[Kindergarten/Daycare] Games and Performances for Fun Events

kamishibai (paper theater)

Kamishibai [Konjiki Yasha]

Kamishibai, or paper theater, is something children love.

Even when it’s a story they’ve seen before or already know, they watch and listen intently, and many really get absorbed in it.

It’s a timeless classic, but because kids love it so much, kamishibai makes a perfect feature for a fun event.

One of the great things about kamishibai is that if you think, “I like this story,” you can make it yourself.

You can try tweaking classic folktales and fairy tales a bit, or even create your own story from scratch and turn it into a kamishibai.

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Rhythm Play

[For 3-year-olds] Introducing fun rhythm play♪

“Rhythm play” is a game where you change how you clap to match the words and keep time with handclaps.

Put things like food names or animal names to a fun beat and keep going while clapping.

Words with about three syllables are easy, but as the number of syllables increases or you include small pauses like the glottal stop (the small ‘tsu’), the rhythm shifts a bit and the difficulty goes up.

Once you get used to it, try adding gestures—like not clapping on the last one and instead touching your cheek or balancing your hands on your head.

Try adding variety by speeding up and changing the tempo!

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Mukkuri Kuma-san

[Group Game] “Mukkuri Kuma-san” | How to Play “Mukkuri Kuma-san”

A game even infants can enjoy! Here are some ideas for the “Mukkuri Kuma-san” game.

Group play is a great opportunity for children to learn communication skills and how to cooperate.

By playing with friends from the infant class, children can develop the ability to understand rules and other people’s feelings.

In this simple game, everyone forms a circle, sings a song, and walks around the “sleeping bear.” When the song ends, the person playing the bear wakes up and tries to catch the children.

Give it a try!

Egg Quiz

What comes out of the egg…? Here’s a fun egg quiz that gets kids thinking! Make eggs out of construction paper or nonwoven fabric, and have the children imagine what kind of baby will hatch from inside.

Plain white shells can be hard to guess, so try expressing the baby’s characteristics on the shell itself.

For example, if it’s a baby zebra, give the shell stripes; if it’s a ladybug, make it red with black polka dots—hide clues on the shell.

Once everyone gets the hang of it, let the kids come up with ideas too, and you’ll end up with lots of clever egg shells to match each baby!

Hoop Tag

Let’s play by predicting the ogre’s moves! Here’s a fun idea for a hula hoop tag game.

Prepare nine small hula hoops and an easy-to-see marker for the person who’s “it.” On the count of “1, 2, 3,” jump to move into an adjacent hula hoop! You can move the length of one hoop vertically, horizontally, or diagonally.

“It” also moves on the cue, so the key is to avoid landing in the same hoop as “it.” Predict the ogre’s movements and try to escape to the end!