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[Kindergarten/Daycare] Games and Performances for Fun Events
At kindergartens and daycare centers, fun parties and birthday celebrations are held for the children.
Games and performances are essential for these events.
While many teachers are brainstorming ideas to delight the kids who eagerly look forward to them, some may be struggling with a lack of ideas.
In this article, we introduce games and performances that are perfect for such parties.
We’ve gathered a wide variety, from activities led by teachers to ones where children participate and have fun.
They’re all engaging ideas that spark children’s curiosity! Many of these games and performances are actually used in kindergartens and daycare centers, so feel free to use them as a reference.
[Kindergarten/Daycare] Fun Party Games and Performances (1–10)
Team relay with everyone
Little kids would much rather be moving their bodies than sitting still.
Why not turn various activities into relay-style games everyone can enjoy together? For example, how about a “hoop pass relay” using a hula hoop? Five or six people hold hands to make a big circle, and they take turns passing the hula hoop around by stepping through it.
Split into several teams and it’s sure to get lively! If you can be outdoors, three-legged races or beanbag tosses would be fun, too.
A fun gathering held outside sounds great as well.
Colored Water Theater
“Mizuiro Theater” may be an unfamiliar term, but it’s a visually engaging, fun-to-watch activity.
Beforehand, you secretly paint the inside of a plastic bottle cap with watercolor or paint so it can’t be seen.
Then you fill the bottle with plain water, put the cap on, and shake it.
Amazingly, the clear water turns into colored water! Kids get super excited and say, “It’s magic!” You can also vary the presentation—mix red and yellow water to make orange, or blue and yellow to make green—there are plenty of fun combinations to show.
Gesture Game
NHK’s TV show “Gesture” was, incredibly, a hugely popular program that ran for 15 years.
Making gestures and guessing them—its very simplicity is probably what made it so fun.
The hit show “Run for Money” is basically just tag, after all, so maybe the more primitive something is, the more it tickles the human heart? Why not spend a fun moment with a simple “gesture game” that doesn’t even require a big space.
It’s a great recreation everyone can enjoy—the goofy boys, the slightly shy girls, all of them! Sports and animals seem like good topics for prompts.
Bomb game
Even just the name “Bakudan Game” (Bomb Game) is thrilling, isn’t it? In this game, while the music is playing, you keep passing a ball—pretending it’s a bomb—to the friend next to you.
When the music stops, the person holding the ball gets a penalty! Since all you do is pass the ball to the next person, there’s little risk of injury.
Just make sure not to drop the ball and keep passing it along as quickly as you can.
Thinking the music might stop on your turn makes your heart race and your palms sweat, doesn’t it?
3 Hints Game
If they’re in the oldest kindergarten group, could they play the “Three Hints Game”? The “Three Hints Game” is where you give hints one by one, and after the third hint is given, the players answer.
For example, with the three hints “It has two eyes,” “It has no hands,” and “It flies in the sky,” the answer would be “a bird.” This is just the age when their curiosity blossoms, so quiz-style activities can be very exciting.
You can also mix it with a borrowing race—for instance, if the answer is “broom,” you could have them bring a broom to the spot as part of the game.
Teacher Guessing Quiz
One reason Detective Conan has been beloved for so long, beyond its compelling story, is that it invites active participation—“reasoning and guessing.” This “Guess the Teacher” game captures that same appeal of taking initiative by using hints to identify the teacher.
You’ll try to guess the names of several teachers whose faces and builds are hidden under cloaks, using a few clues.
Gradually reveal hints like hairstyles or characteristic movements.
It’s also great that it requires minimal prep!
body percussion
“Percussion” means striking in English.
When you hear “percussion,” many people think of percussion instruments.
“Body percussion” is a game where you use your body instead of instruments to make sounds.
An adult says, “Can you all do this?” and demonstrates a movement, and the children reply, “We can!” and imitate the same movement.
Clap your hands, make sounds with your belly, stand up and jump—any movement is fine! The sillier the moves, the more excited the kids get!
shadow puppet play
If you have a room with blackout curtains or one that can be darkened even during the day, how about putting on a shadow play? Precisely because video and 3D technologies have advanced so much, a “shadow play” might actually excite children even more.
If you’re doing it, make it a play featuring lots of fish and animals, and have each child create one character that will appear in the shadow play! They’ll be thrilled—“Hey, that’s the fish I made!!” Be sure to use plenty of colored cellophane to make the shadow play surprisingly colorful.
Fun to search! Transforming GameNEW!
This is a game where you compare teachers before and after they transform and find the differences.
The classic spot-the-difference is done by comparing illustrations, but since the teachers can’t duplicate themselves, you’ll need to remember their pre-transformation appearance carefully.
Changes range from easy ones—like holding a toy or a piece of fruit—to trickier ones, such as a different T-shirt color or accessories.
Be sure to include a variety of change patterns and encourage the children to aim for a perfect score!
Silhouette Quiz
Everyone from the grandparents’ generation knows the TV show Kao Wonderful Quiz.
It was a popular program in the early days of television, centered on a quiz where a silhouette was shown and you had to guess who it was.
If you can darken the room, how about a “Silhouette Quiz”? Just dimming the lights gets kids excited, and it will really liven up your party.
If you can’t darken the room, you can substitute with paper puppets featuring animals or vegetables filled in solid black!