Make cherry blossom viewing even more fun! A collection of recreation and game ideas to play with kids
With the warm spring weather inviting us outside, many of you are probably planning to go cherry-blossom viewing with your children.
At hanami, you don’t just want to admire the cherry blossoms—you also want to include recreations and games that parents and kids can fully enjoy together.
In this article, we’ll introduce a wide range of ideas to make your hanami time even more special, from sakura-themed games and active movement play to simple activities that require no equipment.
Make the most of those spring moments filled with children’s smiles!
Make hanami even more fun! A collection of recreation and game ideas to play with kids (1–10)
Making pressed flower cards of memories
How about making a simple pressed flower using the cherry blossom petals you picked up during hanami? This video shows you how to press flowers in just one minute and turn them into a card.
The secret is the microwave! Try making a keepsake card so you can preserve those fun memories forever.
Four-Leaf Clover Time Attack
A perfect game for cherry-blossom viewing: the Four-Leaf Clover Time Attack.
Set a time limit and compete to see how many four-leaf clovers you can find within it.
Its simple rules are guaranteed to get everyone excited! Forming teams by family and battling it out sounds fun too.
Petal Collection
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bg_iqUJFyj-/How about gathering the scattered cherry blossom petals and playing with them? You could scoop up more than you can hold in both hands and toss them, or pick out the prettiest petals, arrange them back into the shape of a flower, and display it.
You might even take some home and press them.
A craft where you thread them onto a string to make a necklace is also recommended.
And of course, spring is the season when many flowers besides cherry blossoms begin to bloom.
I think it’s fun to look for different kinds of flowers.
It’s a super easy spring activity that doesn’t require any tools at all!
Easy DIY! Ring Toss Game
When you’re relaxing and enjoying cherry blossom viewing in a warm park, how about trying a simple ring toss as a little game? All you need are an empty plastic bottle and some newspaper to get set up.
Kids love ring toss, don’t they? You could also line up some snacks instead of plastic bottles to give it a festival vibe—it’s sure to be a hit.
Insect observation and insect collecting
How about adding a little twist to your cherry-blossom viewing by incorporating some insect collecting for the kids? Beneath the cherry petals, tiny bugs are hiding.
Bring a magnifying glass and let the children enjoy observing insects—it’s highly recommended.
By exploring tree trunks and grassy areas, they might come across rhinoceros beetles or ladybugs.
If you bring an insect field guide, you can have even more fun looking up the creatures you find together.
Enjoy a memorable day while viewing the cherry blossoms!
Cherry Blossom Torn-Paper Collage
Tearing tissue paper is fun! Here’s a craft idea for making a cherry blossom tree using tissue paper.
What you’ll need: tissue paper, construction paper, a brown crayon, and glue.
First, tear the tissue paper into small pieces.
Next, use the brown crayon to draw a tree on the construction paper.
Apply plenty of glue where you want to stick the tissue paper, then press the torn tissue pieces on top—and you’re done! It’s also great to make these outdoors with children while viewing real cherry blossoms.
Feel free to add your favorite decorations, or even try using real cherry blossom petals you pick up during hanami.
Fingerplay: It’s spring, it is spring
There are lots of spring children’s songs, aren’t there? But how about a hand play song that lets you enjoy hand motions as well as singing this time? To the tune of “It’s Spring, It’s Really Spring,” let’s all make up and play with gestures for the butterflies and flowers that appear in the lyrics! If you have something like this up your sleeve for a cherry-blossom viewing party with lots of kids, it might be reassuring.
Let’s break off a cherry blossom branch.
How about making cherry blossoms using just origami paper and scissors? After going flower-viewing and being moved by the beauty of the blossoms, some children may want to enjoy cherry blossoms at home too.
But you can’t exactly take real blossoms home.
So why not make cherry blossoms out of origami and decorate your house with lots of them? The folding is a bit unusual, but you only make straight folds, and then you use scissors.
When you cut and unfold it… it becomes the shape of a cherry blossom.
With one final touch—a few small folds—the flower becomes three-dimensional.
Tail Tag GameNEW!
The “tail tag” game is played by tucking a headband or towel, used as a substitute for a tail, into your pants and chasing each other.
Everyone starts with a tail.
Within the time limit, protect your own tail while trying to grab your opponents’ tails.
The person who collects the most tails wins.
You can also play in teams; in that case, the team with more members who successfully kept their tails wins.
Work out a strategy—like how to cooperate with your teammates—and give it a try!
Ice tagNEW!
In Freeze Tag, when the tagger touches a player, that player can’t move.
However, if a teammate touches them, they can move again and keep running.
The game ends when the tagger has caught all the players.
It’s also fun to set a time limit or define an area where players can run.
If you’re tagged, crouch so it’s clear you’re frozen and wait for a teammate to free you.
Since it’s hard for one person to catch everyone, set multiple taggers.
It’s a game where teamwork is the key to winning.