightful adults and experienced the joy of communicating and conveying ideas. Leveraging the perspective cultivated in educational settings and my experience as an editor, I aim to deliver practical information—focusing on fields related to music and children—that values both input and output. Hobbies include instruments, singing, handcrafts, toys, drawing, traditional play, the outdoors, books, DIY, and crafts. Special skill: spinning-top tricks.
20 years of experience as a nursery teacher / kindergarten teacherhiyoko sensei
I’m Hiyoko-sensei, a former nursery school teacher from Hyogo Prefecture. Ever since I was five, my dream was to become a childcare worker, and before I knew it, 20 years had passed since I achieved that dream. Through singing and playing with the children, I kept working with the spirit of someone in their twenties, even as I increasingly felt my physical limits year by year (haha). From here on, I’d like to share helpful information carefully and thoughtfully, drawing on my on-site experience.

Have you ever heard of “Hōdei”? It’s short for “after-school day service,” a welfare service that provides necessary support tailored to each school-age child with disabilities or children whose development is a concern.

In this article, we’ll introduce ideas for indoor games that kids can enjoy at after-school day services.

You’ll find lots of fun, educational ideas—from group activities to enjoy with friends to games that kids can focus on independently.

Be sure to give them a try!

[For Kids] Have Fun at After-School Day Service! Indoor Game Ideas (11–20)

Quick Towel Grab Game

https://www.tiktok.com/@cocorurueniwa/video/7477760412616772872

Sharpen your judgment and reflexes! Here’s an idea for a quick-draw towel game.

Prepare white towels and colored flags.

Pair up and sit facing each other across a table.

When the teacher raises a flag, quickly grab a towel.

Once you get used to the rules, it’s even more fun if you increase the towel colors to two or three.

While determining the color of the flag the teacher raised, search among the towels on the table for the specified color and pull it toward you.

Give it a try!

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Plate relayNEW!

@bear_kids_official
Plate relay! 🍽️ Match the color of your clothespin to the same-colored section of the plate, grab it, and pass it to the next person ✨ Everyone syncs up and smoothly passes the plate along in rhythm 😊After-school day service Child Development Support #Indoor Play
♬ Original Song – BEAR KIDS 🧸 Child Development Support & After-School Day Service – BEAR KIDS 🧸 Child Development Support & After-School Day Service

A plate-passing relay that helps with color recognition and finger dexterity.

The rules are simple: prepare a paper plate with several colored patches attached.

As the plate comes to you from the person before you, look for where your clothespin’s color appears on the plate, clip your clothespin there, and pass it to the next person.

You can make it more challenging by changing the size of the paper plate or narrowing the areas of color on it.

Splitting into teams and racing to see who can pass it to the last person fastest could make it even more exciting.

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mayumi

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Cup-in gameNEW!

@bear_kids_official
Cup-in Game! - Fosters hand-eye coordination and sense of force control. - Promotes cooperation and social skills.After-school day service Child Development Support #ASD #Indoor Play # developmental support (ryōiku)#ADHD
♬ Original Song – BEAR KIDS 🧸 Child Development Support & After-School Day Service – BEAR KIDS 🧸 Child Development Support & After-School Day Service

It’s a game where you roll a ball aiming for paper cups set along the edge of a table.

If you throw too hard, the ball will jump over the cups; if you throw too softly, it won’t reach them.

This game helps you learn how to control force and develop hand–eye coordination.

It’s a good idea to tilt the table slightly so it slopes upward.

Prepare several paper cups and aim to sink the ball into all of them.

Assigning points to each cup and going for a high score sounds fun too!

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sasashina

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Cup curlingNEW!

@bear_kids_official
[Cup Curling 🥌]■ Purpose- By visually aiming and sliding the cup, nurture the ability to use one’s senses effectively. ✨- Through repeated challenges, turn failures into learning and develop the ability to adjust force on one’s own. ✨After-school day service Child Development Support #ADHD #Indoor Play # developmental support (ryōiku)
♬ Original Song – BEAR KIDS 🧸 Child Development Support & After-School Day Service – BEAR KIDS 🧸 Child Development Support & After-School Day Service

Let’s enjoy paper-cup curling, which helps develop control, adjust force, and build coordination.

Draw a target on a table and slide paper cups from a starting line to aim at the target.

The target has point values, so try to aim for a high score.

Decide how many paper cups each person will throw, and compete using the final total score.

Using your eyes and moving your body is natural, but there are individual differences in these abilities.

Through this game, develop skills that connect to daily life and learning, and gradually overcome areas of difficulty.

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Gesture GameNEW!

@bear_kids_official
[Group Therapy*Gesture Game] • Boost imagination & expressiveness ✨ • Let’s develop our ability to communicate ✋ • Strengthen communication by making eye contact 👀 • Have fun cooperating together 🤝Child Development Support # developmental support (ryōiku)After-school day service #ADHD #Indoor Play #ASD
♬ Original Song – BEAR KIDS 🧸 Child Development Support & After-School Day Service – BEAR KIDS 🧸 Child Development Support & After-School Day Service

This game, where you convey prompts using only gestures without words, helps foster communication.

Make eye contact to gauge the other person’s reactions, and if they don’t seem to catch on to your movements, change your actions to convey the prompt.

By repeating the gesture game, you’ll develop the ability to observe others and adapt to them.

Take turns being the gesturer and the guesser, and think about which kinds of movements are easiest to understand.

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Talking GameNEW!

@houkagoday_yawara
How can I get my message across? Taking on a talking game (a game of active listening and self-disclosure) A psychological game that uses the other person’s words as hints 😆# developmental support (ryōiku)After-school day service #StayHomeTime Parent-child play word Nagasaki #NeurodevelopmentalDisorders translation #EducationalPlay
♬ Anyway, Busy – Various Artists & Ken Ito

In the talking game, you listen to instructions and assemble the blocks accordingly.

You play in pairs, and it’s fun to compare the final shapes with each other.

Because you can’t build the blocks without listening carefully, it helps boost concentration and develop working memory.

Try adjusting the difficulty by changing the number of blocks, and if one set of instructions isn’t enough, provide follow-up—aim for a style that the child enjoys.

If you don’t have blocks, you can have them draw a picture according to the instructions instead.

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[For Children] Have Fun at After-School Day Service! Indoor Game Idea Collection (21–30)

Ball-grabbing gameNEW!

@bear_kids_official
🟠Ball Grab Game🟠 Quickly catch the targeted ball✨ “Got it!” “One more time!”—so much excitement😆🌈 🌟Goals🌟 ・Develop decision-making and reaction speed ・Enjoy while following rules ・Express feelings in words💬After-school day service Child Development Support # developmental support (ryōiku)#Indoor Play
♬ Original Song – BEAR KIDS 🧸 Child Development Support & After-School Day Service – BEAR KIDS 🧸 Child Development Support & After-School Day Service

A ball-grabbing game where you learn the rules and time your move to grab the ball.

Stand inside the designated hoop and perform the specified movements.

When the signal is given, grab the ball set in the center.

The person who grabs the ball first wins.

The game develops concentration, quickness, and decision-making skills.

For older participants, you might raise the difficulty by making the specified movements more complex.

Adjust the fun to the age group by changing the size of the ball or using different materials for the ball.

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mayumi

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