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 recreations that get everyone excited on field trips and school trips (21–30)
“Aaah” Game
It’s simple, but this “Aah” game is likely to be more exciting than you’d expect.
It’s a contest to see who can say “aaah” the longest—you can have everyone on the bus join in, or just a few people.
You could also set rules like advancing the top five longest “aaah” times.
Take a deep breath before you start, and using a small, clean humming tone will improve your chances of winning.
trick question
@igosso.youtube♫ Original Song – Igossou [YouTube] – Igossou [YouTube]
Trick quizzes whose answers look easy but are easy to get wrong or hard to figure out.
The key is to pose them in wording that deliberately confuses kids’ thinking.
With trick quizzes, once you learn the answer, you often think, “Oh, that’s what it is.” The more seriously you think about them, the farther you might get from the solution.
That, in turn, is part of the fun.
Try solving them by reading between the lines of the question and considering whether there’s another way to phrase things.
It seems like it’ll make for a fun time for everyone to think together during the bus ride, too.
A game where you convey a song through illustrations
@_rimy_0417 I couldn’t use my voice, so I tried conveying the song to my partner with illustrations lol Partner ▶︎ @とくみくす (TOKUMIX) / ASOBI Alliance#ASOBI AllianceGuess the songIllustration guessing gameTelepathy; tacit understanding; communicating without words
♬ Original Song – Rimi / ASOBI Alliance – Rimi / ASOBI Alliance
Let’s turn famous songs from anime and TV dramas into illustrations and have people guess the titles.
As long as you have a pen and paper, you can play this game.
Draw things like the CD cover art or a depiction of the song’s chorus on paper.
From there, everyone thinks and guesses the answer.
If the kids are interested in or like songs and music, elementary schoolers will likely get really into it.
Singing the song and having them guess could make it even more fun.
These days, people often listen to songs and music outside of TV, so children have many chances to encounter music.
Song-based questions might be quizzes that are easier for kids to answer.
An acrostic using the syllabary with a song
@_rimy_0417 translationI tried it!!!!#ASOBI AllianceSang it (cover)
♫ Original song – Rimi (RiMy) / ASOBI Alliance – Rimi / ASOBI Alliance
A fun game that boosts a sense of togetherness in the car is the “Alphabet Song Chain.” Following the Japanese syllabary “a-i-u-e-o,” you take turns naming and singing songs that start with each sound—first a song beginning with “a,” then one beginning with “i,” and so on.
The simple rules make it easy to join in.
It tests your recall and quick thinking, and classic tunes from different generations will pop up, sparking conversation.
Once someone starts singing, it naturally gets everyone around involved, so even shy kids can participate easily.
You can tweak the rules by limiting genres or setting themes to make it even more exciting.
Telepathy game through songs
@_rimy_0417 Tried the telepathy game with my partner lolololol Partner ▶︎ @とくみくす (TOKUMIX) / ASOBI Alliance#asobi allianceGame of telepathySang it (cover)
♬ Original Song – Rimi / ASOBI Alliance – Rimi / ASOBI Alliance
Singing games really liven things up, don’t they? Karaoke on the bus can be a lot of fun too, right? So let’s try a telepathy-style game: someone gives a prompt, and everyone sings a song that the prompt makes them think of, aiming to match with each other.
The song can include the prompt in its lyrics, or just be something that seems related to the prompt.
Think about the feelings and personalities of the people answering, and sing in a way that helps your answers line up.
Singing on a bus is sure to offer a kind of fun you can’t quite experience in a classroom or at home.
Puzzle-solving quiz game
@igosso.youtube♫ Original Song – Igossou [YouTube] – Igossou [YouTube]
Let’s get our brains into high gear and tackle some quizzes.
We’ll infer the answers from the questions and illustrations.
You’ll often find yourself thinking about why things are the way they are, putting your flashes of insight and logical thinking to the test.
Rather than relying on typical cases or the amount of knowledge you have, the key point is to change your perspective.
It may take more time to think, but that makes reaching the answer all the more satisfying and refreshing.
This seems like the perfect quiz to make good use of your time on the bus.
10-times quiz game
The 10 Times Game, which was popular in the Showa era, still seems to be a game that children can enjoy today.
With the cue “Please say XX ten times,” you have the player say the given word ten times.
Then the prompt “Now please answer XX” is presented, but there’s a trick to answering.
When answering, you should avoid saying the word you just repeated ten times and be careful not to fall for trick questions.
Since children have just said the prompt word ten times in a row, they’re likely to be in a state where it’s easy to answer incorrectly.
The questions are designed to make you slip up, so it seems important to think calmly when giving your answer.