February: Liven up childcare! A collection of ideas for indoor play and physical activities
February brings plenty of seasonal events—like Setsubun and Valentine’s Day—even at daycare centers and kindergartens.
But when the cold days continue, there are many days when you can’t go outside.
That’s when activities that let children move their bodies freely indoors and recreations that incorporate winter’s unique seasonal feel come in handy.
From exercise games with an oni-slaying theme and traditional “kenken sumo” to ideas that let you enjoy a snowy play mood indoors, we’ll introduce lots of games perfect for February.
The content is enjoyable for infants through preschoolers, so please use it as a reference!
[February] Get kids excited in childcare! A collection of indoor play and movement activity ideas (1–10)
3 fun activities with yarn
Winter is a season when the weather is unstable and infectious illnesses tend to spread, so kids end up spending more time playing indoors.
Some children may miss playing outside, but why not take this opportunity to try some crafting this winter? We’ll introduce three activities: making yarn bracelets, making yarn pom-poms, and knitting using a milk carton.
The bracelets are made with finger knitting, and the pom-poms are created by wrapping yarn around a U-shaped piece of cardboard.
Give these winter craft projects a try to help nurture children’s creativity.
Kids will love it! Ice play
https://www.tiktok.com/@nexus_official5/video/7341961102558825735When it comes to playing with ice, many people think of summer, but in winter you can use the cold outdoor air to make ice.
The time it takes to freeze varies depending on where you place it and the temperature, which makes it a great learning experience for children.
You can make ice simply by putting water in a cup and leaving it outside, but this time let’s mix tissue paper and food coloring to create vibrantly colored ice.
In addition to making ice, try different ways to play: hold the ice up to the light, observe how it melts, or draw pictures using ice.
Expand the possibilities of ice play while embracing children’s free and creative ideas!
Let’s enjoy the bean-throwing game!
https://www.tiktok.com/@mammybear_/video/7332326164301892882A heart-pounding event in February! How about trying some games perfect for Setsubun? You can pull a ring filled with beans to carry them, or throw beans at an oni target to defeat the ogre—plenty of Setsubun atmosphere to enjoy.
Let the children also have fun making masks and beans, and use the games to help them learn about the Setsubun tradition.
Feel free to adapt the rules to suit different ages! When older preschoolers carry the beans, turning it into a team competition will likely get everyone excited.
Kocho-ko Choco
We’d like to introduce a play song perfect for tickle games.
Is what’s in the box chocolate, or a tickle? Enjoy matching the actions to the lyrics.
If it’s chocolate, say “Here you go!” and offer it as a present; if it’s a tickle, give a little tickle.
With babies, caregivers can use it as a bonding touch game, and with toddlers and preschoolers, kids can pair up with friends and enjoy it as a hand-play song or dance song.
It could also be fun to set your own original items in the box besides chocolate and tickles!
3 hand-play activities for Setsubun bean-throwing
We’d like to introduce some fun hand-play activities for Setsubun, a traditional event to drive away evil spirits that appear during seasonal transitions! The first is the classic “Oni no Pantsu” (The Ogre’s Underpants).
It’s a song about the ogre’s sturdy underpants that never tear, even after many years, and you express “pants” with handclaps and a peace-sign gesture.
The second is a song called “Mame-maki” (Bean Throwing), where you use your hands to mimic tossing beans and inviting in good fortune, just like the real bean-throwing ritual.
The third, “Oni no Oyako” (Ogre Parent and Child), is enjoyed by changing your voice and facial expressions to match the characters: the father ogre, mother ogre, and child ogre.
When the “Pika!” lightning part comes, energetically thrust both hands forward!
Fun snow play in your room!
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DGDP77FJR_z/How about enjoying some snow play indoors? You can make “snow” by cutting thin paper like tissue or flower paper into small pieces.
The floor will turn completely white, and every movement will send fluffy flakes dancing—kids are sure to be thrilled! You can even make snowmen: stick double-sided tape on crumpled newspaper and roll it over the paper snow to collect it.
Add round stickers for eyes, and attach a construction-paper carrot nose and a bucket, and you’ll have a row of cute, wintry snowmen decorating the room.
Pack in lots of ideas that kids will love and have a blast with plenty of snow play!
Mochi Glasses & Mochi-Pounding Peta-peta-petan-ko
When making mochi, we use the onomatopoeic word “pettan,” don’t we? In this fingerplay song, you touch your thumb to each of your other fingers in time with that sound to act out pounding mochi.
And what you end up with isn’t a kagami-mochi, but… mochi glasses! They look like they’d really stick to your face, but it seems like a fun way to spark kids’ imaginations about what to make with mochi.
Moving your fingers precisely is trickier than it looks, so start slowly at first.
Once you get the hang of it, try speeding up for a challenge.
Fun for adults too! “Fluffy Snow”
This is a fingerplay song where you build a snowman and look for numbers hidden in the lyrics.
It doesn’t include every number from 1 to 9, but there are surprisingly many hidden ones—see how many you can find.
In this fingerplay, the snowman’s eyes are made with mandarins, the nose with a carrot, and the eyebrows with a cucumber.
It’s fun to imagine what the face will look like.
Asking “What would you use to make yours?” will likely get everyone excited.
When it snows, try making the snowman you imagined.
Cha-cha-cha of the Snowman
Here’s a hand-play song with a wintery theme of “snow” and “snowmen.” In this song, you first use both hands to show snow falling and piling up.
Then, you touch your fingertips together to make the round shape of a snowman, and finally, you rotate your clenched hands in front of your chest to show a dancing snowman.
It’s short, but it sparks children’s imaginations and teaches them the joy of playing in the snow.
If the part where you clap quickly three times is difficult, slow down the overall tempo and enjoy it at a comfortable speed.
Let’s play with snow that doesn’t melt!
February is still very cold, and there are many snowy days, right? Lots of kids love playing in the snow, but going out in the cold raises worries about catching a cold.
In times like that, let’s make “non-melting snow” indoors and enjoy snow play! Because you can do it inside, there’s no shivering from the cold, and kids in areas without snowfall can enjoy snow play easily, too.
To make non-melting snow, prepare baking soda and hair rinse or conditioner.
Just mix these two, and you can enjoy non-melting snow indoors! Chill it in the refrigerator for a bit to enhance the snowy feel even more.
You can even enjoy the “crunch” sound, as if you’re stepping on real snow, when you touch it!
