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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Indoor recreations that enjoy cooperation and teamwork (21–30)
Evolution Rock-Paper-Scissors
Simple yet exciting! Here’s an idea for “Evolution Rock-Paper-Scissors.” If just deciding winners and losers with rock-paper-scissors feels boring, this is a great idea for elementary school students.
You start as a cockroach and, as you play, evolve into a frog, a rabbit, a monkey, and then a human.
The key points are to only play rock-paper-scissors against others in the same evolutionary stage, and to act out the poses and movements of each creature.
Once everyone gets the hang of it, it could be fun to come up with new creatures to evolve into together with the kids.
Six patients and medicine
It presents the ultimate choice: help one critically ill patient or save five moderately ill patients.
There is only one dose of medicine; the critical patient needs the entire dose, whereas the moderate patients can all survive if it is divided among them.
The dilemma of valuing a single life versus prioritizing the many exposes one’s values.
Key discussion points include whether all lives are equal in weight or whether social roles should be considered.
It is important for the whole class to debate and work toward a single final decision, making this a thought-provoking theme that lets students experience the challenges of ethics and difficult choices.
Indoor Recreational Activities That Enjoy Cooperation and Teamwork (31–40)
Ball games you can play with two people!
Balls are very familiar playthings for children, and the ways to enjoy them are limitless! This time, we’re introducing eight ball games for lower-grade students.
In addition to balls, items like hula hoops are used to help kids improve their physical abilities while having fun.
Basically, children pair up in twos and play by throwing or rolling the ball, or dodging a bouncing ball.
There are also games with sport-like elements—such as Copycat Dribble, Hoop Pass Tennis, and Marker Hockey—so we hope even kids who feel uneasy about ball sports will take this opportunity to get interested.
Number Jump
Let’s play using both our heads and our bodies! Here’s an idea for a game called Number Jump.
Kids tend to get more excited by games that are a bit challenging rather than too easy.
How about trying Number Jump, a game that engages both the mind and the body? It’s best to start with five or more people and go over the rules slowly as you begin.
First, each person jumps one at a time while saying “1.” After the last person has jumped, switch to jumping in pairs while saying “2.” In this way, the number of people jumping at once increases, so it’s a game that requires concentration.
Give it a try!
Fun for elementary school kids! 5 indoor activities
Indoor recreational activities that you can enjoy for short periods of time—such as on rainy days—are perfect for exercising both the mind and body, since the rules and movements vary by game.
Plus, enjoying each game by working together as a team helps energize communication among participants.
Competing with friends and enjoying games also leads to discussing strategies and experiencing the emotions of winning and losing.
Experiencing fun, joy, and even frustration through physical activity is recommended for fostering a positive mindset.
Southern Cross Expedition
It’s an exciting theme where you become a member of the Southern Cross Expedition Team and go on a treasure hunt.
It begins when you receive a message from a teammate saying, “I found treasure on a southern island, but it’s heavy—please help.” However, communication is cut off partway through, and the story revolves around completing the remaining map.
Each member holds different pieces of information, and you can’t reach the answer unless everyone shares what they know.
The key is not to keep your own information to yourself, but to share it and work cooperatively with your teammates.
While enjoying the fun of deduction and organizing information, you also learn the importance of trusting your companions.
The very process of completing the map through repeated discussions is a stimulating theme that lets you experience a real sense of accomplishment.
Recommended for elementary school kids! 5 games that make you work up a sweat
“Touch and Dash,” “Feint Tag,” “Marker Tag,” “Math Relay,” and “Rock-Paper-Scissors Race.” All five of these active games involve running and let kids get plenty of movement even indoors.
They also include elements that exercise the mind: for example, in a relay format, players pick up a pinnie and add the number written on it, and once the total reaches 20 or more, they finish; or they use markers to cleverly lure opponents and dash through gaps.
Even children who get bored with simple movements are sure to get hooked.