[For Middle Schoolers] Let's Have Fun Together! A Collection of Bus Recreation Ideas
There are times when you’ll be riding a bus for a long time, like on field trips or school excursions.
It’s exciting to be in a different atmosphere from your usual classes and to chat lively with everyone—that’s great too.
But since it’s a special occasion, why not take the opportunity to get everyone pumped up and strengthen your team spirit?
In this article, we’re introducing bus recreation ideas recommended for junior high school students!
We’ve picked out lots of ideas that large groups can enjoy without having to move around.
Use this as a reference and have a great time!
- [Bus Rec] No boredom on the bus! Fun activities and games to liven things up
- Fun bus activities: bus recreations that liven up field trips and school excursions
- A roundup of exciting grade-level recreational activities for junior high school students
- Fun games that liven up bus recreation activities
- Fun activities for junior high school students. Recreation games.
- [For Adults] Exciting Bus Recreation
- Games you can play in the car! Fun activities to liven up drives and traffic jams
- Indoor games and recreational activities recommended for junior high school students
- [For Middle School Students] Recommended Ways to Spend Your Free Time
- [For High School Students] Recreational Activities That Can Energize the Entire Grade or Class
- [Elementary School] Games and Recreational Activities to Enjoy at a Forest School Camp
- [For Middle School Students] A Collection of Recreation Ideas to Liven Up Farewell Parties
- Brain-teasing game roundup
[For Junior High Students] Let’s Get Everyone Excited! A Collection of Bus Recreation Ideas (1–10)
Photo guessing quiz
How about having everyone bring a childhood photo and enjoying a photo-matching quiz? Some people probably haven’t changed much, while others might look completely different from when they were little.
If childhood photos feel a bit embarrassing, baby photos are fine too.
It makes the game harder, but maybe even more fun.
You could also create multiple-choice options.
If you can match someone from their baby photo, that’s impressive! Try guessing from the eyes or the feel of their smile.
Magical Banana
It’s a game where, to the rhythm, each person links a word that they associate with the word given by the previous player.
The game originally came from the variety show “Magical Brain Power!!” which aired from 1990 to 1999, and later spread as a party-game staple.
It tests not only your vocabulary, but also your ability to think creatively by connecting words to actions or to other words.
If you feel it might start dragging on, it’s recommended to pick up the tempo and shift the flow to one that demands quick reflexes.
Whose Voice Game
Form teams of several people, and have the representative team come to the front.
One person will speak, and the other teams should listen with their eyes closed.
It’s a game where you guess whose voice it is.
If the whole team guesses correctly, they earn 1 point! Repeat this, and the team with the most points at the end wins.
The speaking team should try to disguise who it is by changing their voice or doing impressions.
Prepare slips of paper or mini whiteboards for everyone to write their guesses.
You can also play it as an individual competition.
[For Junior High School Students] Let’s Get Everyone Excited! A Roundup of Bus Recreation Ideas (11–20)
Time Bomb Game
How about trying a nerve‑racking, heart‑pounding time-bomb game? This game uses an item where a balloon pops when the time is up.
Players take turns answering prompts and pass the “bomb” along as they go.
The player holding the bomb when it explodes loses.
If you want something a bit easier to try, you can use an app that replicates the toy.
Either way, enjoy the thrill of not knowing when it will blow!
30-second guessing game
This is a game where you rely solely on your internal body clock to try to stop a stopwatch at exactly 30 seconds.
The rule is simple: press start and stop using only your sense of timing, without looking at any numbers, so you can add all kinds of variations.
You could keep a conversation going while measuring the time, or have people around you call out random numbers to distract you—both would likely make it more exciting.
You can also try closing your eyes to sharpen your senses, or keeping a rhythm to feel the passage of time.
Experiment with whatever method works best for you.
Tongue Twister Challenge
Prepare a tongue-twister script and challenge yourselves to see how many seconds it takes to read it! Announcers and voice actors use this as enunciation training, right? If you search for “tongue twisters,” you’ll find plenty, and you can also create your own.
Add furigana to the kanji so that even first-time readers can read it.
The person who reads it the fastest without stumbling wins! Tripping up, getting stuck, and struggling to say it will get everyone excited, and if you can say it smoothly, you’re sure to draw attention!
Drawing Telephone Game
This is a telephone game where you pass along a prompted theme by drawing it without using words.
Each person draws their own picture based on the theme they interpret from the previous person’s drawing, so depending on drawing skill and interpretation, the theme can drift significantly.
It’s more difficult than conveying it with words, so if the last person can infer the theme, it’s a big success; if not, let’s review how it went off track.
To adjust the overall difficulty, it’s also recommended to check everyone’s drawing level before starting the game.