No worries even in the rain! Fun recreational activities you can do in the gym
Introducing fun recreation activities you can enjoy in the gym! When you hear variety games or cooperative games, you might imagine playing outside, but there are plenty of activities and recreations you can enjoy in a gym.
Even when rain or snow keeps you indoors, you can still build your fitness in the gym.
Basketball, futsal, dodgeball—there are tons of games and activities everyone can enjoy together! Try making time to be active in the gym with friends or family while having fun.
Exercise energizes both your mind and body!
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Tag and Chase Play Ideas (1–10)
hand-pulled cart ogre
Wheelbarrow tag is a game of tag played in pairs.
You play while holding the “wheelbarrow” pose, which is a bit tricky, so it’s best for a parent and child to do together.
To make the wheelbarrow pose, first get on all fours with your palms spread wide and firmly on the ground.
Then, the supporting partner grabs the ankles of the person on all fours and lifts them up.
Keeping the palms spread, use your arm strength to move forward.
This pose helps children strengthen their arm and abdominal muscles.
It’s recommended when you want to get good physical activity even indoors.
Obstacle tag
For those who find regular tag boring, we recommend ‘obstacle tag.’ You deliberately place items from indoors in inconvenient spots and play tag around them.
Since you have to think about dodging obstacles, you can’t run or chase at full speed.
Sport Tag
It’s a sport that adds athletic elements to the traditional game of tag that everyone’s played.
While moving around to avoid being caught, you aim to capture treasures placed on the opposing team’s field.
Deciding how many players to allocate to offense and defense and how each person moves makes team strategy a big highlight.
Even if participants have different fitness levels, you can balance the game by adjusting team assignments, numbers, and rules, making it easy to enjoy even for those who aren’t confident in sports.
Tag and chase play ideas (11–20)
Cross Demon
There are many kinds of tag, but this one is a version played inside a court called “Cross Tag.” Draw lines in the middle of a 6-by-6-meter square court to make a cross, both vertically and horizontally.
One or two players are It, and the other players run within the court to avoid being caught.
The It players may only move along the cross.
The runners must keep circling in a single direction to escape; they are not allowed to change direction.
Stepping on the cross, which is the It players’ territory, is out, and of course being tagged is also out.
Anyone who is out should leave the court.
Sinking Game
This is a gym game for young children called “Sinking Game.” The whole gym is the ocean, and several placed mats are treated as islands.
If playing with a teacher and students, the teacher is the shark and the children are the runners.
Once a runner steps onto a mat, the game starts.
When the shark says “It’s sinking!” everyone must move to a different mat, taking care not to get caught by the shark while moving.
If elementary school children are playing, divide the kids into teams of sharks and runners.
If you’re caught, you’re out; then switch roles and compete to see which team can escape from the sharks more within the time limit.
Alien Tag
Doesn’t the term “space conquest” sound retro-futuristic and cool? You can make it a reality with this game, “Alien Tag.” First, create about three types of aliens you like.
Then keep tagging free aliens, and in the end, the alien type with the most tags wins.
That’s right—total space conquest.
Whether you love sci-fi or not, you’re bound to enjoy it.
Spider Ogre
This is a game of tag played on all fours.
The “it” crawls on all fours to chase the children.
The children escape by moving on their backs in a crab-walk position.
When someone is tagged, you can switch who’s “it,” or it might be fun to have the number of “its” gradually increase.