Recommended for upper elementary grades! Exciting indoor recreation and games
Ever find yourself unsure what to do for upper-elementary recreation time? Wouldn’t it be perfect to have activities that not only get kids moving but also build teamwork and social awareness? Here, we’ve gathered ideas that make full use of collaboration and brainpower—from a game where you stack cups by working together, to psychological battles that test your timing and when to jump in.
Everything can be done with familiar, easy-to-find materials and will get the whole class excited.
Have fun with your friends!
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Learning-based recreational activities incorporating English and early childhood education/learning (11–20)
callout
It’s a game where you toss beanbags into two large boxes—one labeled with numbers and the other with English words—and then pronounce the word where your beanbag lands as many times as the number indicates.
It tests your quick judgment and smooth pronunciation, linking the recognition of the word and the number to the act of speaking.
You can throw casually and the game will still move along, but if you want to get closer to winning, it’s smart to aim for easier-to-say words or lower numbers.
How you divide into teams and how you decide on the words and counts can change how exciting the game gets, depending on how you set up the rules.
Theme Bingo
All you need is paper and a pen to enjoy “Prompt Bingo” anytime! Regular bingo typically uses numbers, but in this game you don’t use numbers—you write words that fit a given prompt into a 3×3 grid.
For example, prompts with lots of variety like “vegetables” or “fruits” work well.
When a word you wrote is called, mark it with a circle, and if you line up three in a row vertically, horizontally, or diagonally, it’s bingo! Compared to regular bingo, this version helps develop your thinking skills, so why not give it a try and have fun with it?
Alphabet Bingo
Here’s an idea for Alphabet Bingo.
You’ll need bingo cards and a set of cards with one letter of the alphabet on each.
To play, draw one alphabet card and read the letter out loud.
If the called letter appears on your bingo card, place a chip on it.
When your chips line up vertically, horizontally, or diagonally, you get Bingo! Once you’re comfortable with the basic rules, try adapting the game by matching pictures to letters or playing it like a karuta-style game.
Iya-Iya-Yo Game
It’s the “Iyayo-yo Game,” where you get excited by saying things you don’t like.
Even if you don’t know the lyrics, you’ve probably heard the melody—it’s played to the American folk song “Old MacDonald Had a Farm.” Everyone takes turns sharing unpleasant or all-too-relatable things and sings together, “Iyayo-yo.” It sounds very simple, but it’s actually tricky: can you think of something unpleasant on the spot, and can you sing it in rhythm? If you miss the beat or repeat something that’s already been said, you’re out and have to do a penalty.
Finger Smash
A finger-guessing game called “Yubi-suma” that you can play with two or more people.
It goes by various names.
Everyone forms a circle and extends their hands forward with only their thumbs raised.
Players take turns calling out a number; the minimum is zero and the maximum is the total number of thumbs currently raised.
If the number called matches the total number of thumbs everyone has raised, the caller can lower one of their hands.
The goal is to be the first to lower both hands and drop out; the last person remaining loses.