Fun bus activities: bus recreations that liven up field trips and school excursions
Introducing “bus rec” activities for children in daycare, kindergarten, and elementary school! As the pleasant season approaches, the much-anticipated field trip day for kids is on its way.
For many children, it may be their first time riding a bus to visit an aquarium or a zoo with friends.
In this article, we’ll introduce “bus recreation” activities—games you can play on the bus to make the trip even more fun.
All of them are simple to prepare and have easy rules, so if you’re wondering how to keep kids engaged on the bus, give these a try.
They’re also great for livening up the bus on school trips!
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Fun bus activities. Bus recreation that excites field trips and school trips (31–40)
Photo guessing quiz
How about having everyone bring a childhood photo and enjoying a photo-matching quiz? Some people probably haven’t changed much, while others might look completely different from when they were little.
If childhood photos feel a bit embarrassing, baby photos are fine too.
It makes the game harder, but maybe even more fun.
You could also create multiple-choice options.
If you can match someone from their baby photo, that’s impressive! Try guessing from the eyes or the feel of their smile.
Whose cry is this?
This is a game where the teacher or someone makes an animal or insect sound, and everyone guesses which animal or insect it is.
Besides familiar animals, mixing in ones where you might wonder, “What kind of sound does this animal actually make?” can really liven things up.
Sometimes there are kids who are very good at doing animal sounds, so it might be fun to let them take on the role of making the sounds.
Color-finding game
This activity is a fun game unique to bus recreation! While looking out the window, try to find objects that match the prompt color.
You’ll surely come up with lots of answers.
Even kids who are usually absorbed in video games will have a chance to notice the beauty of the scenery outside.
If you don’t know the name of an object in the answer color, adults should tell them.
It also becomes a chance to learn about various things.
Hand game ‘Ochi ta ochi ta’ (literally: ‘It fell, it fell’)
This is a well-known activity in kindergartens and nursery schools.
It can be enjoyed not only when traveling by bus on field trips, but also indoors and outdoors.
You don’t need any equipment and there’s no set time limit, so it’s perfect for filling small gaps of time.
For young children, it gets lively if you choose simple, easy-to-understand prompts like apples or bananas that match their age.
For elementary school kids and older, it might be fun to try a slightly more challenging variation.
Onomatopoeia Quiz
It’s a quiz where you guess the answer using only the sounds made while doing something.
Thinking about what kinds of sounds happen when you do things is fun and educational.
On a bus you can’t move around much, so games you can play using loud voices will liven things up.
“Shaka-shaka,” “guzu-guzu,” “peh!” What’s that? The answer is brushing your teeth.
I bet lots of different answers will come up and it’ll turn into a big commotion.
Singing game: Under the Big Chestnut Tree
This is a classic song for hand-play games.
On the bus, everyone gets lively and has fun together.
Many kids probably already know the traditional gestures that have been around for ages.
Even if it’s your first time, you’ll pick it up right away just by copying your friend next to you! You can almost hear the cheerful voices.
Smiles and laughter fill the bus, and everyone can enjoy it together.
Second-count guessing game
This is a game that tests how accurate your internal clock is—can you hit the specified number of seconds using only your sense of time? You use a stopwatch, like the one on a smartphone, and count the time without looking at the screen.
The rules are simple: whoever gets closest to the target time wins.
The longer the target time, the greater the potential deviation tends to be.
It’s also fun to play while making it harder to focus—like having someone judge the time through conversation—so the back-and-forth mind games get even more exciting.
Highly recommended.
A game where everyone matches their answers
This is a game where everyone thinks of an answer to a given prompt and tries to match those answers.
Since the prompts allow for multiple correct answers, your teamwork in aligning responses will be put to the test.
If you can discuss too thoroughly, it becomes easier to match answers, so it’s recommended to set clear boundaries for how much discussion is allowed.
It’s not only about testing whether your thoughts align; progressing with strategies—such as choosing to match a specific person’s answers—may also be important.
Kyogen ‘Slowly, Slowly’ Game
This is a game inspired by the line “sorori sorori,” devised by Chocolate Planet’s Mr.
Osada, which evokes the feel of kyogen.
Just as the slow movements in kyogen are expressed as “sorori sorori,” players answer with words that the prompt brings to mind.
There are no definitive correct answers, so judge casually among participants as you go.
If a response doesn’t seem connected to the prompt, it’s out.
The most important thing is recalling the most fitting word.
Magical Shout
Participants think of answers to presented quiz questions and aim to respond faster than anyone else.
Instead of deciding who answers by hand-raising or buttons, the rule is that whoever figures it out shouts the answer at that moment.
The person who answers faster earns points, but because overlapping voices make judgment difficult, encourage respondents to project their voices loudly enough to drown out surrounding sounds.
A nice point is that once the quiz is prepared, no equipment is needed.
As everyone thinks of answers while striving to speak louder, the energetic pace will help liven up the atmosphere.
In conclusion
We introduced some fun bus activities—what did you think? If you’re doing them on the bus, games that everyone can join are best. Individual competitions are fine, but splitting into teams across the center aisle and doing team matches makes it even more exciting, so it’s highly recommended! Field trips and school trips are days that become precious memories. Plan lots of entertaining bus activities and let’s share a great time with everyone!