A collection of ideas for infant/toddler play, recreation, and games

Reverse hide-and-seek

Reverse hide-and-seek: When you spot the ‘it’ (the tagger), hide immediately! Who will be the last one remaining...?

The idea of adding a little twist to the usual game of hide-and-seek—reverse hide-and-seek—is really fun and highly recommended.

The rules are flipped: the seeker is the one who hides! Everyone else tries to find the hiding seeker.

If you’re lucky enough to find them, you then go hide somewhere yourself! The person who can’t find the last remaining hider loses.

You might feel like shouting “Found you!” when you spot them, but if you do, everyone else will rush over.

So in reverse hide-and-seek, even if you find the seeker, quietly go hide yourself.

It’s a thrilling game where you keep the joy of discovery to yourself.

Crawling tail-chasing game

[Age 3] Crawling Tail Tag & Clothespin Relay

Let’s introduce a crawling tail-tag game that gets kids excited.

Give each child a “tail” made by braiding plastic ribbon (like florist’s raffia).

The teacher is “it” and chases the children.

At the start signal, the children crawl away to avoid being caught.

If a child gets their tail taken by “it,” they can rejoin the game after doing five jumps and putting the tail back on.

Try swapping who’s “it” or increasing the number of chasers to keep the game fun!

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Pasta Twirling Race

[After-school Day Service] Pasta Wrapping Race! 🍝

Here’s a perfect indoor activity: the Twirling Pasta Race.

Prepare some “pasta” by attaching yarn to a paper plate with tape.

On the free end of the yarn (the side without tape), attach an empty plastic wrap core.

To race, hold the core and twist it to wind the yarn around it.

It’s a fun competition to see who can wind the yarn—pretend pasta—onto the core the fastest.

To make it even more exciting, place a cutout of an animal with its mouth open between the paper plate and the core, and set up a little sign showing it “eating.” You could also time each round to add a competitive element.

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Hoop Daruma-san ga Koronda

[Age 3] Daruma-san ga koronda♪

More ways to play! Here are some ideas for playing “Red Light, Green Light” using hula hoops.

You’ll need two balance beams, a hula hoop, a ball, and flat markers.

“Red Light, Green Light” is a game that’s been loved for generations.

Since the rules are easy to understand, many preschools and childcare centers likely include it in their activities.

Using hula hoops, balls, and balance beams expands the possibilities, so it’s highly recommended.

Once children are comfortable with the basic rules, give these variations a try!

Hoop Musical Chairs

[Nursery Teacher | Outdoor Play] Hula Hoop

Let’s play using both our bodies and brains! Here’s an idea for a hula hoop musical chairs game.

Prepare about 10 small hula hoops in various colors.

As everyone hums a song with a deserted island theme, walk around the hula hoops.

When the teacher calls out “1, 2, 3,” everyone jumps into a hula hoop island.

It gets more exciting if you gradually reduce the number of hula hoops! Once everyone gets used to the game, try specifying which color hula hoop to enter, or call out items related to a color to decide which hoop to use.