A collection of ideas for infant/toddler play, recreation, and games
Play and games help keep children’s minds and bodies healthy and lively.
They nurture physical activity, thinking skills, imagination, and the ability to get along with friends.
Here, we’ve gathered activities and games that preschoolers can enjoy.
There are many kinds: group games, traditional play, pretend and make-believe activities, and sensory play.
You’ll find lots of favorites from nurseries and kindergartens, as well as easy games you can do at home.
Choose fun activities that match your child’s age and development, and enjoy them together!
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Ideas for Toddler Play, Recreation, and Games (21–30)
Card-flipping race
Here’s an indoor active game you can play in a gym or classroom: the Red and White Card Game.
Place cards on the floor that have different colors on each side—red on one side and white on the other.
Split into a Red Team and a White Team.
At the start signal, players run to flip the scattered cards to their own team’s color.
If your cards get flipped by the other team, quickly flip them back to your color.
Depending on the number of participants, the more cards you have, the more exciting it gets.
Set a time limit and give it a try!
Let’s go on a beast hunt.
This is a game where you go catch wild beasts along with the song “Let’s Go on a Beast Hunt!” Of course, no real wild beasts appear.
The players themselves create the beasts.
With spears and guns in hand—and the great allies that are your friends—there’s nothing scary about wild beasts! At the end of the song, the teacher or another leader says the name of a beast.
Players then group themselves by the number of people that matches the number of characters in that beast’s name.
For example, for “raion” (lion), you would form groups of four.
It’s also a handy game for organizing people into groups.
Bomb game
A game with a scary-sounding name: “Bakudan Game” (Bomb Game)! Don’t worry, of course there aren’t any real bombs.
You treat a ball as the bomb and pass it around to everyone.
You only pass while the music is playing, continuously handing the ball to the next person.
When the music stops, the person holding the ball—the bomb—loses! Boom! Anyone who causes three “explosions” will have to face a penalty game!
Inside-out pots!
It’s said that the lyrics of the children’s song believed to be the root of this game are included in a nursery rhyme collection published in the late Edo period, so it’s a pastime that’s been around for quite a long time.
While this game is typically played by two people, it can also be enjoyed with three or more, and the more players there are, the more fun it is to watch everyone toppling over.
Give it a try!
Rock-Paper-Scissors Train
It’s a game where you build an increasingly long “rock-paper-scissors train” to a song called Janken Densha.
While the song is playing, everyone moves around like a train.
When the music stops, you play rock-paper-scissors with the person in front of you.
The winner becomes the front, and the loser lines up behind the winner.
Repeat this process several times, and in the end, a long train is formed!